the evolution of morality

[luckyme]

Asst. Prof Joshua Greene's area of study fits right into many of the forum discussions.

Thisfrom todays Sci Amer Article

[ QUOTE ]
"Part of normal development is this emotional responding to another human being," he says. "It's not something you have to learn or you have to go have a specific religious experience to pick up, or have a cultural experience…. It is based on emotionally responding to others, and there's a part of the brain dedicated to that."

[/ QUOTE ]

From his homepage I then reached this - from an article of his in Nature Reviews Neuroscience -

"A world full of people who regard their moral
convictions as reflections of personal values rather than reflections of ‘the objective moral
truth’ might be a happier and more peaceful
place than the world we currently inhabit".

That seems to capture some of the exchanges on here.

My take - we have evolved a sense of morality but it's too broad brush, especially for todays social conditions, including mobility and mass weapons, and it needs to be mixed with a gollop of rationality.

luckyme