Science and Morality

SCIENCE AND MORALITY

Brent Anderson

While science and morality may seem unrelated to most, it is nevertheless true that most aspects of any life behavior can be better understood by considering the basic science of life. From that perspective, we witness that mankind’s progression through time, for any number of traits, can be best visualized as a complex array of basic wave patterns. These wave patterns reflect the cyclical nature of life, which ultimately originates with the atomic level uncertainty and chaos that we know as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The resultant atomic level permutations are reflected directly in our lives and are ultimately the cause of the genetically driven competitiveness of life. Along with this, our understanding is based upon measurements taken at any instant in time for any physical or mental cycle using the principles of statistics. The need for this approach is born of the fact that in any human population we find an almost infinite number of opinions or conditions are exhibited for any one mental or physical state, while the average can only be described mathematically using arbitrary parameters. To complicate things even further, said "average" is never stagnant. In the case of opinion, the overall movement is described by cycles that are both short and long terms with the short-term averages eventually describing the long term. Each maximum is always followed by decline from the peak to the inevitable valley ad infinitum. Integrated over time, these cycles describe a general long-term path. This is true for all Earth’s species with regard to myriad’s of traits, including morality in humans. Morality by definition is a concept born of the minds of men and women and ultimately "God". The cyclic lack of moral ethics revolution of today is a direct reaction to the conservatism and prudery of the Victorian era. Inevitably, today’s excesses will cause a retreat to more traditional morality in the same way that the Sun cycles from solar maximum to minimum.

The past 80 years have brought changes in the moral culture of the United States that is among the greatest (in so short a time) ever witnessed in recorded history. This revolution targeted the morality of our fore bearers and ultimately Judeo Christian based moral traditions. The wisdom of such wholesale trashing of time tested cultural mores is suspect to any who are aware of even a modicum of history. In spite of historical wisdom, many of the most influential people in America and the World are very comfortable with the new (or the old if you consider past cycles) lack of morality. The elite of the entertainment and media cabal are ecstatic with changes that have allowed them to air programming with ever more controversial, violent, and deviant content. Beyond any doubt the entertainment industry has been partially responsible for the current lack of morality via their very finely crafted productions. Their motivation was and is financial, and when accused they simply shift the blame for the tidal wave of personal tragedies to the public for rewarding them with paid attendance. The fact that mankind is genetically programmed for extreme curiosity, and is consequently very susceptible to any outrageous presentation is not lost on these individuals, and they know full well their culpability.

The relative increase in the rate of change, or frequency and also the amplitude of many of the cycles inherent to mankind are directly related to a logarithmic increase in knowledge and learning, which is rooted in computer, and communication related breakthroughs worldwide. For these reasons, a return to an era of moral conservatism is unlikely to mirror the excessive prudery of the Victorian era. This is more or less guaranteed by the availability of vast amounts of information accumulated by modern scientific investigation. Within this body of science are numerous scientific studies of human sexuality that would have at once scandalized and fascinated our ancestors. With the enlightenment that is provided by these studies it would be difficult to slip back to an era in which exposure of the body would be considered inherently evil, or that knowledge of sexual function is wrong. Few in the future would mourn a return to basic values minus the prudery of the past. Truth fares better in the light where every viewpoint can be discussed. Even though the media is guilty of spreading questionable ethics, the fall out from their campaign has been a forum in which all the variations in human sexuality are open for discussion, and for most, without embarrassment.

It should not be assumed that all within modern society have succumbed to the siren call of dishonesty, faithlessness, violent behavior and gratuitous sex. Rather that the average has shifted to a more liberal view of morality, while the liberal extreme is reveling in an atmosphere in which libertine and deviant excesses are winked at, if not condoned by the majority. This is contrasted with the conservative extreme that has moved toward what would have been mainstream in the past to find they are ridiculed on an almost daily basis by the liberal media. This situation is more or less the same as that experienced by liberals during the Victorian age.

The specifics of morality are rather simple, yet human interpretations and implementations of those principles are extremely complex. That complexity is well illustrated by sheer quantity of lawyers and courts represented in every culture worldwide. Or perhaps the proliferation of such is one of the causes of decreasing morality, for they seemingly can create an excuse for any crime.

In considering the specifics of morality, honesty must be considered the fundamental base of all moral traditions. It certainly is an integral part of almost every other of the basic strictures of human society. The need for honesty in any human endeavor seems obvious. Without it none of us would be able to rely on any thing said or promised by any other person. Further, mankind would still be living as other animals do following the fundamental law of survival of the fittest. Certainly there would be no advanced communally based civilization without it. This is better visualized and understood by considering ants or bees where all within a colony are honest and true to each other without exceptions. Even the natural law of survival of the fittest requires that there be honesty and trust. The fiercest lioness displays such with her cubs and others of her kind. In the natural world an individual without honesty becomes an enemy to all life including its own kind. Those individuals exhibiting such behavior are usually referred to as mad, rogue or deviant, and they are not tolerated within any society, animal or human. The only conclusion (to the dismay of the aforesaid lawyers) then is that honesty is a natural law in itself born of the very genetic structure of life. More importantly our complex civilization was built upon the principle of honesty. It would not be fair to say that man is the only species to practice deception, but since we in general rely on others being truthful lying becomes a powerful tool for those who devote their lives to deception.

While honesty is the prime component of faithfulness, it does not fully define the concept. The essence is a promise between two or more individuals to perform in a prescribed way in any of a multitude of circumstances. Many other terms reflect the same concept, with honor perhaps the most prominent. The principles of faithfulness again are observed in the natural world on both a macro and micro level. We observe that the lioness is faithful to her own kind, as are almost all other species. On the micro level we observe that the genetic codes faithfully reproduce plant or animal they are coded to produce. Unfortunately, in a time period characterized by a laxity in morality, a larger percentage of our modern population are willing to make promises which they have no intention of keeping. While others have so little strength of character that they fail to keep their once truthful promise when faced with attractive temptation. Again, man is not the only animal to exhibit lack of faith, but in the animal kingdom this sort of behavior is not the norm.

Violence is very much a part of the Earth’s ecosystem and has always been. From the "top" to the "bottom" of the ecosystem all survive at the expense of others. Life is a transitory state that is bounded by obligatory birth and death. Even the vegetarian eating his or her salad is killing and consuming living cells within the lettuce, onion, carrot, bean, or pea, etc. For the carnivore the only difference is that it eats dead cells of the animal that it kills and then consumes. We observe that in both cases, the same cycle of animal and plant consuming animals and plants. Every case reflects the violence done by the consumer to the one it eats. The violence is selective, as many species have the equivalent of non-aggression pacts, and others consume a very limited spectrum of plants or animals. All however, are food for others, including man who is systematically attacked by bacterial and viral predators as well as the odd lion, tiger, bear, etc. With regards to these non-aggression pacts, it is normal within a species to observe that they do not attack one another except in ritualized territorial or mating displays. In these displays it is uncommon for death to be the outcome. In man the understanding has always been that it is taboo to kill another of the family or tribe. With modern man this is extended to all mankind. The one major exception is in the case of war, which is a ritualized sanctioning of violence and killing for territorial reasons. Warfare is not an exclusive to man, but man has certainly inflated the concept into very large-scale orgies of killing. Despite these bouts of madness, it is nevertheless true that in our culture murder and mayhem are strictly sanctioned. This holds true for most animal and plant species within species groups and it is an entirely natural principle.

Sexual function in animals and plants is defined very rigidly and occurs only at certain times following preset ritualistic patterns. Sexual morality in humans is simple even though it seems very complex. It includes all of the moral codes we have discussed to this point, and in fact, it seems so much a part of those that it needs no further discussion. However, it is such a central part of human life that all other issues seem to orbit it. Many have written regarding the subject, and in fact sex is the cornerstone of almost all literature, both fiction and non-fiction. The movie and video industries have long recognized the necessity of love and lust stories. This reflects the fact that for man, sex is one of the most important of the primal drives orchestrated by our genes. We marvel at the mating rituals of the animals around us, but our mating rituals are more complex and lengthy. One need only visit a local high school to comprehend the intensity and a senior citizens event the length (at least 40 years) of this genetic imperative. It is always interesting to inventory the amount of ones daily time and energy that are devoted to it. Much of the world’s economy is based upon supplying the clothing and cosmetics that seem a necessary part of this great dance of attraction, attachment and ultimately procreation.

Procreation is the reason and cause of sex. In the world of both animals and plants sex is simply the most expedient method of providing for production of ever more competitive offspring vies a vie evolution. For this reason, it is very important in both worlds. From this innovation came the origins of males in a world devoted previously to females. The evolution of male function is interesting in that at first males had no other function than providing genes. The fact that males ever came to be is testimony to the importance of sex as a successful ploy in the evolution of life. Since the time when the first males came to be, male function in the animal kingdom has become so varied that we currently find a spectrum wherein they have no active part in rearing of progeny to having sole responsibility.

Humans have evolved their own maximal system for raising children that is very sophisticated when compared with those of other animals. We should not assume that this system was invented but rather it evolved over time and thus describes a current maximization of the factors that favor success of progeny. As with all such points on a cyclical curve, it is always changing but the rate of change for such a fundamental factor is measured best in tens of thousands of years. Even these extraordinarily long cycles will reflect the increasing pace of human progress but obviously those changes will not be obvious even in ten life times.

The optimum for providing human children the best chance of success in life has been and is simply the family consisting of a mother, father, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and if you will, tribe. While other methods have been tried (the most notably recent failure was in the old Soviet Union) this represents the optimum for teaching ethics and important social and life skills. Out of this base were born traditional sexual and ethical morality as defined by genetics and experience. Time has shown that departure from these norms yields varying negative results (statistically speaking) when compared to the standard. It must be remembered that there are an almost infinite number of permutations to this basic concept, and that if their family teaches children poor ethics, they mostly will become adults with poor ethics. This is better understood by considering the various cultures world wide where given the same familial background as the rest of the world, yet their ethical standards show plainly in their lack of progress and the corruption of their leaders.

Gratuitous sex when examined in the light of science reveals its many flaws with respect to natural law. Since the imperative established by our genes is that we survive long enough to procreate and provide a maximum opportunity for our offspring to thrive; it is clear that any sexual activity that does not lead to an enduring union is counterproductive. Natural law as described does not include recreational sex (extra or pre marital) in any of its guises. (Obviously this does not pertain to sex within marriage, “which” acts as a bond between partners while providing pleasure to both.) To say that such behavior is deviant may seem harsh, in light of our current moral atmosphere, but from the genetic point of view, it is tantamount to genetic suicide. Statistically speaking, offspring born to such unstable parents are less likely to be successful than those from traditional families are. While it may not be said that exceptions to this are rare it is nevertheless true that from a purely demographic point of view that a higher percentage of children will be successful in life if they have a stable family background. Thus we see that even the seeming sexual complexity in humans is in realty not much more complex than that of other species in the animal family. That which is complex is the spectrum of man’s interpretation and implementation of the natural laws.

The interplay of the almost infinite numbers of cycles that could be described for man paints a moving picture of the progress of man through time. Though many with apocalyptic views and hopes may feel otherwise, the general course traveled so far by mankind and indeed the Earth’s ecosystem, is one of gradual progress, if one accepts the premise that man is the focal point of this creation. Progress is not a stagnation where things do not change (to the dismay of environmentalists), but one that reflects the continuing evolution of life in general and of man in particular. The evolution of the Earth has never been stagnant; it is a dynamic system in which success is found in innovation both mental and physical with the old always being replaced with the new.

There is one moral law that is not a part of the natural law. The concept of this law is very simple to understand. It is not easily rationalized, and so all that care to apply the test to their individual actions know full well what is right as versus wrong. This law is that we love others as ourselves, and our Father gave it to us so that we might learn to transcend the innate greed of survival at the cost of others. There is nothing in the natural law that can be compared to this concept simply because it is the antithesis of survival of the fittest. Even in a herd of animals where they cooperate as a group to repel predators, it is still each fighting to survive with no altruism. In such situations when it becomes evident that flight is the only recourse, each individual fends for its own self-interest. Always under extreme conditions it is still the strongest and fittest that survive. In mankind we witness daily examples of self-sacrifice that have great power to warm our hearts and souls. This is contrasted by the self-serving within our society who devote their lives to gratification of the innate urges for power, sex, and wealth at all others expense. Unfortunately for us, we are at a point in our moral cycle where more of population than usual are devoting themselves to such transitory empty goals. This has led to an increase in all areas of criminal activity, which has only increased the suffering of the innocents. The future will bring the reversal of this circumstance. However, the real challenges for man will always be confronted on a personal level in the everyday decisions of life.

Thus we see that understanding life and human motivation is greatly helped by understanding the science of life. Many in our society are distrustful or ignorant of science, but they should not be for it reinforces conventional wisdom, religion and any other search for morality and truth. Truth is the goal of all science, but for mankind there is a higher purpose than just finding truth, and that is to become more than the primal flesh would dictate.

Self-sacrificing love is the answer for those who search for the meaning of life. Science and the philosophies of the world cannot provide that answer, but if any individual can develop self-sacrificing love for all they will find the Father (Father & Mother), who are the authors of the new law, as well.