I've had some thoughts the past week. It's not exactly a theory but I wonder if it has some merit. Bear with me, it's a bit of a rant.
Mainly I had been thinking about why we are intelligent and where morals fit into the picture. If I understand evolution and history correctly we're incredibly lucky to exist. Had the dinosaurs not gone extinct we wouldn't be here, had the flightless birds not lost their position at the top of the food chain we wouldn't be here etc. but it wasn't all luck. There is a design, although "blind", with a clear and singular objective. The level of intelligence we have reached is just another part of this design. The reason why we're the only species on earth that are, for the lack of a better word, intelligent is because the conditions need to be just right (and we killed the Neanderthals eheheh). Exactly the way it is with our planet, the conditions are just right to allow life. Dolphins and chimpanzees would be the most obvious candidates for new intelligent species, if circumstances allowed for it.
Think of convergent evolution. During a period in the world animals developed sabretooths. Most famously of course the big cats but also marsupials (family that holds kangaroos, opposums, koalas etc.). This for example was not a sabretoothed cat
So to use that as an analogy, we're just one of the species that was lucky enough to get a fancy set of teeth.
I saw an experiment with a chimpanzee where they attached a tube to the wall with at the bottom a nut. He couldn't get it out with his finger so he tried to find something else. He basically did nothing for 10 minutes, then he walked over to his water tray and transported the water to the tube using his mouth. After 2-3 times the nut was high enough in the tube to be grabbed. How many people would have figured this out in 10 minutes?
In another experiment they had a box with a nut inside. In order to get the nut they'd need to complete 3 steps (tap something, pull something, turn something). A person showed them how to do it and they successfully imitated it. Afterwards they used the same box, except this time it was see-through. This showed that the first 2 steps were completely useless (you're just tapping the box) and you only needed to turn something. The chimpanzees ignored the first two steps and got the nut in 1 step. They did the same experiment on kids. The kids would complete all 3 steps, even though the first 2 did absolutely nothing.
This obviously shows how intelligent chimps are but it also shows a child's readiness to be taught. And adults show a readiness to teach. These type of things contributed to our current position, not just intelligence. Some chimp tribes use tools. One chimp will have figured it out, others see it and imitate but they are unwilling to teach, so anything new they learn has a danger of being lost. They never manage to create collective knowledge, which is one of the foundations of our existence.
It seems like we got a package from nature along the way and our intelligence was only one of the things found inside (like the need to learn/teach). Everything in that package was necessary for the next step in evolution. There was a bigger design than simply an increase in intelligence. Part of our behavior can be attributed to our place in the primate family but perhaps we also a set amount of characteristics associated with that package alone. All members of the Great Ape family received this package but only we were lucky enough to benefit from it as much as we did, due to the right circumstances.
Because animals can't think like we do the term '(un)selfish' can't apply but for the sake of discussion every animal is selfish. Their relationships are either parasitic or mutualism, where both parties benefit, but there is never an unselfish act. Herds, packs etc. all benefit the members.
But how do you explain unselfishness in people? There are no niceties in nature, only survival. In the animal kingdom the adoptee is a parasite (the adopter receives no benefit and is actually helping to spread the genes of someone else). There is no wrong or right, there just is. Still every person has a gut feeling of what's right and wrong.
In a third experiment 2 chimps were placed in cages across from each other. In between the cages there was a tray with food which could be slided to either cage. Chimp A had a rope in its cage that would make the tray fall, meaning neither ape would get to eat. Chimp B had a rope that would pull the tray his way. In scenario 1 they placed the tray in front of Chimp A. As he was eating Chimp B pulled his rope and got the booty, which made Chimp A very angry and he pulled his rope, dropping the tray to the floor. In scenario 2 they again placed the tray in front of Chimp A only now a person took his tray away and slided it to Chimp B. This time Chimp A let Chimp B eat it as it understood that it was the person, an impartial third party, that caused it. It seems like they have some basic understanding of justice.
Animals are destructive but because of their limited intelligence they can never do much damage in the big picture. We have the power to destroy our earth and kill all life, which would go against nature's design. Everything in nature is in balance and we continously disturb the natural order of things. We've risen above nature. It doesn't make sense to me that nature's design would be so flawed.
So are morals really just a part of this package and did chimpanzees (and other Great Apes) receive it as well (only they didn't evolve far enough to use it)? If another species reached our level of intelligence would it show different sexual behavior etc. but still share our sense of morality?
If it is part of the package what would be its purpose? Perhaps it's a natural part of our evolution towards a fully conscious being as a way of counteracting our destructive nature. Or maybe part of nature's design is creating something that only has instincts for the most basic things (sex, food, shelter) but uses its intelligence and morals to accomplish the rest. Morality is simply the next phase of evolution. Would our purpose be to protect life? Does nature want to create a conscious guide for life as a whole?
This also leads me to some other questions. Can an animal reach evolutionary perfection? Would there be a point where a species is completely done? Is our current being merely a transition between one level of animals (which would include all animals except us) and another level (one which has not been reached .. at least on our planet)? Will we shed our sadistic nature and will our "selfish instinct" eventually diminish or completely vanish?
PS: Reading this makes me think it's far too long, incoherent and basically inarticulate so my apologies if you read it and it doesn't make sense ehehehe.
Mainly I had been thinking about why we are intelligent and where morals fit into the picture. If I understand evolution and history correctly we're incredibly lucky to exist. Had the dinosaurs not gone extinct we wouldn't be here, had the flightless birds not lost their position at the top of the food chain we wouldn't be here etc. but it wasn't all luck. There is a design, although "blind", with a clear and singular objective. The level of intelligence we have reached is just another part of this design. The reason why we're the only species on earth that are, for the lack of a better word, intelligent is because the conditions need to be just right (and we killed the Neanderthals eheheh). Exactly the way it is with our planet, the conditions are just right to allow life. Dolphins and chimpanzees would be the most obvious candidates for new intelligent species, if circumstances allowed for it.
Think of convergent evolution. During a period in the world animals developed sabretooths. Most famously of course the big cats but also marsupials (family that holds kangaroos, opposums, koalas etc.). This for example was not a sabretoothed cat
So to use that as an analogy, we're just one of the species that was lucky enough to get a fancy set of teeth.
I saw an experiment with a chimpanzee where they attached a tube to the wall with at the bottom a nut. He couldn't get it out with his finger so he tried to find something else. He basically did nothing for 10 minutes, then he walked over to his water tray and transported the water to the tube using his mouth. After 2-3 times the nut was high enough in the tube to be grabbed. How many people would have figured this out in 10 minutes?
In another experiment they had a box with a nut inside. In order to get the nut they'd need to complete 3 steps (tap something, pull something, turn something). A person showed them how to do it and they successfully imitated it. Afterwards they used the same box, except this time it was see-through. This showed that the first 2 steps were completely useless (you're just tapping the box) and you only needed to turn something. The chimpanzees ignored the first two steps and got the nut in 1 step. They did the same experiment on kids. The kids would complete all 3 steps, even though the first 2 did absolutely nothing.
This obviously shows how intelligent chimps are but it also shows a child's readiness to be taught. And adults show a readiness to teach. These type of things contributed to our current position, not just intelligence. Some chimp tribes use tools. One chimp will have figured it out, others see it and imitate but they are unwilling to teach, so anything new they learn has a danger of being lost. They never manage to create collective knowledge, which is one of the foundations of our existence.
It seems like we got a package from nature along the way and our intelligence was only one of the things found inside (like the need to learn/teach). Everything in that package was necessary for the next step in evolution. There was a bigger design than simply an increase in intelligence. Part of our behavior can be attributed to our place in the primate family but perhaps we also a set amount of characteristics associated with that package alone. All members of the Great Ape family received this package but only we were lucky enough to benefit from it as much as we did, due to the right circumstances.
Because animals can't think like we do the term '(un)selfish' can't apply but for the sake of discussion every animal is selfish. Their relationships are either parasitic or mutualism, where both parties benefit, but there is never an unselfish act. Herds, packs etc. all benefit the members.
But how do you explain unselfishness in people? There are no niceties in nature, only survival. In the animal kingdom the adoptee is a parasite (the adopter receives no benefit and is actually helping to spread the genes of someone else). There is no wrong or right, there just is. Still every person has a gut feeling of what's right and wrong.
In a third experiment 2 chimps were placed in cages across from each other. In between the cages there was a tray with food which could be slided to either cage. Chimp A had a rope in its cage that would make the tray fall, meaning neither ape would get to eat. Chimp B had a rope that would pull the tray his way. In scenario 1 they placed the tray in front of Chimp A. As he was eating Chimp B pulled his rope and got the booty, which made Chimp A very angry and he pulled his rope, dropping the tray to the floor. In scenario 2 they again placed the tray in front of Chimp A only now a person took his tray away and slided it to Chimp B. This time Chimp A let Chimp B eat it as it understood that it was the person, an impartial third party, that caused it. It seems like they have some basic understanding of justice.
Animals are destructive but because of their limited intelligence they can never do much damage in the big picture. We have the power to destroy our earth and kill all life, which would go against nature's design. Everything in nature is in balance and we continously disturb the natural order of things. We've risen above nature. It doesn't make sense to me that nature's design would be so flawed.
So are morals really just a part of this package and did chimpanzees (and other Great Apes) receive it as well (only they didn't evolve far enough to use it)? If another species reached our level of intelligence would it show different sexual behavior etc. but still share our sense of morality?
If it is part of the package what would be its purpose? Perhaps it's a natural part of our evolution towards a fully conscious being as a way of counteracting our destructive nature. Or maybe part of nature's design is creating something that only has instincts for the most basic things (sex, food, shelter) but uses its intelligence and morals to accomplish the rest. Morality is simply the next phase of evolution. Would our purpose be to protect life? Does nature want to create a conscious guide for life as a whole?
This also leads me to some other questions. Can an animal reach evolutionary perfection? Would there be a point where a species is completely done? Is our current being merely a transition between one level of animals (which would include all animals except us) and another level (one which has not been reached .. at least on our planet)? Will we shed our sadistic nature and will our "selfish instinct" eventually diminish or completely vanish?
PS: Reading this makes me think it's far too long, incoherent and basically inarticulate so my apologies if you read it and it doesn't make sense ehehehe.
