Samantha

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Ancient human evolution is “unparalleled” in nature.

I too have read it was climate change that drove the evolution of new human species, because it opened up new niches.  Every new niche means a new species.  But

the pattern in Homo species suggests that technology played a far greater role in speci…

[Read more]

But if there are, say, 3 green triangles, and 1000 orange circles, in the world, which is more unique?  Green triangles or orange circles?

Unseen wrote:
“Unique” doesn’t play well with qualifiers.

I disagree, I think that something can be more or less unique, or singular: more or less the same as other things.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
If you are constrained by religious doctrine then, no matter you age, your moral code remains static especially if you just swallow it in ‘tablet form’ without ever thinking about it.

I do think that religious people think about these things all day long, and they’re bound to make progress of some kind.  Reli…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Can our capacity for moral reasoning be strengthened.

My moral reasoning has definitely been strengthened a lot as I have got older.  I don’t know whether it’s experience, or learning about theory, or both.

What has made it get better are two or three things: more compassion, more (cognitive) empathy – figuring out…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
The extraordinary Life and Work of Frans de Waal.

I was sorry to hear of the death of Frans de Waal.  He was much more than a primatologist.  He gave me several fundamental insights into moral philosophy as well, about natural normativity and the evolutionary basis of competition.  He was kind enough to reply to on…[Read more]

Belle Rose wrote:
It reminds me of the story of two wolves:

I think this article by Scott Barry Kaufman is really well put together and has some interesting theories.  It seems that SBK really knows what he is talking about.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01006

jakelafort wrote:
But what do you think of the litmus test if you will of some of my best friends are…?

I don’t think a White person who genuinely loves their Black friends can be racist towards them except out of ignorance.  All of us are still discovering how racism works.

jakelafort wrote:
Curious to know the impression of others here on that chestnut…some of my best friends are blank.

I have a friend who is mixed race (Welsh (I think) & Black American airman) and she was involved with a group of Labour party activists (left-wing, supposedly anti-racist).  They used their anti-racist virtue-signalling as a co…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
A look at Moral Foundations Theory (with video).

I like Moral Foundations Theory, it’s been influential, but I think it suffers from not having a theoretical basis to explain it.  It’s put together ad-hoc, which is fine, but has no theory, beyond promoting cooperation that promotes survival and reproduction.  C…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Men and women tend to be quite different in fundamental ways, some cultural for sure but others seem to be genetically predisposed or hardwired.

I would agree with that.  I’m not sure what they are.

Frans de Waal says young female chimps and bonobos have been observed carrying around sticks cradled in their arms as if they were…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
They’re both dominance hierarchies.

I think they operate through a mixture of coercion and consent.

Unseen wrote:
Both matriarchies and patriarchies can be egalitarian or nonegalitarian.

They’re both dominance hierarchies.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Then this rubbish is being taken seriously.

It goes against the ethics of care.  A man would presumably help another man who was in a difficult situation.

To buy a woman all her drinks or an expensive dinner puts her under an obligation.  She might prefer to pay for them herself to avoid that.

Simon Paynton wrote:
It comes as part of the package of the classical model.

Also, (the hypothesis is that) that is what monogamous egalitarian pair-bonding is for: for the man to help the woman raise children.