[ExI] Origin of ethics and morals

[Keith Henson]

On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 5:00 AM,  Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 8 December 2011 15:59, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Related to recent discussions, ethics and morals come out of
>> successful evolutionary strategies (where else could they come from?).
>>
>
> Mmhhh. This is more applicable to human *ethology* than to human *ethics*.
>
> How could one otherwise explain the extreme diversity of ethical systems
> throughout ages and cultures?

Perhaps you can convince me differently, but I see more in common than
divergent across cultures.  Parents, for example, universally take
care of children.

> Accordingly, I suspect that we are dealing here with memes rather than with
> genes. In fact, a sufficiently powerful meme (say, chastity) may thrive or
> at least survive even though it is obviously detrimental to one's chance to
> leave behind and abundant and successful offspring.

Talk to the Shakers about it.

Keith