From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat Feb 14 2009 - 18:16:16 MST
Miguel Azevedo wrote:
> 2009/2/14 Matt Mahoney <matmahoney@yahoo.com>
>
>> Your ethical beliefs were chosen by your ancestors. You don't have a choice.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Yeah, we abolished slavery because evolution made us do it :)
>
> Given current human brains, there *is* such a thing as moral progress,
> which is largely independent of selection pressures (even though the
> framework necessary for enabling such progress was sculpted by natural
> selection).
>
> - Miguel
>
> --
> - Heute die Welt, morgen das SonnenSystem
>
>
Do note, however, that change and progress are not synonyms. And it's
quite possible that a lot of the change is "neutral variation". (I.e.,
that a lot of the difference between ethical systems is neutral with
respect to progress.)
Which requires some sort of definition of progress. My current attempt
is "Doing more with fewer side effects or less cost". It's not really
precise enough, but I hope it captures the essence of the concept.
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