School Responsibilities

HoustonSaint68 said
Ummmm, exactly??? Because, throughout the course of human history, which type of human almost always leads the tribe and instructs and is followed by the others? (Hint: it's the sheetty kind)

I mean, are we really in hard disagreement?

On the flip side, I don't get the folks who get super down and depressed (NB: I'm not referring to clinical depression) about the crappiness that still abounds in human society -- especially those folks who don't believe in an "Involved Creator". Of all people, they should understand that humans are nothing special in the world -- just highly evolved animals. Non-religious folks should be absolutely gobsmacked at the amazing capacity of humans to be kind and altruistic.

The number of humans on the planet who don't live in squalor wallowing in their own sheet is at its peak in human history. That should be celebrated, not moaned over just because we now have social media which bombards us with the horribleness of humankind 24/7. It's actually the good times -- perhaps we just don't want to acknowledge just how truly crappy the last quarter-million years have been for our species.

Can't be gobsmacked if you don't believe in god. And, frankly, humans are seldom ever particularly kind or act for the good of others. It's of no evolutionary advantage to act kind those those not in your tribe and the only reason to act kind to those in your tribe is to gain power over them.

And, honestly, I don't think true Altruism actually exists. People do good things because they are to their own advantage or because they make them feel good. It's not out of some true desire to help others. Truly selfless acts may happen on occasion, but they are exceedingly rare and certainly not the norm.

And the fact that we are where we are as a society now is due to people acting in that self-interest and realizing that in order to really improve your standard of living, you have to also raise the standard of living of those around you. Your boat rises on the tide and falls on the same tide. And that is the reason we left the state of nature and agreed to live in societies with rules. They raise the quality of life for everyone. Some more than others based on luck, effort, and any number of other factors.