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1.5.5.6 Unnatural is UnsustainableVersion 1.0 November 2022         (Previous Version) We have said several times that our philosophy is not driven by science and history, but it is informed by it. It is not generally useful to propose a rule that we know from history has been almost universally ignored in the past, or one that we know from science is contrary to basic human nature. We have to very careful when deciding what is consistent with or contrary to our basic human nature. Different cultures have differing views on this, and every society’s views change over time. So we need to use scientific results as much as possible, when there is a consensus, or a definitive scientific position on the matter. In many situations, there will be no relevant scientific research, or no scientific consensus. We can refer to long term global history, but this probably only emphasises that notions of our basic human nature have varied immensely between cultures and over time. Nevertheless, we have to make decisions on how to act in specific situations, so we can only do the best we can. And many cases aren’t too difficult to decide. ●  Demanding excessive selflessness: Any moral guideline or ethical rule that expects most people to be almost totally selfless will fail. *   A significant proportion of people take vows of poverty to join monasteries or nunneries, or to dedicate their lives to missionary work, serving the needy or fighting for a worthy political cause (eg saving us from global warming).  Generally this is laudable, and should encouraged. We should address as separate issues the abuses of monasteries and missionaries and the waste of resources on religious conversion and rituals rather than service to the poor. *   Problems arise if you expect such sacrifice from virtually all people. it's not going to happen. Buddhist monasteries, begun about 2,500 years ago, expect vows of poverty and chastity, and sometimes obedience to the abbot or abbess. Christian monasteries, with vows of poverty, chastity and obedience began about 1900 years ago. Ancient Greek and modern African cults expected some women to dedicate themselves to service in a temple, but this may effectively be sexual slavery. In Christianity, Jesus did advise some people to give everything they own to the poor and to follow him, but apparently didn’t expect everyone to do this. ●  Demanding complex mathematics: Any moral guideline or ethical rule that expects people to frequently perform complex calculations will fail. *   This is such an obvious observation that it is impossible to find a good example. *   A potentially misleading example relates to utilitarianism, doing the greatest good (or happiness) for the greatest number. Critics of utilitarianism unfairly say that each ethical decision would require complex calculations to sum all the gains and all the losses of all the people potentially affected by all the alternative actions, so that we can choose the action that produces the greatest good overall. If that were the case, we would be too engrossed in the calculations to ever do much at all. But we don't need to do that for each ethical choice. We can analyse common scenarios and develop rules of thumb, so after gaining some familiarity with these making ethical decisions feels like following our common sense. In summary: 1.5.5.6 It is not generally useful to propose a rule that we know from history has been almost universally ignored in the past, or one that we know from science is contrary to basic human nature. more (later)
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