Posted by Tucker Lieberman on November 12, 19103 at 20:26:04:

In Reply to: Psychological evolution... posted by R.Rangan on November 12, 19103 at 01:38:39:

R. Rangan wrote:
"We don't seem to have learnt or [psychologically] progressed in any way ... Are we to reconcile to such a state for ever?"

I think there is hope for progress because we are self-conscious. Our territorial tendencies are simply mammalian instincts, and, knowing this, we can begin to devise peaceful solutions and to act more on principles than on instincts.

The major stumbling block, I fear, is a false belief that our territorial and hostile instincts reflect a cosmic moral law and not biology or culture. When we say things like, "We should use force to defend ourselves because God wants us to do so," we are forgetting that our urge to defend ourselves comes from evolutionary instinct, not from "God"--and thus we rationalize the very behavior that we should transcend.

• The Resplendent Tree

Follow Ups:

• Re: Psychological evolution... Budro91 01:54:07 12/29/103 (1)
  • Re: Psychological evolution... Nathan Todd 15:14:15 7/06/104 (0)

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