So like, I try not to get too philosophical on my blog cos I think my readership generally isn't too turned on by it... but heck, it's MY blog and I don't care what my readers like so there.
So I was in my Behavior Analysis class a couple weeks ago where we talked about how we live in a society where true "nice-ness" isn't really reinforcing - basically, being a "nice guy" is not generally rewarded with what one needs (think financial or even social rewards). In the dog-eat-dog world, competitiveness and an aggressive disposition are what is essential for survival (for males mostly, but this can apply to females when competing for mates, etc). I'm not just looking at this from a Social Darwinian point of view but also from the evolutionary biology point of view that those who can show their strength and have a selfish me-first attitude are more likely o be "successful" in life. Obvious enough when you look at the animal kingdom but in our society, capitalism essentially rewards competitive (merciless?) behavior. So while we preach "goodness", as we grow older, we get less and less rewards for being nice (kind of explains alot of things).
At the age of 6, praise for being good = very reinforcing.
At the age of 26, career advancement for being aggressively competitive = more reinforcing.
You ask what about people who donate to charity and maybe point to people like Bill Gates who has donated his billions - but when you think about it, it's quite like buying social approval and social acceptance through monetary means begotten from cut-throat, monopolistic business strategies. Is that acceptable? Makes you question people's motives, eh?
So why bother with ethics and morality? It is clear in today that what is encouraged is winner-takes-all. What about the good guys? Why do parents encourage obedience and sharing and all that funky stuff?
So I tossed around this idea for awhile... All the great philosophers talk about ethics and morality but do we question why? Well, in my opinion, in order for human society to function (I'm referring to whole communities here), there has to be followers and drones willing to give way for the others. We can't all be generals without armies and we can liken the human situation to be quite like bee colonies; the queen (and her king) reproduces and passes on her genes but she has hundreds of worker bees under her who will never reproduce. They just live and die giving their energy and effort, contributing to a larger good by being... slaves.
Of course, my little theory has to be refined but I guess that's a starting point...
So anyway, to all you potential parents: the next time you teach your kids to be obedient and share and be good and nice, you might be teaching them to be drones and to feed the engine of corporate greed.
=D
