The Wisdom of our Species. A book we need to write.

[CJ]

Could we keep all the biblical pr0n in?

No. Just keep your bible for that.

I want you to write the 'marriage' guidelines.

[CJ]

There's no point - you'll have the philosopher's nit-picking every statement contesting its validity. Also, with morals, there are no real defininitive "right" answers - so you can't create a nice neat code for that.

By all means, create a book with parables and well-meaning attempts to understand ourselves, and our world and universe - but if there's anything that religion and its holy books ought to have taught us by now it's that we can never dish out something and say that it's now all there is to believe in.

There is every point. St Paul and Mohamed knew the political power of codifying memes. There is no 'woo free' book of this type. Philosophers will contest everything it's in their nature so it's a given. There are no morally correct absolutes, that why I said 80% of the population not 'everybody'. This isn't a holy book, it's hopefully the best use of what humans have come up with so far to inform our descendents on how we saw the world progressing.

[Feck]

Would it be too cynical to say that a book of Human wisdom would a very short book indeed ?

[CJ]

Would it be too cynical to say that a book of Human wisdom would a very short book indeed ?

32 pages maximum. This isn't a polemic on how wonderful we are, this is going to be a synthesis of all the best stuff in human history that has generally made things better not worse. Simple, short, accessible, guidebook to living what most people would consider a good life if they had to live it. We can't party on this world anymore, humanity has to grow up and put away it's childhood toys like the 'great sky daddy'.

[Geoff]

Could we keep all the biblical pr0n in?

No. Just keep your bible for that.

I want you to write the 'marriage' guidelines.

Any sexual acts that any number of consenting adults do in private are no-one's business but their own.

[CJ]

Life

• Your life is your own, to do with as you see fit, including the time and manner of its ending where these are under your control.

Responsibility

• You are responsible for the effects of your actions and must face the consequences of those actions that do material harm to others, be it their body or possessions.

[CJ]

How do we deal with the transition from child to adult?

[CJ]

Resources

• Use only the minimum of resources that are necessary for the health and welfare of you and your family.

[CJ]

Knowledge

• Do least harm while seeking knowledge.
  Knowledge itself is never dangerous or wrong.
  The application of knowledge must do no deliberate harm.

[CJ]

Reproduction

• There is no obligation to reproduce.
  Replace only yourself and your partner.

[CJ]

Here is he document so far.I'll add paragraphs as they appear on the thread, this is the 'brain storming' element of the production process. In due course we will stop adding new ideas and then it's down to refining the points in the document down to the essential ideas. I'm running this thread in parallel at RDF so some ideas in the document may not have been generated here.

The Wisdom of our Species

Introduction

The Wisdom of our Species
We, the people of this world, are good people.
We are the keepers of this world.
We help those in need.
We do no harm.


Choice

We have free will, we can choose what we do. Every choice has effects on ourselves, those around us and on this world. We are responsible for those effects. Choose carefully and try to choose the path of least harm and most good.

Our World

This world is our home. There is no other place for us to live.

Life

Your life is your own, to do with as you see fit, including the time and manner of its ending where these are under your control.

Responsibility

You are responsible for the effects of your actions and must face the consequences of those actions that do material harm to others, be it their body or possessions.

Responsibility

We as self aware organisms have a responsibility to other members of our species and the world we live in to ensure they come to no undue harm through neglect, prejudice or the due to attainment of selfish aims. This encompasses all the aspects of humanitarianism, environmentalism and compassion.

Resources

Use only the minimum or resources that are necessary for the health and welfare of you and your family.

Knowledge

Do least harm while seeking knowledge.
Knowledge itself is never dangerous or wrong.
The application of knowledge must do no deliberate harm.

Reproduction

There is no obligation to reproduce.
Replace only yourself and your partner.

[lordpasternack]

The Wisdom of our Species

[...]

Replace only yourself and your partner.

I don't like the idea of issuing instructions as opposed to guidance. I know the spirit of the sentence isn't a command, but it is syntacticly a command. I dunno...

[CJ]

The Wisdom of our Species

[...]

Replace only yourself and your partner.

I don't like the idea of issuing instructions as opposed to guidance. I know the spirit of the sentence isn't a command, but it is syntacticly a command. I dunno...

Quite right. Instructions are not a good idea. However if humanity can't do this the world is fucked, it'll just be a matter of time till it happens but even if the replacement rate is 2.00000000000000001 with the size of the current population growth will be exponential at some point. For sustainability to be a practical the population must decrease at some points.

How would you phrase it.?

[lordpasternack]

Quite right. Instructions are not a good idea. However if humanity can't do this the world is fucked, it'll just be a matter of time till it happens but even if the replacement rate is 2.00000000000000001 with the size of the current population growth will be exponential at some point. For sustainability to be a practical the population must decrease at some points.

Yes, and I agree.

How would you phrase it.?

Simply point out what you have above, and suggest that responsible reproduction is the best idea - perhaps suggesting only having one or two sprogs. Also worth noting, though, is that the population in most developed countries are already either stable or declining. There has already been a general cultural shift away from seeing having a brood of kids as being a success in life. Also - people used to have lots of kids just going by the knowledge that a few of them would die in infancy. That doesn't happen anymore in developed nations.

Some of us are of course still inclined to want our brood of childrings - of course we are - that's how we got to where we are in the first place... But I think that just simple persuasion to devote oneself to fewer kids might well work.

[CJ]

Bump for Sunday!