I cannot now remember where this question came into my mind, but it is quite a fundamental one. The religions of the world provide reasons to behave ‘well’ generally using threats of damnation. Social morality, normally rooted in some religious establishment uses similar fear based arguments, the golden rule is a primary example and while it is spun toward the positive most of the time, it comes down to the same negative-reinforcement. Of course in everyday life, morality is dictated by law, which again generally stems from religious backgrounds, but more importantly still is based in fear of punishment. The question also ties quite directly into the question of the meaning of life. If one identifies why they should ‘be good’ then it is a simple matter to aim oneself at living in pursuit of bettering themselves and mankind. There is genetic fear, perhaps the initial origin of morality, that holds us responsible for the future well-being of our progeny. If we establish a stable community, based on some set of morals, where we may trust each other not to exploit whatever power might develop, then we have secured the future of our genes – biological victory!
More and more, in the modern world of complicated social structures, having children is not desired by some. If this be the case, what binds them to the evolutionarily based morality? Very quickly, we find that personal happiness, or perhaps couple-happiness dominates the decision making process, and a detachment from long term problems is likely to result. What does someone care about global climate change if they have no investment in the next generation? Taking the discussion back to the application of morals to a life’s work and taking it to the extreme, why bother conducting work aimed at long reaching impact? We must maintain that even though some members of the community may wish not to supply the next generation, there likely remains a genetic push to ensure the future remains safe for the species.
So why do I feel motivated to do good? This is a remarkably difficult question to get to the core of. If I am to reject fear as a moral motivator, there must be a positive-reinforcement to lean on. By ‘doing good’ in the sense of helping people, being pleasant, and behaving in a selfless fashion, it seems to enable my personal agenda. While ironic, behaving selflessly in order to achieve selfish goals, it would seem to stand away from the genetic motives and therefore is applicable to anyone. We have always been able to achieve more as a society and in groups than alone, so perhaps ‘good behavior’ is our mechanism to maintain access to these productive groups. Whether for personal benefit (wealth, influence, comfort, etc) or for the benefit of future generations (stability, progress, etc), our communities allow and enable us to survive and succeed while our ‘good behavior’ allows us to remain part of the productive community.
More and more, in the modern world of complicated social structures, having children is not desired by some. If this be the case, what binds them to the evolutionarily based morality? Very quickly, we find that personal happiness, or perhaps couple-happiness dominates the decision making process, and a detachment from long term problems is likely to result. What does someone care about global climate change if they have no investment in the next generation? Taking the discussion back to the application of morals to a life’s work and taking it to the extreme, why bother conducting work aimed at long reaching impact? We must maintain that even though some members of the community may wish not to supply the next generation, there likely remains a genetic push to ensure the future remains safe for the species.
So why do I feel motivated to do good? This is a remarkably difficult question to get to the core of. If I am to reject fear as a moral motivator, there must be a positive-reinforcement to lean on. By ‘doing good’ in the sense of helping people, being pleasant, and behaving in a selfless fashion, it seems to enable my personal agenda. While ironic, behaving selflessly in order to achieve selfish goals, it would seem to stand away from the genetic motives and therefore is applicable to anyone. We have always been able to achieve more as a society and in groups than alone, so perhaps ‘good behavior’ is our mechanism to maintain access to these productive groups. Whether for personal benefit (wealth, influence, comfort, etc) or for the benefit of future generations (stability, progress, etc), our communities allow and enable us to survive and succeed while our ‘good behavior’ allows us to remain part of the productive community.
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