--- Andrew Crystall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snippage> > Sorry, I'm with Heinlien on this one - Man has no > inherent moral > sense. Genes allways cause "selfish" behavoir. The > memes (remembering > that memes can be selfish or altruistic) for society > are a crious mix > of altruism and selfishness, and the interplay of > them is what > defines "conventional" morality within a society. <snip>
Well, _I'm_ not, an' I'm not sorry neither! ;) <serious> Humans, and their primate cousins, and indeed many if not all social animals, have genetically enabled (if not determined, because so many behaviors are influenced by environment and learning) behaviors that we could label "moral" or "kind" or "altruistic." While I agree that *most* intrinsic behaviors are designed ultimately to improve the chances of successful reproduction, some certainly are not. In this latter category are behaviors such as defending non-related individuals - who are not potential mates - from predators (sometimes the defendents are not even the same species), and caring for non-related or seriously injured young, which diverts precious time and energy from one's own offspring. The extreme example given earlier was raping a 5-year-old child; this is reproductively "immoral" behavior because it cannot result in progeny, and may prevent said child from becoming a potential mate if in the process of the rape it is killed. In a social group, it may result in the death of the perpetrator at the hands of the child's relatives. Personality traits such as 'shyness' or 'aggression' appear by current research to have a genetic component; certainly we have bred domestic animals for enhancement of desired behaviors. That behaviors or traits we label "moral" are influenced by genetic factors seems logical - and I suspect as we continue to "crack the code" we will only find more supporting evidence. Debbi __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
