in thoughts...
Friday, November 14, 2003
I'm Natural, seeking to become Genetically-Modified...
Check out my blog entry "Loading.... Loading... 100% Matrix Reloaded...." on Thu 13 Nov before reading this one... Read also the comments by Zee and Sunshine...
I must say this is the type of controversial stuff I've been bracing myself for... to realize that my opinions, and sometimes my values, may differ from my friends... But it's good to know... Though in the light of that entry, I do feel kinda small - not physically, but morally... That I had recklessly decided to throw away 25 000 lives + hurting people related to those 25 000 people...
Was doing revision for Social Psych today, though revision is not a good word to use cos the chapters I read today, I'm seeing them for the first time... Anyway, was reading the chapter on Altruism: Helping Others...
Well basically altruism is "a motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interest"... my choice to save my loved one is self-interest, while Zee and Sunshine's choice to save the 25 000 lives is genuine altruism...
Then I read the part, where the explanation for evolutionary psychology comes in... it says "Our genes dispose us to care for relatives in whom they reside." So if I choose to save my mom instead of 25 000 other people, I'm "natural" - nature predisposes me to behave this way... that is if you buy the evolutionary psychology viewpoint... That didn't say anything about me wanting to save my friends or my lover... Another aspect of evolutionary psych says that we tend to help people with physical similarities, as they share common genes with us, as manifested in the similar physical appearance... Also we share more genes with our neighbours rather than foreigners - according to the book... So I'll be more likely to want to help someone living near me, rather than a foreigner...Hmm... maybe that can explain me wanting to save my friends rather than the 25 000 lives elsewhere...
All this gene talk - damn... My ancestors didn't evolve much before they passed the genes to me or what?! From now on, you are entitled to call me "Miss Cavewoman"...
Yet I have the feeling that if I asked my mom, she would rather I save the 25 000 lives than save her... Just a VERY VERY STRONG GUT feeling that she'll say that... So where did I get my selfish genes from??!!
What can I say.... I'll seek to modify my genes... and hope that my next generation gets more altruistic... haha...
I'm Natural, seeking to become Genetically-Modified...
"Fallen heroes do not have children. If self-sacrifice results in fewer descendants, the genes that allow heroes to be created can be expected to disappear gradually from the population."
E.O. Wilson in "On Human Nature"
I must say this is the type of controversial stuff I've been bracing myself for... to realize that my opinions, and sometimes my values, may differ from my friends... But it's good to know... Though in the light of that entry, I do feel kinda small - not physically, but morally... That I had recklessly decided to throw away 25 000 lives + hurting people related to those 25 000 people...
Was doing revision for Social Psych today, though revision is not a good word to use cos the chapters I read today, I'm seeing them for the first time... Anyway, was reading the chapter on Altruism: Helping Others...
Well basically altruism is "a motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interest"... my choice to save my loved one is self-interest, while Zee and Sunshine's choice to save the 25 000 lives is genuine altruism...
Then I read the part, where the explanation for evolutionary psychology comes in... it says "Our genes dispose us to care for relatives in whom they reside." So if I choose to save my mom instead of 25 000 other people, I'm "natural" - nature predisposes me to behave this way... that is if you buy the evolutionary psychology viewpoint... That didn't say anything about me wanting to save my friends or my lover... Another aspect of evolutionary psych says that we tend to help people with physical similarities, as they share common genes with us, as manifested in the similar physical appearance... Also we share more genes with our neighbours rather than foreigners - according to the book... So I'll be more likely to want to help someone living near me, rather than a foreigner...Hmm... maybe that can explain me wanting to save my friends rather than the 25 000 lives elsewhere...
All this gene talk - damn... My ancestors didn't evolve much before they passed the genes to me or what?! From now on, you are entitled to call me "Miss Cavewoman"...
Yet I have the feeling that if I asked my mom, she would rather I save the 25 000 lives than save her... Just a VERY VERY STRONG GUT feeling that she'll say that... So where did I get my selfish genes from??!!
What can I say.... I'll seek to modify my genes... and hope that my next generation gets more altruistic... haha...
I'm Natural, seeking to become Genetically-Modified...
"Fallen heroes do not have children. If self-sacrifice results in fewer descendants, the genes that allow heroes to be created can be expected to disappear gradually from the population."
E.O. Wilson in "On Human Nature"
posted by Sodium-squared at 11/14/2003 11:45:00 PM
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