Directions

So where is this blog going?

Well, I am not sure but forward, without a clear destination. Just like life, we know that we will die, but not what all we might do on the way, the things we will see, sounds like a Dr. Seuss. Life is our greatest asset, so we should not do anything that detracts from it, and do everything to add to it. Likewise I must paint on a new purpose and do something for mankind, and myself, as motivation is always based on my desires. Production, or at least action is a virtue in a proactive life style. So says the philosophy anyway.

I have been looking at the question of where I fit on the determinism verse free will debate or question, well continuum more like. I believe along the Stoic line, we have complete control over our ability to assent to a concept or not, and little more. We can then build up a belief system, a matrix of previous made decisions, for quick judgements, all based on evidence. This is our automatic preformed way of acting, which is much quicker that sorting out and using reason to make decisions. Filling out that matrix is just pre-making the decisions, preparing ourselves for the future through visualization perhaps. It can also be cleaning of our belief system... using evidence to sort through and get rid of crap.

When we are born, the world we are born into is deterministic, we have no influence. As we grow we develop a bit of free will, and gain control over our ability to assent or refuse, or hold in abeyance any concept. We then have some influence but no control of much more. We essentially live in a deterministic world, where most stuff is not determined bu us. Our free will is limited to agreeing, abeyance, or disagree with any single concept, and what can be built from those single concepts. Oh well. The body will demand some things, and there is little we can do about that but to do, if the ingredients are available.  

Some of us have bodies who's cells that will not fat, so we get hungry while we have fats available. Oh well, if we could just get the insulin down low enough, we would not need to eat, but we fail, not because of less will power but due to high insulin and ever present hunger. Oh well, in the end we all just die anyway.

   

Life, Our Fundamental Value

Life is our fundamental value. There is nothing higher. When life ends, our neural circuitry shuts down, we are no more. We, the human exist as a concept driven identity within a living animal.  When the animal dies, well we die also. There is nothing to carry on; no afterlife, no god, nothing. The light goes out, not elsewhere. That make life it's self the most important thing in our life. End of story.

We should not do anything that detracts, reduces, endangers, degrades, confuses life, we should do all that improves it. Religions do not address reality; they are waste of time. Ethics has value, as it sorts out some of the marginal things that could damage life quickly or slowly.

Ethics, in reality do not need any attachment to religions, although they traditionally have been. It is easier to use tradition and mystic pronouncement rather than logic. That is not to say these are wrong, but logic is the ultimate test of rightness. It it is not logical, then, it is not right. But that depends on the basis of ethics. Life, political equality, individual rights, property rights, self control, freedom. Those are the foundations. All else can be derived from those foundations. Well maybe, there may be more as well.   

The positives of religion

There is no doubt that religion can provide great community, comfort, and consolation to the believer, but living in a dream world is not what I desire at this time. We can chose that which is or that which might be. It is a choice, for the here and now, Canada, 2018.

 Having being reading ethics, it is a choice, and how can I say that for seniors, how is living in a dream state is wrong? How can I say it is wrong for anyone? Well I may allow yous to starve, you lazy bastards, but other than that, is it wrong? I am an individual, and becoming an individualist. Productivity must be one of the first virtues, and I mean that as producing enough for my, our needs. How far into the wants we go is another issue. But I am not obligated, nor required, to support this society, if I chose not to.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godlessmom/2018/04/ask-mommy-what-would-you-do-if-your-kids-turned-out-religious/

It is conceivable to me that an atheist could turn to religion for community, comfort, and consolation, as the atheist community does not offer these. We offer cold hard reality, and if the individual cannot deal with reality, then religion is a better solution than self termination, perhaps. Perhaps we do a poor job of teaching methods of dealing with cold hard reality, but we did not get much aid in learning to deal with reality.

Perhaps it is time to misquote Airstotle's opening paragraph. "Every art, and every science reduced to a teachable form, and in like manner every action and moral choice, aims, it is thought, at some good:... " and say that every art and every science, even moral behavior and ethics, happiness, and flourishing, can be reduced into a teachable form; there then is no cause for tears over parts of life, as the whole of it calls for sorrow. (to misquote Seneca).  The point is that dealing with life is a learn-able skill. It all starts at the truth, that is learning what is real and what is just story. Once we learn, it is not easy to go from reality to not looking at reality, but may be possible.

Moral Foundations 2

After spending a couple of week looking for a moral foundation, I have found none and many. There is no universal foundation, but after digging around, there are a bunch of concepts, each that can serve as a foundation until something better comes along.

Propagation of the human species was the foundation of old, and then it became propagation of "our" line. But now there are too many humans on this earth, we are producing too much carbon dioxide, and will start to self exterminate soon; note that we are already using CPAP or oxygen enrichment machines for breathing. The old will die off sooner, and with them, goes much information. Oh well, I am old now. The society will turn mean in its later stages, as they realize there is no real future. There are already many nasty people in this world. The end is coming soon through disintegration of society, here in North America and Western Europe, aka the second and first world.

Economics, energy, use of resources, people: these things cannot grow in a finite world. We are beyond the carrying capacity of the earth. We are living in the overpopulation before the great die off, the evolutionary selection process is already underway. It cannot be stopped. What should we do now? I choose to live well, as I am doing. That is the categorical imperative now.

We can try to find solutions, but there is no political / economic will yet to do this, for it will cost the rich; they are the ones with money but greed driven, else we humans are likely to die out. Or we can make the choice to live well and ignore the problems, damn the populations, they will just need to take care of themselves. Those who do not share what they have for food will just become the victims of roving bands of youth... and other savages. As the police fail to do their jobs, the citizens will take and take care of business... and the older...by taking their property, resources, and extermination of the old. We old need to have some defense;  well I have archery and a backhoe. The police now are all about revenue generation, not cleaning out the vandals and criminals. Shoot, shovel, shut-up as King Ralph suggested.

So what is the foundation of morals; survival, at the lowest end, until we don't. But above else, some form of a pleasant satisfying peaceful life. There we have a choice of numerous man made philosophies and numerous fanatic based religions, all of which can provide a nice life... well as long as no one breaks the fanatic bubble. Reality is a cruel mistress, but one can be true be into reality, and there is no risk of the bubble breaking... we become the foundation of our own morals... we become the wheel that roles, and needs no foundations beyond our self contained self support. We become the Cato like human... we have our valuable with us, and then we die, know we are one with ourselves. That is the foundation, confidence we are right, and satisfied with that.  

Moral Foundations

A thought in progress...
What is the rational foundation for morals?

What right do you have to impose your ideas on me? What right do I have to impose my ideas on you? Individual vs group morals issue. Majority/minority issues are not the same as right vs wrong question.

It is my opinion we humans have a series of dipole switches that we rationally need to know which we are. Rational or Faith based? If you are faith based, stick with religion, this will be of no help.

So we develop a conscious hierarchy of values, concepts:

Logic/Faith Self/Others Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, and Sanctity/Degradation

Virtue lies between two extremes.

Self vs others
Empathy ...trichotomy or continuum...   altruistic ... normal ... psychopath
Justice / fairness vs self first
Virtue, purity vs disorder, adopting what is right to adopt logically
Loyalty vs dispersed, individual or to group, or philosophy  
Authority vs group, self
logic, tradition vs development...  Note that as a youth, learning from an authority is quick, but if the authority is wrong, or does not lay out the reasons, it becomes a dictatorship, which does not last.

But the foundation for the atheist must be life, those things that support or improve life, and cooperation, political equality of people, neither becoming nor allowing slaves or masters.
This bunches empathy, justice, purity, keeps compassion and in group rational loyalty while abandoning altruism, authority. Can a sound life ethics and philosophy be built on these virtues, adopting the methods of other philosophies?