Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Monkey Morality


Considering how complex social behavior of monkeys can be, it's not surprising that these creatures can exhibit signs of what we call "morality." If they can drive around on scooters and Segways, or rock out to music, surely that is proof of complex cognitive function...


Morality basically describes situational judgments that have social consequences. To me, morality is completely subjective. I have never believed in the totally absurd ideas of "absolute good" and "absolute evil". Just like monkeys, our actions are better characterized as 'better' or 'worse' for the individual or society. That consensus however, is pretty much a majority opinion and not some concrete, absolute fact- like many people think The Ten Commandments are.

People with the time and resources to observe monkeys have determined:

"Monkeys Have a
Sense of Morality
"


Monkeys may exhibit morality, but that doesn't mean they are immune to vices such as gluttony...


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