[Man or woman. I just love the alliteration.]<\/p>\n
For many centuries of course, this has been a main goal of education: to make humans into \u2018better humans\u2019. This has always included \u2018morally better\u2019.<\/p>\n
So, here we are with this kind of \u2018software\u2019 in our head, say: mind, making us relatively independent of fixed natural inclinations, say: instincts. The higher the independence, the more important \u2018ethics\u2019 becomes as a means to deal with this moral freedom. The latter can be used for good or for bad.<\/p>\n
But what is good or bad? And IF such a standard can be put in a durable way, how can man (or woman) be aligned to this?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s suppose \u2013 with trepidation \u2013 that such a standard can indeed be put. Then the question is:<\/p>\n
Is man morally makeable?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At first sight, this question encompasses the idea of men making<\/em> other men better according to the ideal. Or: of one man making<\/em> oneself. It\u2019s actually the same kind of making<\/em>: controlling the process from outside to inside.<\/p>\n
Outside, being rather: directly controllable, conceptual, discretely graspable, serial\u2026<\/p>\n
Inside, being rather: subtle, sub-conceptual, intuitively graspable, parallel\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2018Makeable\u2019 puts culture versus nature: what nature gave us (as newly born), we want to make better (as mature man, master of\u2026). Pure nature being the first wave<\/em>, I see this as second wave<\/em>. It brings positive consequences (cultural progress) and negative ones (aggressive dealings with nature within and around us \u2013 examples abound).<\/p>\n
A third wave<\/em> is a synthesis of both: culture being part of nature itself, thereby \u2018transcending\u2019 nature. But isn\u2019t that what nature has always done: extending itself in many ways, up to \u2018transcending\u2019? Evolution is but one ubiquitous example.<\/p>\n
Within an \u2018in-dividual\u2019, this translates into human growth. So, our question becomes:<\/p>\n
Can man morally grow?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I think definitely yes. But he needs a lot of support. A cookbook is not enough. He needs to do it himself\u2026 but at the same time he needs to be invited. Like a lady in a nice dance, who gets invited by a gentleman\u2026 and vice versa towards a very<\/em> nice dance. It needs a lot of suggestion [= freedom + direction].<\/p>\n
Without this support, it\u2019s like building a ladder to the moon. Though at the beginning it seems obvious, it will never be achieved. This doesn\u2019t mean the moon cannot be reached with proper<\/em> support.<\/p>\n
In our moral case, the moon can be seen as a symbol of enlightenment as it is for instance in Buddhism.<\/p>\n
Depth, openness, respect, freedom, trustworthiness.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These five are what I have put together years ago as what works to me, as one kind of standard towards morality. Many other combinations are possible. It also depends on how they are interpreted, felt, realized.<\/p>\n
These high five start from \u2018the total human being\u2019 as measure of morality. This makes depth as first element obvious. Then: openness towards this depth, respect towards caring for it, freedom towards making it possible in the first place, and trustworthiness because we need sustainability in our achievements.<\/p>\n
A.I. is soon to come. It will also have \u2018ethics\u2019 in the sense of a purpose, an intention, a means to deal with freedom of action without grinding into total paralysis. Will this ethics be to \u2018relieve suffering\u2019? Will it know<\/em> suffering within itself? Will it value \u2018the total human being\u2019 as much as \u2018the total A.I. being\u2019? To attain this, we should better value ourselves.<\/p>\n
Anyway, valuing the \u2018the total human being\u2019 seems to me the best starting point. It brings morality not from anywhere else, but from our deepest selves. It seems to me also the basic \u2018re-ligious\u2019 intuition. it brings at the same time a standard of goodness as well as a means (strong support) to achieve it.<\/p>\n
It brings wisdom<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
about the total human being: conscious and unconscious. Anno 2018: we scientifically know \u2013 without a shred of a doubt \u2013 that the latter is also immensely important in many ways.<\/p>\n
It brings strength<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
through consistency, relaxation of disparate motivations towards being able to work at a better self and a better world.<\/p>\n
It brings beauty<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
from inside and then everywhere: beauty (most profound of all qualia) as the feeling of being un-divided, in-dividual, one with the person \/ thing that is perceived to be beautiful.<\/p>\n
It brings oneness.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n