[MD] Is morality Hard Wired?

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Krimel <Krimel at Krimel.com>:

> [Platt]
> Human history, especially of the twentieth century, belies the notion that
> hard-wired benevolence is difficult to overcome. It suggests instead that
> we are hard-wired for aggression, especially against those who are strangers
> and/or different than us. Co-operation is pretty much limited to one's own
> in-group. Or, as Pirsig wrote, "Cooperation without coercion is a
> devastating fiction."
> 
> [Krimel]
> Let's take this really slowly one more time. Human history, all of it, is
> irrelevant to this discussion. 
> 
> History, by definition means during the period after people started writing
> things down. That would be about 12,000 years ago, about the time that
> agriculture developed and group population sizes began to exceed what we are
> biologically equipped to deal with.

You don't see evolution as history? We're talking hard-wired here due to
evolutionary processes. 

> Human experience since the invention of history has been at odds with the
> experience out of which we developed. But please note as I said a couple of
> times there is a distinction between within and between group violence.
> Being at odds with strangers is also a part of inherited morality. It is
> particularly dangerous in historic times because there are so many more
> strangers about.

Yes, but the whole discussion began because a couple of scientists claimed
we are hardwired to be benevolent. Are you suggesting that cavemen where
Christ-like but since human history began we've become little Eichmans? 



-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/