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To: Heartlander; jennyp
Yes, and if man is just an evolved animal, where did this moral code come from? How many other animals demonstrate it? What good is it?
28 posted on 11/07/2003 5:01:58 PM PST by Markofhumanfeet
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To: Markofhumanfeet
You are correct. But why stop at ‘evolved animal’? Take it all the way to the source.
A mindless chemical process from a mindless universal algorithm.

Now apply it to the our founding government and laws:

We hold no truths to be self-evident, that all men are evolved equal, that they are endowed by their mindless chemical process from a mindless universal algorithm with certain unalienable illusions, that among these are life, and the pursuit of happenstance. That to secure these illusions, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the happenstance of the governed.
-from the declaration of mindless dependency

29 posted on 11/07/2003 5:54:20 PM PST by Heartlander
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To: Markofhumanfeet
Actually, we can apply this to our very existence:
…. and on the 3.43558ish billionth day, nature accidentally puked forth chemicals and looked upon it and said, “this is neither good or bad, it’s just chemicals, and I shall form these chemicals in no specific image and without intelligence”.

Then plants, insects, fish, and man evolved from this puke without intelligence, each according to its inane kind.


Although this story is allegorical in nature, the lack of meaning should provide the appearance of a lesson to us all…
30 posted on 11/07/2003 6:14:48 PM PST by Heartlander
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To: Markofhumanfeet
Yes, and if man is just an evolved animal, where did this moral code come from? How many other animals demonstrate it? What good is it?

Animals that hunt in teams are usually more successful than lone hunters. All animals that hunt in packs have rules of behavior, in other words morality. If a team member makes a kill made possible by team cooperation but hides the kill from the pack or does not share, they are outcast and not as likely to live or pass on their genetic traits.

Humans are a very special case of evolution though. Our genetic progress can not be explained by group hunting alone. The first tribal war set in motion a very high speed version of evolution. Once tribal warfare was added to the mix, the need for advanced intelligence, cooperation, group loyalty, longevity, self-sacrifice, and group morality became more important. And the cycle of selecting the most genetically advanced tribe became very time compressed. Small genetic advances that normally take many thousands of years to test out are evaluated much faster in humans. Almost every trait of modern humans is now optimized for winning at war. Those of us alive to today are the descendants of the winning warriors and war makers. We are naturally very moral alright, but only to our group for the ultimate purpose of winning at war.

Many people, but not all, have a super-sense of survival. They must survive at all costs, even after death. This motivates many people to behave especially well in the hope they will be granted eternal life. This isn't the major genetic driver of morality though. People who have no super-sense of survival can be just as moral, with no motivation at all other than the genetically programmed desire for the group they belong to win at war. Groups of 100% super-survivors are not as good at war and eventually get killed off. The best tribes at war may have a high percentage of super-survivors but they can't all be.

195 posted on 01/03/2004 7:10:56 PM PST by Reeses
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