We're pack animals. We need others to survive, and not just to protect us from other packs. Morals are different from society to society, but we all have rules of conduct for living in the pack. Is there a point? Yes. To be able to live with the pack.
That said, I do think there's more to it. My moral code can be summed up this way:
1.) In the very likely event that this life is all we have, I should do my best to live it as fully and well as I can.
2.) It follows that everyone else also likely has only one shot at living, so I should try my best not to screw up anyone else's chance.
3.) If I particularly like my pack, and being a valued member of it, I should do my best to help out less fortunate members of my pack, for the good of the whole pack, and because what comes around goes around in small communities.
Clearly not everyone shares this code, but it has worked very well for me. There are some pretty horrifying moral codes out there, and it's clear that humans can't agree on anything. Murder? Nope. Child Rape? Nope. Cannibalism? Nope. Incest? Nope.
So there is a point- to be a member of the pack, and we are, depending on where we live, to varying degrees capable of dissenting from the moral code of our tribes. We can choose to do more or less than our pack demands from us, and we have personal reasons for those choices. Other great apes have societal rules. Extinct hominids took care of the sick and elderly. Our technology allows us to to better for the good of our packs. However, few of us give a shit for other tribes and their customs. Why? Because we weren't born to that pack.
That said, I do think there's more to it. My moral code can be summed up this way:
1.) In the very likely event that this life is all we have, I should do my best to live it as fully and well as I can.
2.) It follows that everyone else also likely has only one shot at living, so I should try my best not to screw up anyone else's chance.
3.) If I particularly like my pack, and being a valued member of it, I should do my best to help out less fortunate members of my pack, for the good of the whole pack, and because what comes around goes around in small communities.
Clearly not everyone shares this code, but it has worked very well for me. There are some pretty horrifying moral codes out there, and it's clear that humans can't agree on anything. Murder? Nope. Child Rape? Nope. Cannibalism? Nope. Incest? Nope.
So there is a point- to be a member of the pack, and we are, depending on where we live, to varying degrees capable of dissenting from the moral code of our tribes. We can choose to do more or less than our pack demands from us, and we have personal reasons for those choices. Other great apes have societal rules. Extinct hominids took care of the sick and elderly. Our technology allows us to to better for the good of our packs. However, few of us give a shit for other tribes and their customs. Why? Because we weren't born to that pack.
