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the 2nd video was a lot better than the first, but it was like an hour...
One of the points he talks about is where does morality come from? He gives some options. I'll mesh my own opinions into his examples. I recommend that you watch it if you have time one day.
Nature. We are just smarter animals right? But then, if morality came from nature it doesn't make too much sense since it's survival of the fittest out there for the most part. Sure some animals care for the sick but never to the extent of humans i would say. If we followed nature's example we should just aim to keep the strong and leave the weak behind...but there's something about us in our conscience that would give us guilt if we did. So where is that from?
Society. We aim to have morals because it benefits society as a whole. When we care for each other and keep everyone healthy our society is stronger and therefore our gene pool can win out others. The problem is that while I am helping society there is no further benefit to me unless I push its limits. What good is it to help others replicate and spread their genes while I am wasting my resources to help them? You see, I am also individualistic and secretly also want to stand out. And if life's whole purpose is to propagate my genes...so while I'm tricking everyone that I am a good guy, I will secretly do things outside of society's norm if I can get away from it to gain the upper advantage. Also, if society decided what is moral then it would just be a voting process. In the video Tim uses this example: Genocide is wrong then only because we say so right now. In the future if majority votes otherwise, then it is right? Somehow even if 90% of the population can think it is right...doesn't make it right. So I don't think society can also give an absolute answer as to what is acceptable. It's plausible that our morals and conscience can come from society, but it is just as probable as...
A higher being/God. There was someone responsible for causing our existence and our sense of right and wrong and our conscience descends from that. Tim argues that it takes the same amount of faith to believe in God as to not believe in him. If there was a God, then it makes sense to not commit crime even when I can get away with it; because of punishment later on. Also, it makes sense that we feel guilt from doing something bad even when we are not caught. Tim says that you can't prove the existence of God with morality, but you cannot disprove it also. It's about intellectual, personal experience and social reasons that compel someone to choose to believe. Right now obviously he is only discussing intellect. Frankly, you cannot persuade someone to change sides based only on intellectual arguments alone because you cannot prove either way whether God exists or doesn't. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you have to believe in God to be a morally outstanding citizen. Believers can be cruel, and so can non-believers. That is not the point of this discussion though. I would be interested in questioning the altruist his motives though, because it would seem to go against my natural instincts and evolution theory. On the other hand, if this person was a believer, then it would readily make sense since he expects accountability for his life after death. Again, nothing proves or disproves objective morality or God. Tim just makes a point that things seem to be less complicated and make more sense when you have a higher being in the picture.
There were a lot more other points in the video that are worth watching that I don't have time to write about.
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