Morality and Evolution
The following video features five “questions for the atheist.” Each is based on a common fallacy or misconception on the part of theists. Let’s take a look at the arguments made, and where they fail. This was originally intended to be one post, but each of the five sections turned out to be long enough for its own post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTYe_V2hOZ4
4. How did morals evolve?
This is a bit of an odd question, since the speaker has already addressed the issue of morality previously. He makes the mistake of saying that self-consciousness or self-awareness played a role in the evolution of morals. They did not. The process of natural selection and random change did. In other words, people thousands of years ago did not need to know what evolution was in order to evolve morals; they simply had to respond to the changes in their environment and species–including the consequences of their actions–and adjust their behavior, their culture, their priorities and values accordingly. That’s it.
His argument is as ridiculous as saying that a bird ancestor had to consciously think about what would be the best way to travel long distances in order to develop wings. Proto-birds did not need governmental councils and reams of scientific research in order to “figure out” that wings were beneficial. They just had to act and respond to changes in their environment and in their species. And the same goes for early humans.
He gives an example of cave men killing each other and feeling guilt. Why would he feel guilt, when killing the opposition is good for his survival? Yet again, he (like many creationists and intelligent designers) unknowingly gives away the game by demonstrating his lack of understanding of the theory of evolution and how it applies to morals.
Killing a foreigner was indeed good for the survival of the clan or tribe, and therefore for the individual, but killing a fellow member of the tribe was bad for the tribe and for that individual. That is why the earliest forms of codified morality (demonstrated wonderfully in the Old Testament, for example) praised the killing and conquest of foreigners, while nevertheless condemning the killing of fellow in-group members. “Love thy neighbor” really meant “love your fellow Jew, but be willing and eager to kill anyone who stands in the Jews’ way.”
MORE ARTICLES:
