Ethics

Do this don't do that, can't you read the sign?

The Ethics of metaculture is based on Utilitarianism, but with some evidence-based solutions to the various problems of utilitarianism that have been raised by critics.

The reason for Utilitarianism is that it is the only ethical system that is potentially subject to scientific inquiry, as long as good can be quantified objectively. Since evolution has correlated what is good for humans with what gives us happiness, if we can measure the happiness of a population we can tell if what we are doing is good, at least relative to other societies we've been able to study.

While you can really dive deeply into the world of ethical quandaries, the goal of this section is to provide a solid rationale for ethical living and an empirical framework for understanding its importance that doesn't rely on the supernatural. Applying this framework to every conceivable situation, or summarizing 5,000 years of ethical philosophy, are out of scope.

Ethics and Morality Pages

Check out these pages for topics related to ethics and morality.

• Utilitarianism and Consequences
• Meaning, Happiness and well-being
• Altruism
• Quality of life versus quantity of life
• Abortion, Euthanasia, and Death Penalty
• Safety, Death, and Longevity
• Moral trump card
• Theoretical people
• Subjective and Objective Truth
• Culturally Neutral
• Justice
• Karma
• Outrage and Taboo
• Temptation and Delayed Gratification
• Moderation, and Addiction
• Life choices
• Freedom and Free Will

What Are Your Values?

Moral Foundations Theory suggest that our instincts provide six categories of innate moral judgements upon which our ethical values systems and cultures are derived. These are:

• Care/harm
• Fairness/cheating
• Loyalty/betrayal
• Authority/subversion
• Sanctity/degradation
• Liberty/oppression

Progressives tend to emphasize Care, Fairness, and Liberty while Conservatives lean more towards Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity. Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind explores the implications of moral foundations theory and ways that our politics can be more empathetic and less contrarian.

The website YourMorals.org provides a quick test to see which moral categories you prioritize in your personal ethics.

It's About Conviction

In Sapolsky's book Determined, there is a chapter devoted to the notion of moral conviction versus indifference, and the research showing that strong moral convictions, regardless of whether they are secular or religious, correlate to the most prosocial behavior. It is not belief in god or atheism that determines whether you are willing to undermine others to benefit yourself, it is moral indifference.

The chart below helps visualize the results of these studies that show the difference between conviction and indifference in both secular and spiritual contexts. On both sides there are those who lead unexamined lives, by going through the motions of their particular religion to keep up appearances, or pursuing a shallow, materialistic secular life.

It's not where your convictions come from, it's that you have them.

Religious people tend to lump all "atheists" into the bottom-right category, falsely assuming that without god there can be only nihilism. They rightly point to the growing number of non-believers who live shallow, materialistic, hedonistic lifestyles that lead more often to addiction than lasting happiness. But it isn't religion that these people truly need, it is conviction! Some may find it in religion, but in modern society there needs to be a secular institution where people can go to deepen and reinforce their convictions and build their community without invoking the supernatural.

What Are The Rules?

Saying that people should practice utilitarian ethics is easy. Doing the necessary research to determine the best course of action personally as well as in politics and economics is hard. Fortunately there have been many brilliant people throughout history who have worked on this and we can summarize their research into something easy and practical that can be applied in your daily life.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

If you are looking for much more specific recommendations that can help your life choices, see Evidence-Based Best Practices.

If you have recently been quantum leaped into the body of a black person in America, the following musical provides great advice on the rules for this very specific situation.

"What Are The Rules" A Sunny Musical

Other Pop Culture Based Ethical Systems

The Michael Shur program The Good Place is an acceptable alternative to a college intro to ethics course for those who prefer binge TV watching to coursework. His book, How to be Perfect, takes a deeper dive into the entertaining morality lessons from The Good Place. If you aren't going to read Plato, Kant, and Mill, then you can at least binge-watch The Good Place.

The Good Place Ethical Lessons Playlist

There must have been something in the water at Schrute Farm, since another actor from the Office has also put out extensive content dealing with morality, spirituality, and finding meaning. Rainn Wilson's podcasts Soul Boom and Metaphysical Milkshake both have great conversations and perspectives on these subjects. His travel docuseries The Geography of Bliss is also worth a watch to see how the concept of happiness is viewed in different cultures.

Peterson, Harris, and Objective Morality

Since metaculture has the application of science to questions of morality as one of its core tenets, addressing what is meant by "objective morality" and how one might determine it is a useful exercise.

The first video below has a long response to Sam Harris's Moral Landscape and rejecting the notion of "objective" morality. It is unfortunate that he and Jordan Peterson have been linked by their various appearances together, and that Harris's criticisms of Islam have been used to support racist politics and policies. He has otherwise been a leading voice regarding the scientific approach to spiritual subjects like morality and meditation, offering a version of atheism that is significantly more open-minded than your Hitchens or Dawkins. The idea that science can be applied to questions of morality should be strongly considered.

The utilitarian ethics of metaculture avoids these criticisms by recognizing the subjective nature of self-reporting happiness and measuring it on the aggregate instead of the individual level. We can know statistically whether one society or culture is happier than another, and whether changes to various policies or beliefs have an impact on that measure. It doesn't claim an objective morality, but rather one that can be improved over time with study and comparison. If an "objective" morality exists it can only be approached and never reached, and each moral grey area must be considered individually--no simple rules apply universally (see Gödel).

The happiness page provides a resolution for Hume's is/ought problem that Harris doesn't address in a satisfactory way.

The metaculture wiki also takes a perspective that fundamentally opposes war and the use of power to enforce ideology, and that all religions and cultures should be embraced. The argument could be made that certain passages in the Quran form a generating equation that create a pattern of violence, and significant text could be dedicated to supporting that argument. However, it is inherently divisive and against the spirit of universalism that metaculture is striving for. But even if there was strong evidence to support such a view (not saying there is), there would be absolutely no implication that discrimination or violence could ever be an acceptable response to it.

So, instead of the perspective that "Western culture is objectively better than others because we invented science and democracy" it's more like "Science allows people of all cultures to discover their shared humanity and speak about it with a common language. Let's use this to adopt a universal system of ethics so we don't kill each other, and we can solve global problems like climate change together." It's looking at the same set of facts from a different perspective.

Jordan Peterson & The Meaning of Life - Philosophy Tube

Since a good part of the above video uses Sam Harris to make Jordan Peterson's philosophy intelligible, here's the video being referenced.

Science can answer moral questions - Sam Harris

Ethics in Music

One song for moral convictions, and one song against.

Booker T. and the MGs - Behave Yourself

Jane's Addiction - Ain't No Right