Unedited notes on the integration
of science and ethics leading to an understanding of how ethical
systems can
be quantified
Presenting
ethics as a science is a daunting task. There is
little hard evidence to show that ethical views are
not subjective perspectives based on time, place,
or belief. The
existence of what might be called "moral knowledge" is
nowhere to be found in popular philosophical thinking.
If a theory of evolving ethical systems is to be
taken seriously then
there must be facts that can be translated into
moral knowledge If facts exist, they have thus
far eluded
reasonable minds. Or, perhaps they have not totally
eluded discovery. It would be unreasonable to expect
a moral science to instantly
appear fully
developed.
Scientific knowledge emerges first as an idea of
the mind, and later as substantial knowledge. An
example of this might be the early idea of a periodic
chart of chemical elements. There was in the beginning
an idea that the various elements might be related
to each other in ways not easily seen. From this
early notion developed the periodic chart revealing
many hidden aspects of chemical interactions. Charting
ethical evolution is no less difficult than the
development of the periodic
chart. In the social world where actions inspire
reactions and sometimes overreactions leading to
social conflict,
inefficiency and poverty there exist, in theory,
underlying principles of human behavior.
One must
start somewhere to systematically track down all of the clues
leading
to a a solid science of ethical evolution.
There are three possible approaches to ethical analysis
that can be considered here. First, what could be called "emotional
reactivity" lends important clues to the evolution of ethical
systems. The evolution of ethical systems could be viewed as
a spontaneous, self-organizing system. Here, strong emotions
are necessary to produce powerful and enduring societies, but
at the same time mechanisms must be in place to keep emotions
in check. Second, self-organizing systems can be described in
cybernetic terms. Human actions lead to reactions and sometimes
overreactions in relation to factors of
human reactivity. This leads to the third
important aspect of moral evolution, charting moral knowledge
based on the interplay of "reactivity," strong
motivational forces, and cybernetics. Starting with first
option the following can be discerned by observation.
Types of reactivity:
Visceral
Reactivity (emotional reactivity) Level 1 behavior. A new
born child responds to the world viscerally. As the child grows older
visceral responses are replaced with other types of responses more
appropriate to the civilized world. For an adult, visceral reactivity
would be found in at least two categories: 1. Environmentally triggered
behavior such as being startled by a spider, or 2. Interpersonal situations
that trigger behavior.
Cultural Reactivity (In terms of stages of maturation,
childhood, adolescence, adulthood.) Level 2 behavior Here raw urges
and passions are shaped and refined. A child will express an urge
at will such as blurting out a need in the middle of a conversation
with several people. With time the child learns the consequences of
acting on impulse in relation to achieving important goals (i.e. not
being inappropriate during a job interview). If a person has aged
but not matured, staying out of jail might be an important goal. For
a person seeking acceptance in high society the goal might be avoiding
offending an important person.
Moral Reactivity: level 3 behavior Moral and religious training
inculcates certain responses to moral situations. Lying or attempting
to deceive another person might provoke a response of disgust and
disdain. In the morally and religiously trained, a person might react
strongly to inappropriate language or dress. Here an active consciousness
of morality and issues of right and wrong are evident driving ones
reactions to events around them.
Professional Reactivity (disciplined and educated responses including
occupational learning): Level 4 behavior To optimally reach
one's goals both moral reactivity and cultural reactivity must
be tempered with disciplined reactions that follow professional
codes or instructions, formal training, education, or years of
experience. The pilot of an aircraft is unburdened by his visceral
fears when flying through a violent storm because his or her reactions
correspond to a set of procedures established in early training.
Disciplined responses maximize survival at all levels of existence.
Through training and discipline people are able to exist outside
a food chain that depends on gross responses to thrive. Here, a
person exists beyond mere genetic definition.
Intellectual Reactivity: Level 5 behavior Level
4 behavior is closely aligned with level 5 behavior. Here a person
does not always respond immediately to a set of codes, training,
or social obligations. These are reasoned, intelligent responses.
Intelligence, for arguments sake, can be divided into two parts.
1. Optimizing intelligence: Being brilliant or smart but self-serving
Here a person bootstraps himself by his emotions to high levels of
cultural, religious, or intellectual achievement. 2. Non-optimizing
intelligence (being smart but not self-serving in thought or deed.)
The use of genetic or behavioral templates to guide responses are
rare here. Achievement in this world is slow, deliberate and well-reasoned.
Passions and pleasures play a minor role in motivating a person here,
but nevertheless they remain to a significant degree. Level
5 reactivity can also include a very sophisticated form of "emotional
reactivity." Emotional reactivity is a highly sensitive
and acutely perceptive view of social interactions. Successful and
often very wealthy business people and professional diplomats hone
their emotional skills in much the same way a professor hones his
or her intellectual skills. Getting people to work together or finessing
business deals in the millions of dollars very often turn on the most
discerning insight into the emotions of a client or future business
partner. The reactions of these people to and people around them are
highly quantified and executed in their delivery. It is not a literate
or mathematical quantification, rather and emotional and symbolic
quantification that almost constitutes a language unto itself. It
presence a valid form or reasoning and reactivity is evidenced by
what these people achieve.
Visceral
morality addresses the seminal ground of social
morality It profoundly shapes the evolution
of ethical systems. It is not morality learned
from a book rather it is morality that is learned from experience.
For example,
you have been standing in a long line on a
hot day at the supermarket. As you approach the check-out someone
cuts in front
of you. Depending on the amount of stress and
fatigue in your daily life,
you react with annoyance or outrage. When you
react to a a perceived "wrong" such
as this you experience visceral morality.
In
this example, to say that a person has done something "wrong" is
to say that he or she know the difference between right
and wrong, or should
know the difference. People generally learn right and
wrong from the painful effects of the social feedbacks
that scorn certain behaviors.
An immature person might get away with cutting in line
without noticeable reproach a few times. At some point,
the people he or she is cutting
in front of will speak up. It is only a matter of time
before such confrontations will escalate to the point
of heated confrontations.
With time even the most insensitive person gets the
idea it is easier to follow convention and custom than
fight it. Here, the focus is
on a person's behavior rather than on the words "right" and "wrong." Formal
ethical theories focus on the words right and wrong rather
on the situations
in which they are defined. Formal ethical
theory does not recognize that moral knowledge does or
can exist, even though
it is quite
evident
in everyday
life.
Visceral
morality is not necessarily a fair and reasonable
reaction to a social situation. However, "perceived
wrongs" that have some
inherent wisdom are remembered in the social
customs and laws. For example, alcohol abuse
has a long history
in the social memory. Each time someone abuses
alcohol and causes problems that action
reinforces and perpetuates the belief that
alcohol abuse is wrong (bad behavior).
The
way that people react involuntarily to certain
social stimuli evidences the presence not only of
an emotional predisposition but also
a form of moral knowledge. It could be said that visceral
morality is an expression of "moral knowledge" at
the lowest level of its genesis in any
society. This type of moral knowledge
may not be as precise as
higher forms of knowledge but it
can be said to be the inspiration
of more enduring ethical codes.
There are two cultural mechanisms
at work here. First, the culture
imposes constraints on behavior
in part because of the close proximity
in which people live and work. Emotions
that rise to an
incinerate level need to be held
in check by some mechanism of order
and restraint. Second,
these constraints
are
reinforced
and perpetuated by voicing
moral concern when held laws and
customs are violated. A society is
fundamentally a machine at its core
that inspires "an order to things" to
maximize social and individual survival.
When
adult persons are offended by a violation
of custom their reaction plays an important
part in a larger
civilizing
process. This
is where cybernetics plays an important
role in building societies survival
of the species. From
the very
first time a person does something
inappropriate he or she experiences
unpleasant
forms of cybernetic feedback.
This feedback may be very subtle,
or it may be stares that induce embarrassment
and humiliation.
It is a state of informational feedback
that leaves a
person
uneasy and unsatisfied. The kind
of feedback can run the spectrum
from light annoyance to totally poisonous
remarks that can have a deleterious
effect on ones confidence
and/or self-esteem.
There
are numerous examples of potential
areas of human conduct that can generate unpleasant
responses. With
time, people
develop a sense
of
propriety in unfamiliar settings.
Becoming an adult requires acquiring a certain amount
of skill in ferreting
out the boundaries of behavior.
For example, once a person acquires a sexual interest in people
any
out
of place
gesture
can provoke an explosive response.
With time
a young
adult learns when and where to
touch another person; when to be discreet and uninterested,
when to mind
their own business and so forth.
It would be difficult to move from adolescence to adulthood
without having
a firm knowledge of behavioral
protocols. It can be safely said that adults have moral knowledge
of a wide
spectrum of behaviors. Those
who do not, are
removed
from society by the law and have
an even more stringent set of rules imposed on their every
action.
Customs
and personal etiquette define the
nature of social propriety. They define the lines of
conduct
that
are acceptable or unacceptable for
people to cross. People do not ordinarily learn
where the lines of propriety are from
a book, rather they learn it from experience. When people
cross boundaries of acceptable
behavior that imprudent action can trigger a visceral reaction
in the lives of other people to
counteract
the intrusion. Violent and mean
remarks can be the result of inappropriate
actions and can trigger a series of escalating
responses leading to injury or
even death. In cybernetic terms
this is known as "positive
feedback" that
leads to systemic breakdown
or failure .
It important
to understand the important role visceral morality plays
as a cybernetic trigger that sustains the positive effects
of social fission. There is a
relationship between the inappropriate crossing of boundaries
and the triggering of emotions that triggers a whole series
of powerful cybernetic feedbacks.
The
idea that
visceral morality can exists runs counter to the conventional
teachings of ethics, in general, deny that
moral knowledge can exist. However,
visceral morality
can be considered
a form of moral knowledge,
however
inaccurate it may
be at times. Moral
knowledge will not
simply appear, it
must be painfully
extracted
by a methodical process.
Scientists could
begin by
designing a study
to determine its
existence of cybernetic
triggers
of all descriptions
by categorizing and
analyzing
the hidden boundaries
of social intercourse.
Since there is not
a
lot of factual evidence,
examples will have
to do in the interim.
An illustration
of
this might be two sorority sisters
conversing in a video
rental store about their night on
the town. A middle-aged
man who
has no interest
in the academic life is
drawn to the conversation.
He has an urge to
interrupt the conversation
because of some sexual
attraction to the
women or because he is
immature and simply
blurts out
something, thus interrupting the conversation.
On the one hand are
the culturally and
intellectually refined
women who encounter
a less refined man
who, lacking sensitivity
and experience, lets
his emotions decide
his actions. The
reaction of the women might
be sharp and distasteful
to the intruding man. In ordinary
social life, when
the quiet enjoyment
of people is
violated, the harmony of
their life is temporally
shattered.
This triggers a visceral response
or informational
feedback that can
be gentle or
outright poisonous.
Transgressing
boundaries has a productive
side to it. Human beings are also biological machines
that have wired-in
reactive tendencies. A
person's acculturation or genetic
make up illustrate this wired
in aspect of humans. A living society generates
an immense amount of interpersonal
feedback to
the point of social fission.
A small example of social fission might be seen
in the evolution
of vibrant business areas
of a city. When social
fission occurs a small definable area takes on
a life of its own creating
an ambiance that is sought
out by people from distant parts of a community.
Fission might be
thought of as controlled
chaos in ana area where their is danger, adventure,
intrigue and unusual
sights
to see. Here the overstepping
of boundaries is somewhat liberalized. But, the
principles are
the same as more formal
and sedate settings of life. Everyone
learns boundaries by experience
by overstepping boundaries, pulling back from them,
and dealing with transgressions
in a civilized way. It
is not the violation of any particular boundary
that is so important
as how it is done and what
it brings to the positive energy
of an encounter. An immature
or sexually
desirous male who is aggressive
in refined circumstances will generate a more negative
response to his
actions than a more worldly
and diplomatic man interrupting the women. If the
interruption
of someone "brings
to the table: an increase
in harmony, understanding
and enjoyment the situation
can work. This again can
be described mathematically
in
the electronic
term known as impedance matching.
Codes of etiquette help
facilitate or
"match" people and situations to maximized social interaction
and minimize friction and
conflict in the process.
There
is a protocol for every possible social situation.
The refined execution of the
protocol can be analyzed in terms of it decorum. Knowledge which
is learned
by experience
allows a person to successfully enter and leave
conversations with
many types of
people. Protocols and appropriate decorum reflect
the need to keep "social
systems integral." Thus,
the two women referred
to above ideally should
be able to exist insulated
from
intrusion
from
the
outer world to maximize
their quiet enjoyment
at the video store. Societies
can grow and prospers given
that their subsystems are
integral. In
a large city there are
thousands of integral and
insulated subsystems at
work
in any given area of town.
The Cybernetic Trigger
Crossing
a boundary triggers a cybernetic
reaction of social feedback. An example of this
might be
seen in
a large department store
where there are no clear boundaries between the
cash register counter
and the rest of the show
room floor. Inadvertently walking behind the counter
and standing next
to the cash register would
naturally trigger the concern of the store clerk.
Another example
might be where a stranger
inadvertently touches a woman causing her to viscerally
and physically
react because a boundary
has been crossed and it is of great concern to
her to thwart unwelcome
advances early on in a
relationship. In rough neighborhoods many street
people strongly react
if you accidentally
bump into them. Here, unbridled
emotions express themselves in the absence of police.
An ordinary
person might not recognize
they had crossed a boundary and were beaten for
the oversight. The
opposite might be true
if an unrefined person crosses a boundary and sits
down for dinner in
an upscale restraint. If
their attire or language offends the waiter they
might be ignored. If
they are ignored their
raw emotions will express themselves
to the point they are physically
removed from the restraint. Boundaries define levels
of emotional
reactivity evident in a complex society.
Vibrant societies
need a finite amount of inappropriate boundary
crossing, held within controllable
limits, to give them meaning, romance, and
depth. Wealthy people will dine in a rough neighborhood
putting
themselves at risk in the same way a mountain
climber takes risks on the slopes. When boundaries
are crossed and risks are known life can be seen
much more meaningful since one slip may put a
person could be in serious trouble.
When
human beings are viewed as biological machines,
cybernetic
triggers play
an important role in notifying a relative reactive
machine in a change
of
state. Crossing a perceived
boundary will trigger a wide spectrum
of responses given differences in genes and acculturation.
Scientifically
this could be defined
as a person's "reactivity" or
predisposition to react to specific
stimuli. A person's genes produce a wired-in response
that with time
is tempered
with another wired-in
response that derives from acculturation. As people
mature they learn to
restrain the powerful
impulses reactivity can produce. Emotions
can undershoot their
intended target, they can overshoot their mark
or they can be well-balanced
responses. A culturally
sophisticated person is able to
respond to social
stimuli in a way that minimizes conflict and maximizes
social harmony and
productive relationships.
A balanced response
does not trigger
a cybernetic cycle.
However, because it is so precise it communicates
information and a civilizing
force that can become
model behavior for others to
strive for. Each personal
encounter sets up a cycle of actions and consequent
reactions.
The relationships
of immature people
are often fraught with intense emotions that trigger
other strong
emotions
in an endless cycle of actions and
overreactions. With age and experience excesses
of emotions become
more balanced. Thus the
powerful
force of acculturation on a person's wired-in
impulses diminishes the likelihood
that he or she will act in ways that are counter-productive
to social
and personal
growth.
Behavioral
Templates: The Relationship
Between Ethics and Civilizing Force of Acculturation
and
Perhaps Genetics.
Human
behavior generally follows what could be called
"behavioral templates."
Living is much more enjoyable if a person does not have to
be alert to every danger; every detail of existence, every
minute of the day. For example,
you board an airliner with hundreds of people onboard. You
are traveling with your friends. Your reactions are contingent
on the actions and emotions
of the other passengers. Your behavior is not focused, rather
it loosely follows a behavioral template
of "how
to
behave in public on an airliner." The pilot, on the
other hand is expected to be fully "present" at
the controls of the airliner. He or she
must be focused, thinking
and alert to any an all possible dangers
that could affect the lives of hundreds
of people. The pilot's routine derives
from a very disciplined set of procedures.
The contingent reality
of the passengers has no place in the
environment of the
cockpit. The pilot's actions and reactions
are finely tuned to be precise and well-balanced.
Any over-reaction
or an under-reaction might cause the airplane
to crash.
The
existence of behavioral
templates (genetic or cultural predispositions)
creates yet another problem. If a
person's actions
and reactions can be
predicted,
then
that person can be exploited by an
unscrupulous individual. Again, one must think
of the human being, first and
foremost,
as a biological machine.
This is to say that most of the actions and reactions
of a human are exercised at the subconscious level
following this or that behavioral template. Only
a small percentage of human experience
is disciplined; well-planned and thought-out.
Because people are so predictable
they invite exploitation
Children invite exploitation from more
mature adults in many ways, thus there
are very strict laws to prevent this
from
occurring. People are vulnerable
biological machines that need to have
their identities expressed within the
context of some larger more protective
organization.
Moral and religious
codes of conduct fill the needs of
people to belong to something that
can guide them through the treacherous
waters of life.
The urge to survive
in its many ways inspires the growth
of moral and legal systems to protect
the very vulnerable human machine from
the excesses
of itself
Moral Knowledge
At
each level of reactivity
moral knowledge manifests itself.
Discernment of right and
wrong by an adult might involve assessments of
right and
wrong
on all five levels. For
example, at level 1 adults
sense right and wrong based
on a vague experience of "the general
order of things" keyed
to pleasant and unpleasant
responses to their behaviors.
At
level 2 interpersonal
relationships evolve. Rewards
and punishments for good
and bad behavior become
clear-cut even
though good and bad are
not written rules. A child
learns behavior through
participating in
culture and experiencing
a common educational system.
Children must frequently
stand in line
at school. Cutting is line
is not tolerated when there
is
supervision.
This lesson "teaching the order of things" is
reinforced and perpetuated throughout a persons
lifetime. When an aggressive
person cuts in line this behavior goes against
the general order of things. Early childhood
training and participation in "culture" predisposes
a person to certain responses
to certain reactions of
people. It is inappropriate
to cut in line
but it is not inappropriate
to complains about someone
doing so. At this level
the raw emotions
of simply responding to
social stimuli are shaped
and tempered.
At
level 3 People
tend to align themselves
with a variety of groups and associations. If one
of these associations
is a religion they align
their beliefs with a formal set of behavioral rules.
Strict adherence
to rules predisposes
a person to certain sensitivities that lead to
powerful visceral responses when
a rule is broken. Adultery
and extramarital sex might provoke such a strong
response while
these sexual factors
might not provoke the same response in the general
population. Informal
groups,
clubs or associations
can also align people's sensitivities to react
to the internal rules
of the group. In criminal
societies informing on a member to the police would
provokes an
outrage much like explicit
sex might provoke a religious extremist.
Moral reactivity, thus,
tends to be relative to time, place, and cultural
situation. In
each circumstance, the
individuals are reacting to fairly established behavioral "wrong." Morality
would forever remain at
this level if it were not for
higher
planes of ethical discernment.
At
level 4 the many mixed and
conflicting feelings of visceral,
cultural, and moral reactivity
are responded to in a thoughtful
disciplined way. Military personnel respond to
environmental stimuli
not in terms of their emotions
rather in terms of their training. Airline pilots
also respond in such
a way. Knowledge to these people
enters the conscious mind by way of training.
At
level 5 Moral knowledge
is determined by a matrix
of competing sources of information. The stability
of this form of moral knowing
rests on a disciplined
and discerning mind and
discerning emotions. The propriety of an action
is derived from a
mix of reasoning, knowledge
of theory related to behaviors and a whole galaxy
of other
knowledge's.
Please Note:
there is a difference between the definition of
ethics and
the definition of morality.
It
should be noted that the words morality and ethics
are used almost interchangeably. However, there is
a difference. Morality, at its most fundamental level
derives from the visceral experiences of everyday living
that comes with age, education, and considerable experience.
When human experiences are shared they inspire a more
formalized set of ethical rules. People in general
care about the lives of other people and do their best
to prevent tragedies in the past from afflicting generations
in the future (paternalism). The spontaneous emergence
of morality in the field of human experience is not
totally without reason.
Moral
Knowledge and Paternalism
Like
a diamond, morality has many distinct facets. The
subject of paternalism includes
the protective concerns of
wiser and more experienced parents as well as of
a person's older brother,
older sister, close friend
or concerned neighbor. Take for example a young
woman who has just begun
a very rewarding career. She
is well liked by most everyone and is a very good
worker to a point.
Lately, however, she has been
coming to work late, excusing herself with initially
credible excuses.
Many established employers
have seen it all, and some are quick to dismiss
those who carry on in
this way. A coworker who genuinely
likes the woman and appreciates her talent approaches
the tardy
person with some strong advice
to show up on time. This intervention is parental
in nature. It address
a fundamental problem of discipline
and truth telling. Lying and exaggerating as to
why a person has
been late have consequences.
An inexperienced person is unaware of the problems
those before them have
caused and the lies they have
told to make light of their tardiness. In an environment
where making
a profit or providing a service
is essential there is a finite toleration for behaviors
that deviate
from established norms. In
the long term the working environment
is a goldfish
bowl of activity and
intrigues that eventually become transparent to
all. In this light, coworkers
almost universally will take the high moral ground
in an issue and
present it to a new or inexperienced
worker. The woman might brush off the suggestion
to show up
on time saying "who are
you to tell me what to do," but
it is not an issue of who is
to say rather what has gone
before that is to say
a person can
express a small bit of occupational
wisdom. What is at issue is
the nature of those in power
to
dismiss those who do not perform
no matter how well they are
a talking themselves out of
trouble.
Remember, throughout these
writings the relationship between
the presence of "power" and
the threat of harm that underlies
a significant number
of
moral concerns. Morality in
this light, serves to educate
people in the art of navigating
the
dangers and pitfalls of life.
Types of Morality
Six types of morality or moral
responses have already been identified. These include
visceral
morality, cultural morality, doctrinal
and religious morality, professionally based morality
and intellectually based morality including non-verbal
high-culture
morality. These are but a fraction of the possible
categories of moral responses, attitudes or ways
of experiencing life. Learned behavioral responses
can are summarized in these six categories. In
each category the notion of right and wrong is
affirmed and perpetuated by a systems of formal
learning or rewards, incentives and punishments.
Traditional ethical thinking
sees no evidence of what might be called moral
knowledge. The constant affirmation or censure
of specific behaviors forms the foundation of human
moral knowledge.
The ways in which humans come to know right and
wrong ar so numerous theory are difficult to
know and chart in detail. The purpose of cybernetic
ethics is to provide a platform of rational analysis
on which the many details of moral knowledge are
carefully examined. This is similar to creating
an enormous chart of human actions and reactions
given certain other social pressures, inducements,
or dangers.
Occupationally based morality
The moral lives of most working class
people is profoundly shaped by their occupational
experience. For example, a Susan admonishes
Lisa a graphic designer at a newspaper for surfing
the internet during working hours. Susan is a
worker of equal stature as Lisa but she takes
the high
moral ground in criticizing Lisa. What right
does Susan have to declare that something is
wrong with
Lisa's work habits? A business might be thought
of as a large organic machine that assembles
the raw materials of information, talent supplies
and
management to produce an output that produces
a profit or perpetuates the enterprise in a positive
way. In this respect Lisa performs a job that
must integrate well with other
departments
at the newspaper. Her performance good or bad
has an effect on the newspaper. If Lisa slacks
off in her work other people must pick
up
the slack. In the workplace
employees are not always free to do as they
choose.
Bad work habits affect the lives of other people.
Moral wrong is defined by the negative impact
an action have on the lives of other people in
the
workplace. If Lisa is sloppy and careless in
the design of her advertisements the poor quality
of her work reflects badly on the newspaper.
In the workplace it is often excellence and not
personal
freedom defines good and bad behavior. If Lisa
has mastered her job description she is a craftsman
in the finest of detail whenever the economics
of the business allows. The way in which Lisa
is able to deal with a multitude of issues before
her,
Political Morality: Considerations
of social and economic power.
*religious morality not covered
here
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