RE: trying to adopt an amoral worldview
January 16, 2021 at 8:50 pm
(This post was last modified: January 16, 2021 at 8:59 pm by Smaug.)
(January 16, 2021 at 7:30 pm)bonbonbaron Wrote: Hi, I''m new here. So... I came here because I could use some pointers if you have any.
I left Christianity a decade ago after reading the whole Bible. I had too many intellectual problems with it. But now, a decade after the fact, I still find myself looking at people in terms of "good" and "bad". But I've seen "bad" people be rewarded lavishly by nature for stabbing their friends in the back and stealing their girlfriends AND friends; these people are some of the most loved people I know. I still see that through the lens of "fairness"; I see it as being a bad person, being immoral, etc. I would love to come out of this mindset and adopt another one more in tune with the way the universe actually works. I don't want to be that weak person who thinks he'll get what he wants by being "good". Unfortunately I don't have a good feel for how much of life should be seen as "climbing the dominance hierarchy" and "being kind to your fellow man". I dunno. I'm just confused right now, and if this post made no sense, I wouldn't blame you.
If you get what I'm trying to say though, I'd really appreciate some pointers. I'm sure I'm not as seasoned in the "real-world" thinking as a lot of you atheists-for-life are. Thanks.
Moral codes are products of human developement as a social species. A solitary predator benefits from its strength and agility and social species benefit from cooperation. But cooperation only works if boundaries are imposed on aggressive and self-serving behaviour. To put it simple, unhindered killing and stealing will tear a society apart in no time for obvious reasons: there will be no mutual trust and cooperation will not be possible. This is an extremely simplified example but it should get across the main point: morals exist for objective, natural reasons. However, it doesn't mean that they're all 'just' or relevant. They aren't set in stone. The world changes and moral codes, too. It's useful to scrutinize them through reasoning.