1. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45315 by arre on May 27, 2007 at 6:51 am

yes, we are winning:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/books/bestseller/0603besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

2. Goodness without Godliness

Comment #43044 by arre on May 20, 2007 at 10:33 am

pragmatheist:

"Indeed, I think we are inherently immoral and selfish..."
-----------------

I'd have to disagree with you on this one, though I thoroughly enjoyed your post as I do all of those here...so educational and funny.

Characteristics like aggressiveness, stealing, cheating, will only be selected for in environments that such characteristics help the organism survive and reproduce. In environments that such characteristics are not helpful, these characteristics will not be selected for.

Our early ancestors lived in social groups. Cooperation was a necessity or they wouldn't survive. This environment sets the stage such that any inheritable trait that promotes cooperation is a prime candidate for positive selection.

So, is it possible that we are not born with a predisposition to be selfish? Perhaps we are born with a genetic predisposition to cooperate which requires doing good.

3. The God Delusion

Comment #36438 by arre on May 1, 2007 at 5:45 am

"However, if Richard Dawkins hopes to bury religion once and for all, he will need an ethics..."

This is the objectivist ethic.
"To save mankind requires the wholesale rejection of environmentalism as hatred of science, technology, progress, and human life."
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/4/17/103324/097

Schmidt's burka, the one that doesn't allow you to see the wonders of the universe...well, I think he's wearing it right now.