In Other Words

Ethics: Competition

This post continues on from several previous posts, of which the most recent one (before this) can be found here. Note that I posted twice today. If anything is unclear look there for an explanation.

I believe that the minds of people have become a battlefield for different Ethical Models (some would call it ideologies, but I think that sounds a bit too negative.)

These compete with each other, much like animals compete with each other for dominance of different geographical area. Though I don’t see them as living organisms exactly, I do believe that they act very much like living organisms, in that they mutate, ‘strive’ to survive and compete for limited resources.

Ethical Models all try to fight for the same niche in our mindscape and we cannot have several controlling us at the same time. One Ethical Model will hold dominance, even if that Ethical Model might be a fusion of different models that have entered our thoughts.

This is, as I mentioned before, a battle of the fittest (Ethical Darwinism). Each Ethical Model has a survival strategy. Some ‘replicate’ easily (i.e. are easy to accept by people) while others imbed themselves very deeply into a person’s psyche (like a cult). Yet others are very close and therefore compatible with already existing ethical models. Some give the people that believe in those models a better chance of prospering than others and thereby spread out across the population.

The western Ethical Model can, for instance, be said to fit into this last category. The western Ethical Model has led to a great deal of wealth for those people that have embraced it and this has led to the Ethical Model (i.e. western values) to be desirable for many other societies (the effect of this has been the steady spread of western values across the globe).

Other Ethical Models might offer solidarity, diversity, adaptability or a whole other host of advantages to those that hold to that specific belief. The greater the advantages of the model, the stronger that model becomes and the greater a portion of the world population and, by extension, the world’s resources that Ethical Model will end up controlling.

Since different Ethical Models are in conflict with each other there is a constant struggle for more territory (not physical territory, but rather the territory in our mindscape). Generally these battles are fought out with words, but sometimes (Iraq could be seen as an example) these battles of these different Ethical Models actually spill over into physical violence.

Ultimately this type of competition can be seen as beneficial, as each ethical model will end up becoming more suited to the environment in which they exist. (Many people would of course argue that the loss of life is not worth it and I could cheekily answer that that is just a judgement call, which is subjective anyway).

Each Ethical Model has to strive to become a leaner, meaner survival machine, which is better suited to the environment around it. This means that it allows us to work in harmony with the world around us, as well as with our newest discoveries.

There are two types of mutation that occur in the mind. The first type of mutation we are all familiar with, namely the mutation as information is passed from mind to mind (and reinterpreted by a slightly different worldview), which is basically the same as the mutations that can occur from parents to children.

The second form of mutation is unique to ideas and computer programs (and I’m not going to talk about the latter). This is mutation within a lifetime. To use an analogy, originally it was thought that a giraffe’s neck was as long as it was because it constantly stretched for leaves. Ultimately this would lead to the neck stretching slightly and this newly stretched neck was then passed on to the children. Mutation within one generation, if you will. Of course DNA disproved this theory.

Of course Ethical Models don’t seem to have any DNA. Any modification that occurs within the mind of a person as they consider, adapt and modify will be passed on to the next person that they tell their Ethical Model to. In this way evolution happens far more quickly.

Ultimately this type of evolution is bound to lead to better ethical models, which will give society a consistently better chance at survival.

posted by Symbol @ 18.11.05