cardboard adolescent |
04-07-2009 01:24 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by jibber
(Post 631678)
One, stop being deliberately argumentative about every little point, it's annoying as hell. It's a proven fact that homo erectus lived in small communities, end of discussion on that. I'm arguing with you because you insinuated that the desire to do good is ONLY a result of fear, or it is instilled by god. I'm saying that for modern human beings, this desire is an internal motivation, and not magically instilled by god.
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i'm not sure if you saw the second part of my post, which was more addressing this part. i don't believe that you can draw such an easy distinction between internal and external motivation, since what we think of as our "personality" is really just an internalization of external experience with other individuals. so just because we don't sense the fear driving morality but have instead internalized that drive, doesn't mean that it doesn't still lie at the root of society.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sleepy jack
(Post 631684)
It doesn't only apply to humans, morality and the will to survive has more to do with genetics than any sort of "soul." CS Lewis also believed that the fact humanity had a sense of community pointed to a higher existence but I think that belief stretches it way farther then it will go.
I think there's a certain base morality that we all have - which is to keep the race alive, feed yourself, care for others of your own race, and so on but I think the more complex moral issues that face us today like abortion are issues that came from society as opposed to humanity. The two aren't contradictory.
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as far as god and the soul go, it could be that even as transcendent entities they are nothing more than self-perpetuating patterns. but really that's all life is, a self-perpetuating pattern. thus, if dna shares that quality i don't see why dna can't be a positive manifestation of the negatively present soul. here we wander again into idealism, and i apologize. as far as this base morality goes, i think you certainly have a point, especially as my psychologist friend has been telling me about a certain type of neuron that even monkeys have that allow you to identify with another being's suffering. but why do we, as 'enlightened, self-conscious' beings, place a concrete value on the presence of a certain type of neuron? are we physically incapable of doing otherwise, or do we somehow sense it points to a profound presence-in-absence? i don't necessarily think i can convince you of the latter, but I feel it always presents itself as an option, regardless of how you structure your approach. i'd also recommend turning away from organized religion and looking at the consistency of the religious/mystical experience, and what sorts of insights that entails. peace.
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