<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" > <channel> <title>How to Be a Human Animal – Dangerous Intersection</title> <atom:link href="https://dangerousintersection.org/category/how-to-be-a-human-animal/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org</link> <description>Human Animals at the Crossroads of Science, Religion, Media and Culture</description> <lastBuildDate>Sat, 25 Nov 2023 06:59:41 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2851851</site> <item> <title>How to be a Human Animal, Chapter 28: Morality and What to Do Next?</title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/24/more-on-morality/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-on-morality&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-on-morality</link> <comments>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/24/more-on-morality/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2022 05:02:58 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Art]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Biology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[cognitive biases]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Evolution]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Good and Evil]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Be a Human Animal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Human animals]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ingroup/Outgroup]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Meaning of Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Psychology Cognition]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dangerousintersection.org/?p=35034</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>This is Chapter 28 of my <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-suggested-reading-for-every-newborn-baby/">advice to a hypothetical baby</a>. I’m using this website to act out my time-travel fantasy of going back give myself pointers on how to avoid some of Life’s potholes. If I only knew what I now know . . .<a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/how-to-be-a-human-animal-all-chapters/"> All of these chapters (soon to be 100) can be found here.</a></p> <p>Why do people do the things they do? How can we make sense of all of this talk about what is “moral,” and what is “right” and “wrong.” These are an extremely difficult topics. As we already discussed, however, we need to beware systematizers who scold you to based on their mono-rules of morality. That was the main take-away from the previous chapter.</p> <p>In this chapter, I’ll briefly discuss three approaches to morality that don’t rely on such simplistic rules. The first of these thinkers is Aristotle, who still has so very much to offer to us almost 2,500 years after he lived. His view of what it means to be virtuous is a holistic set of skills that requires lifelong practice. What a change of pace from the mono-rules of other philosophers. I’ll quote from Nancy Sherman’s book, <em>Fabric of Character</em> pp. 2 – 6:</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;">As a whole, the Aristotelian virtues comprise just and decent ways of living as a social being. Included will be the generosity of benefactor, the bravery of citizen, the goodwill and attentiveness of friends, the temperance of a non-lascivious life. But human perfection, on this …</p>]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/24/more-on-morality/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35034</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How to Be a Human Animal, Chapter 27: The Exaggerated Benefits of Moral Rules</title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/21/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-27-the-exaggerated-benefits-of-moral-rules/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-27-the-exaggerated-benefits-of-moral-rules&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-27-the-exaggerated-benefits-of-moral-rules</link> <comments>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/21/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-27-the-exaggerated-benefits-of-moral-rules/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2022 05:52:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Good and Evil]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Be a Human Animal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Meaning of Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quality of Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[snake oil]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dangerousintersection.org/?p=35026</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>This is Chapter 27 of my <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-suggested-reading-for-every-newborn-baby/">advice to a hypothetical baby</a>. I’m using this website to act out my time-travel fantasy of going back give myself pointers on how to avoid some of Life’s potholes. If I only knew what I now know . . .<a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/how-to-be-a-human-animal-all-chapters/"> All of these chapters (soon to be 100) can be found here.</a></p> <p>Today I’m here to warn you to watch out for those who cast about moral rules when they try to get you to obey them. Our most popular moral rules include these:</p> <ul> <li>The Golden Rule</li> <li>Utilitarianism</li> <li>The Categorical Imperative</li> </ul> <p>These rules do a very bad job of telling you what to do with your life. They don’t even do a good job of telling you what to do <em>next</em>. I know, I know. I already shat on the usefulness of moral rules <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/23/moral-behavior-reason-rules/">back in Chapter 10,</a> but it’s time for another deep dive.</p> <p>Let’s assume that you are Hitler trying tact in accordance with any of these rules. Imagine Hitler hearing about the Golden Rule of “Do Unto Others” at the peak of his tyrannical reign. Sure, he would think. “If I were any <em>other</em> intelligent person, then I would want <em>me</em> to run Germany <em>exactly how I am running Germany</em>!” If you think that Hitler would be applying the rule incorrectly, he would disagree. Further, there are no rules on how to apply the Golden Rule.</p> <p>Utilitarianism has the same problem. It rule requires you to maximize well …</p>]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/21/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-27-the-exaggerated-benefits-of-moral-rules/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35026</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How to be a Human Animal, Chapter 24: You are a Big Intuitive Elephant Attached to a Tiny Squawky PR Department</title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/14/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-24-you-are-a-big-intuitive-elephant-attached-to-a-tiny-squawky-pr-department/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-24-you-are-a-big-intuitive-elephant-attached-to-a-tiny-squawky-pr-department&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-24-you-are-a-big-intuitive-elephant-attached-to-a-tiny-squawky-pr-department</link> <comments>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/14/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-24-you-are-a-big-intuitive-elephant-attached-to-a-tiny-squawky-pr-department/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2022 06:06:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[cognitive biases]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Good and Evil]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Be a Human Animal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Human animals]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Language]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Meaning of Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Psychology Cognition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dangerousintersection.org/?p=34936</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Hello again, Hypothetical Baby! I’m back to offer you yet another chapter with a simple lesson. As you grow up, people will question you about some of the decisions you make on “moral.” Issues. By the way, “Moral” is an ambiguous word. We tend to pull it out most often when we are talking about sex, death and distribution of food and the other things you need to stay alive. That reminds me. Someday we will have some good discussions about <em>sex</em> that will consist mostly of letting you watch selected David Attenborough Nature Videos featuring animal sex. You’ll find that most human talk about sex is confusing and unhelpful except to let you know that most other people are as awkward discussing it as you will be. I’ll give you a one sentence preview. Bank on this: human animal sex is a lot like the sex of other mammals, even though it does not much resemble the exotic sex of snails.</p> <p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wG9qpZ89qzc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>Before we go further on moral decision making, here’s a short reminder that <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-suggested-reading-for-every-newborn-baby/">I’m trying to teach you things that I did not know while I was growing up.</a> I learned these lessons the hard way. You can find links to all of these (soon to be 100) <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/how-to-be-a-human-animal-all-chapters/">lessons here.</a></p> <p>Now, back to your moral decision-making. After people challenge why you made a particular “moral” decision, you will try to give reasons and words will actually come out of your mouth, but much of the time (to quote …</p>]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/14/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-24-you-are-a-big-intuitive-elephant-attached-to-a-tiny-squawky-pr-department/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">34936</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How to Be a Human Animal, Chapter 23: What Are You Supposed to Do with Your Life on Planet Earth?</title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-23-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-your-life-on-planet-earth/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-23-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-your-life-on-planet-earth&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-23-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-your-life-on-planet-earth</link> <comments>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-23-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-your-life-on-planet-earth/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 13 Mar 2022 07:58:49 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Aphorisms]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Art]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Community]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Friendships/relationships]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Good and Evil]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Be a Human Animal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Meaning of Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quality of Life]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dangerousintersection.org/?p=34918</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Even though <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-suggested-reading-for-every-newborn-baby/">you are a hypothetical baby,</a> you will need to start figuring out what you are going to do with your presumably long hypothetical life. That is today’s topic.</p> <p>Louis CK has a bit where he says that older people like me have it easy, because we have most of our life behind us—maybe I’ll only need to buy one more coat in my last 25 years or so. A youngster like you, however has a ton of decisions to make over a period of decades, so how will you make use of this life you have been given? I’m trying to teach you things that I did not know while I was growing up, but I’m out of my league here. This will totally be <em>your</em> life, not mine at all. I’m only here to offer some navigation tools, not a <em>purpose</em>, not a “meaning of life” for you. By the way, all of these lessons (soon to be 100) <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/how-to-be-a-human-animal-all-chapters/">can be found here.</a></p> <p>But, again, we need to focus on your personal challenge: what you should <em>do</em> with your life. Perhaps this will remain a nonstop question until you reach old age and look backwards. Yes. I’m sure of it. It would be too damned hard to answer this question when you are young, even when you are a young adult, because you will have no basis for making even a wild guess. You’ve barely started out and the rate of change of culture and technology …</p>]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-23-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-your-life-on-planet-earth/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">34918</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How to Be a Human Animal, Chapter 22: Ontology and Mushy Words</title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/12/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-22-ontology-and-mushy-words/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-22-ontology-and-mushy-words&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-22-ontology-and-mushy-words</link> <comments>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/12/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-22-ontology-and-mushy-words/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2022 07:32:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Biology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Communication]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Complexity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cultural Evolution]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Evolution]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Be a Human Animal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Human animals]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Language]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Science]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dangerousintersection.org/?p=34908</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Hello again, <em>hypothetical</em> baby! I’m back to offer you yet another chapter to help you to navigate this convoluted world into which you have been plopped. I’m trying to teach you things that I<a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/02/13/how-to-be-a-human-animal-suggested-reading-for-every-newborn-baby/"> did not know while I was growing up.</a> I learned these lessons the hard way. You can find links to all of these (soon to be 100) lessons in one convenient place: <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/how-to-be-a-human-animal-all-chapters/">Here</a>.</p> <p>To begin, here is a “thing,” a work of art that I created:</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-34909 aligncenter" src="http://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risen-682x1024.jpg" alt="Risen" width="395" height="593" title="How to Be a Human Animal, Chapter 22: Ontology and Mushy Words 4" srcset="https://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risen-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risen-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risen-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risen.jpg 853w" sizes="(max-width: 395px) 100vw, 395px"/></p> <p>What is this thing? It started out as a part of a 2-D paint splatter I intentionally created–paint on canvas. I then photographed it and carted it into Photoshop and blended it with other layers until it looked like this. It’s now a thing that that looks almost 3-D. I call work of art “Risen.” Is it really a “thing” or does it just look like a thing?</p> <p>As you grow up, you will constantly deal with “things,” physical and otherwise. It will surprise and annoy you that human animals constantly disagree about what a particular thing is and even whether that “thing” exists at all. Philosophers tuck these disagreements into the branch of philosophy called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ontology</a>,” but these disagreements aren’t limited to philosophy classrooms. They occur constantly out in the real world.</p> <p>You will find it a challenge to determine whether there are such things as violence, justice, love, intelligence, humility, courage or happiness. In the year 2022, people argued a lot about “race” even though …</p>]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://dangerousintersection.org/2022/03/12/how-to-be-a-human-animal-chapter-22-ontology-and-mushy-words/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">34908</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>