Submitted by simonperry955 t3_10k1q8f in philosophy
bildramer t1_j5t3jjg wrote
I think something like multiple distinct "goals" is very hard for evolution to encode into organisms. It only has something like 7.5MB available to specify things into a baby's mental wiring, and a very crude training process. It also has to be robust to perturbations, so some of it is merely redundancy/buffers. And, of course, babies don't know the local language or customs, yet end up caring about them later in life, and not just instrumentally.
Most of the process of acquiring whatever we call "morals" must happen on its own, not in a hardcoded evolutionary way, even if evolution is responsible for the beginning and our more fundamental drives like hunger/arousal. I think in the process of trying to find explanations for why we feel things that we feel, we end up with certain moral axioms out of it. As we grow, their structure becomes more complicated, and we find and resolve contradictions (e.g. by finding simplified axioms that explain both values, or dismissing one contradictory axiom), leading us to believe there is One True Morality once we're old enough - even though basically everything is happening ad hoc.
simonperry955 OP t1_j5tn1av wrote
Evolution doesn't have to encode goals except thriving, surviving and reproducing. These goals have an in-built pressure to achieve them. So, evolution encodes the pressure to achieve goals - any goal we like. Not every goal is a good idea in the long term though.
Again it's a good question how we pick up morals. Michael Tomasello theorises that we are evolutionarily primed and prepared to pick up environmental input at appropriate ages. So, first we learn helping, then fairness and responsibility towards partners, then following society's norms. You might like to check out his "Becoming Human - a theory of ontogeny".
Rules of thumb are definitely useful for anybody. I'm sure you're right that a lot of people use these. Apparently we get more morally conscientious as we get older, if we are so inclined (i.e., prosocial in the first place).
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments