Morality is hard wired and can be turned off

[downbeatplumb]

Where is your god now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8593748.stm

[AtheistPhil]

On the same subject :

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notroc...-accident/

[tackattack]

The first one appears to be a viable experiment, however 20 is a small number. It also seemed less like actual morality and more interpretations of other's intent in both articles. I wish it were more all-inclusive on individual morality... but good article none-the-less. Hopefully they'll keep doing good research.

[The_Flying_Skeptic]

Where is your god now? I've seen one of the theists in the forums say that his deity hardwired morals into our heart. Theists could easily use this to say that their god naturally hardwired morality yet evil science will be the one to shut morality down. Nice. On the other hand, I can see this going against some theists' ideas on 'free will'.

[fr0d0]

How can science change our nature? The bible states many times that Gods law is imprinted on our hearts... I don't see how this is altered at all.

[downbeatplumb]

Where is your god now? I've seen one of the theists in the forums say that his deity hardwired morals into our heart. Theists could easily use this to say that their god naturally hardwired morality yet evil science will be the one to shut morality down. Nice. On the other hand, I can see this going against some theists' ideas on 'free will'.

Well I have heard the arguement that without a god we have no model for our morals and that they are more or less baseless without a diety.

Bollocks of course.

as johnny five said when asked who told him it was wrong to kill, 'I told me'

good film short circuit.

[tackattack]

DBP, I'm glad you haven't got arguements like that here, truly worhtless that would be. People shouldn't get their morality from anything other than themselves, forged though society and ideals, not unchanging dogma and fear.

[The_Flying_Skeptic]

How can science change our nature? The bible states many times that Gods law is imprinted on our hearts... I don't see how this is altered at all.

I thought the article explained how 'we' or 'science' could alter our own nature. what's your malfunction?

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DBP, I'm glad you haven't got arguements like that here, truly worhtless that would be. People shouldn't get their morality from anything other than themselves, forged though society and ideals, not unchanging dogma and fear.

I think we inevitably get most of our morals from fear whether from fear of hell, fear of jail, or fear of someone's revenge... I'm not trying to disagree with you, though, because i do agree with you on the most part - there is enough reason to be moral without the dogma of hell.

side note: i was reading a psychology book once that suggested that the Bible's support of waiting 'til marriage for intercourse was a product of fear of disease. STDs, during the time, were interpreted as the Christian god's punishment for promiscuous behavior. They must have noticed that the most promiscuous were likely to get infected or 'punished' and deducted that their god frowned upon promiscuity.

[tackattack]

same with the mosianic law of washing hands, and holy water, most likely even baptism.. frequently keeping the body purified (free from disease) is a reoccuring concept in most religions.

[TheMultiverseTheory]

Morality is the bedtime story we tell our children in order to convince ourselves that the world truly is black and white. I submit to you that morality is as hollow as the "o" in God, and like such, is interpretated differently per individual as the definition behind God. What is right to someone is wrong to another. Wrong to someone is right to another.

This article, though highly informative and intriguing, makes me think merely that the changes in "morality" means only that it tampers with our basic personal opinions on what is and what isn't moral. A muslim can justify cutting the head off a child as if it is perfectly acceptable. To me, that is proof that it is Religion that alters our perception of the collective morality. The Golden Rules.

The magnet is only showing us what the religious have done for centuries. And the morals altered, are merely personal opinion in the first place. This isn't a great big white world, but grey.

That is just my input.