I know that this is a vague and simplistic thought, but society to me was developed as an agreement between people that boils down to i will not kill or threaten you and yours if you promise not to kill or threaten me and mine.

Morality is nothing more than thinking and actions that help to uphold and maintain this agreement. We feel a need to take care of people so that they do not slip below the threshold to where they will do whatever it takes to survive. We are nice to people so as not to create enemies that now have motivating to threaten our survival.

As an agnostic and borderline atheist this line of thinking makes sense to me. Nowhere else in nature will you find a family of animals that cares about the survival of outsiders. We are the same but with the added benefit of a frontal cortext that allows us higher level thinking to create a social structure that goes beyond out family.

I think that we would find very quickly how low on our hierarchy of needs “morality” is if society started to crumble. We would do whatever it takes to make sure ourselves and family survives to see the next day.

I realize that this is too simplistic and a macabre thought to many people, but it is what makes sense to me.

This is not how i experience this human experiment, but it is the only way that i can rationalize the concept of morality in the absence of religion.

I still am respectful to people and truly want the best for others. I donate my time to charity and feel gutted if i see people in pain or struggling. But in the back of my mind i know that this privilege to experience and honor these feelings goes away if society begins to unravel.

What do you guys think?