Arthur M. Jackson . . . . . . . . . . VOLUME I, 90,000 words
. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .VOLUME II, 300,000 words
San Jose, CA

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The goal for each species (i.e., the requirements necessary to maintain the species) is to perpetuate itself and to change over time so it can continue to survive in a chaotic universe. As a result each individual member of the species is genetically programmed to: eat, reproduce, and die. This is the way it was in the beginning and this is the way it has always been except for one species, Homo sapiens sapiens [1].

When the modern language ability evolved some 30,000 to 60,000 years ago [2] a chain of events was initiated that led to a new paradigm for our species. Modern Humans [3] with the ability to use symbolic communication, invented memes [4], which then replaced genes as the primary agents for dealing with change. These concepts act as tools that allow the species to very rapidly adapt to changes. This is because the evolution of memes is controlled by Lamarckian [5] rather than gene controlled Darwinian evolution [6]. As a result of the foregoing human beings were able to expand into most niches and geographies on earth.

This change from evolution by genes to memes significantly changes humanity's goal. However, up to the current time the unique goal of human life has been misperceived especially by those who have devoted their lives to understanding it; i.e., priests, ministers, rabbis, etc. Although language provided us a "wisdom" potential (ability to use memes), primarily up to now we have been controlled by our "tribal" propensities; i.e., those genetic patterns that evolved over the course of millions of years before Homo sapiens sapiens arrived on the scene.

At the fundamental level humanity has the same goal as does all other life: perpetuate the species. But modern language provides another demand in order for Modern Humans to be successful: each individual person must become their best self so they can most usefully contribute to the "meme pool." The foregoing is judged to be true because every human being is unique and thereby has at least the theoretical potential to observe/discover something that could have survival value to the species. And they are most likely to live their life in such a way as to do this, and feed it into the meme pool, if they feel connected to the species and its survival. The foregoing is considered to be most likely to occur if they become their best self. And that is the message of science of ethics.

[p. 2]

But let's start at the beginning.

In the beginning was the word. As indicated it is my belief that Modern Humans began when the evolution of the language propensity reached a critical point. It is my working hypothesis that language and the brain co-evolved over the course of the last 2.5 million years so that some 30,000 to 60,000 years ago the basis was laid for a new paradigm for our species. From the time of the Homo separation from Australopithecus up until the cultural explosion, language was just one of five or so traits that accounted for our success as a species. (Others were: unusual intelligence, bipedalism, opposable thumb, use of tools, and social nature.)

This transition culminated when the brain was able to freely use modern language. After the transition was complete everything else became just a resource for language to exploit. From that point on in order to understand humanity it became necessary to understand symbolic language.

But language has been one of the great mysteries of philosophy and science. Many persons have done research on the various aspects of language, much has been written on the topic, and philosophers have considered it's role in thought and our perception of the world. One widely quoted thinker is linguist Noam Chomsky who suggested several decades ago that language is too complex to be learned through reinforcement of correct responses at least in the way families teach it to their children. He proposed that there must be an innate language module that comes hard wired and each culture just plugs in its particular language. This idea has been widely accepted by those who study language even though it doesn't fit easily into an evolutionary model.

A book that laid the basis for a breakthrough in understanding language by exploring recent research, ideas, and thinking was Steven Pinker's book, THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT [7]. He examines the nature and development of language in a thorough and important way. However, when he discusses the brain's role in language he utilizes Chomsky's ideas as the explanation. And this is why he uses "The Language Instinct" as the title of his book.

A seminal work written even more recently that achieved the breakthrough in making language comprehensible was Terrence Deacon's, THE SYMBOLIC SPECIES [8]. This book brings the most current knowledge of neurology, brain structures, evolution, anthropology, and all the other relevant fields of science together to present the best thinking now possible about what language is and how it evolved. His model depends completely on evolutionary processes and proposes how the incremental changes took place so as to develop the language ability. I would characterize it as one of the most comprehensive, and well-grounded books on the physiology of language ever written.

Although there is still no universal agreement among scientists on the explanation for the cultural explosion that took place some 30 - 60,000 years ago Steven Mithen's THE PREHISTORY OF THE MIND [9] provides some interesting ideas. Mithen is an anthropologist and lays out in clear detail the best knowledge of human evolution since our branch separated from the other apes; i.e., chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. He provides well-supported theories indicating that part of what separated the early Homo mind from its Australopithecus predecessors was a modular brain structure that divided the brain into several non-communicating intelligences: social intelligence connected to language, technical intelligence (for tool manufacture), natural history intelligence (biology and geography for hunting and gathering).

His position (which I accept as a working hypothesis) is that it was the joining of these separate modules through the effects of language that produced the cultural explosion. I buy his explanaton with the caveat that in my mind it was modern language made possible by this more effective brain that produced Modern Humans. And this laid the basis for all that has since happened throughout human history.

[p. 3]

The above writers help us understand how the co-evolution of language and brains brought humanity to a new point in evolution. It produced modern language which provided the individual a potential that hadn't previously existed to live at a level of consciousness not available to any other species: to learn, create, discover, explore, accumulate, pass on knowledge, and be aware of our mortality. Deacon and Mithen postulate a time from 100,000 to 200,000 years ago for the completion of the evolution of the primary structures necessary for achieving languages at the symbolic level. This is the event that made possible the change of what "meaning of life" meant for human beings and started us on our current path some 10,000 - 20,000 years ago.

Before the changes in brain functioning turned Homo sapiens into Homo sapiens sapiens (which Mithen thinks happened when the natural history module was joined with the social module), and then into Modern Humans (when Mithen proposes that all cerebral modules were joined) our species was secure in an ecological niche that its predecessors had occupied for some 2-4 million years. This was the hunter-gatherer life style which provided a stable way of life congruent with the abilities and needs of proto-humans.

In those days our pre-human ancestors were hunter-gatherers by necessity -- this was the limit of their mental capabilities -- afterward hunter-gatherer societies have remained because of custom and through lack of understanding about the need to change. Prior to the evolution of the modern language ability individual needs and social needs were narrowly proscribed (by their genes). Each individual fit into the hunter-gatherer society in a natural and normal way. And by so doing found their "meaning of life" like all the other plants and animals on earth which as indicated before is: "Eat. Reproduce. Die!" Meaning of life took on a whole new significance after the evolution of the language ability. And the hunter-gatherer life style can't provide it.

Of course the hunter-gatherer way of life continues in many places up to the present day, and many Americans think of it as an ideal state, or at least far better than that of modern society. However, in reality it represents an evolutionary stasis. It sustains the individual in an impoverished meme pool such that they are prevented from developing their "wisdom" potential. It maintains an environment in which the individual lacks the resources to significantly influence the memes their society has provided them. The combination of the need to move from place to place and the lack of a written language keeps them from accumulating enough knowledge and experience to overcome the inertia of their society's customs, and permit them to break out of their historical patterns. In addition the group's folk religion to a large degree sustains them in their lack of awareness. Also, short life spans of 30 - 40 years help. To the degree that these things are successful in preventing persons from seeing their plight the individual's growth is stifled and there is no motivation to change their society. As a result their world view is restricted and they cannot develop their full positive potential and consciously take part in maintaining and developing their species.

But it's not just the hunter-gatherer societies that fail to develop their member's potential. Up until the past several generations this practice characterized most societies. And even today the majority of members of every society are not able to raise their eyes high enough to recognize that they are controlled by the vestigial remnants of our "tribal" propensities and to even yearn to achieve the "wisdom" potential which they may dimly see, but cannot properly interpret. However, individuals who are highly literate have the potential for dramatic and rapid change in the role they play in supporting the maintenance of the human species. (The miraculous recovery of German and Japanese societies after World War II because of their highly literate citizens, provides an inkling of this effect.)

[p. 4]

Non-literate and static societies require special circumstances to change in such a way that they can provide the environment where their members are able to consciously promote cultural evolution toward an enlightened community. Until those changes take place both the individual hunter-gatherer and member of a static society are unable to understand the need for change, let alone being able to achieve it. They live a "pretty good life." They feel that their life is meaningful. But the truth is that they are very vulnerable to a neighbor whether from near or far who has discarded the hunter-gatherer/static society lifestyle and therefore needs more land, more timber, more water, more minerals, more customers, more converts, and has the power and resources to appropriate these things.

After the brain and its language structures evolved to their current level, it is my contention that the individual's potential far exceeded the opportunities available. At that point the potential for an incongruency between the individual and society arose. And we have been struggling with different permutations of this discord ever since. Subsequent to that time humanity has been in the process of creating an environment congruent with its new potential. At the same time we have been altering the memes that support the expression of our "tribal" propensities and in the process of doing so continue to change our behavior that is under conscious control.

There is scarcely room for doubt of the fact that humanity as a species is working, though not consciously, toward a goal. Here goal is used metaphorically since technically goals are consciously developed prior to an action, while these changes are like all the other components of the evolutionary process, inevitable under the specific circumstance in which they occur, but not pre-planned.

Since the evolutionary changes that produced modern language, our species has been moving from the equilibrium of the hunter-gatherer life style toward a new equilibrium. The phrase that "history repeats itself" misses the key component in social change -- its direction. We can certainly learn from a study of history. Such study shows the dim outlines of the goal toward which Modern Humans have always labored. One thing is constant through peace and war, through reigns of terror and leadership of prophets, through civilizations and after their collapse. Humanity has been working toward the building of a community that includes all people and not only bonds all persons to each other, but nurtures individual freedom, opportunity for self expression, constructive use of each individual's abilities -- the "good life"; i.e., a sustainable belief that one's life has meaning.

Up until now humanity has lacked a "users guide" describing the goal for which humanity has been struggling, and as a result the goal of individual human lives. Nevertheless, it seems clear to me that Modern Humans have by trial and error moved relentlessly toward the goal for which a science of ethics is working. Many historical events have delayed us in our attainment of this goal, but nothing has been able to change the trend. I feel safe in predicting that nothing will be able to, short of annihilation of the species. Any society that tries is doomed. If it cannot develop its members' full positive potential, it will be destroyed or at least transformed. This was no less true of "Communist" Russia [8] than of Czarist Russia, "capitalist" U.S.A., or imperial Rome, Muslim lands, or tribal Africa. For me a clear evidence supporting the foregoing predictions is the fact that the atrocities of the Holy Inquisition, and witch burnings were stopped not by outside forces, but by internal processes within the infected societies. And within our time this is true of the ending of the Cold War during which nuclear destruction of civilization if not Earth's current ecosystem seemed eminent to many thoughtful people.

[p. 5]

Cultural evolution (change by evolution of memes) is the quality which best characterizes modern humanity. And the force that has been driving cultural evolution is the effort by each person to achieve their full positive potential in keeping with human nature. To achieve this they would take an active role in developing and improving memes. If Modern Humans (who evolved 30,000 to 60,000 years ago) are to endure, this is the force that must accomplish it.

Humanity has made wondrous strides, but has a major barrier to overcome before it reaches this new equilibrium. As indicated above it seems clear to me that we retain traces of those instincts that guided primates when they lived in small roving bands. All of these drives or propensities (post-instincts) must be mastered if we are to succeed in our efforts to reach a new equilibrium.

Our species, Homo sapiens, started out with a certain nature resulting from its evolutionary history, like all other species. Those individuals had drives and propensities related to instincts that existed millions of years earlier in the first primates. Since the evolution of the modern language ability these propensities have been affected dramatically and human nature has become more complex. We have been in the process of creating ourselves through cultural choices that expand the meaning of these propensities. Therefore, our new brains are pushing us toward a new synthesis, a new equilibrium. Our basic drives have been maintained: hunger, sex, thirst, sleep, comfort, etc. But each of these drives is shaped by our social nature. However, these drives and all of our behavior is shaped by those other factors I'm calling propensities. Exactly what the specific propensities are I don't know, but I'll briefly list my best guesses about them and then discuss them in more detail. On the left are the propensities. On the right is the potential towards which we have been struggling. To improve utopian tendencies and thereby facilitate movement toward the goal of becoming an enlightened person (an individual who has achieved their full positive potential) who lives in an enlightened community (a society that promotes the belief and implements the idea that human beings are the source of meaning and value and that the individual person must be the focus for society's ultimate concern) all of the below raw "tribal" propensities must be brought under control of the "wisdom" potential.

FROM: "TRIBAL" PROPENSITIES..........................TO: "WISDOM" POTENTIAL

Alpha male/alpha female.................................................Empathetic, cooperative,
(dominance/subservience). .............................................democratic interactions, and
........................................................................................ relationships.

Sexual promiscuity. ......................................................Monogamy, or at least serial
............................................... ...................................... monogamy. (After an adolescent
...................................................................... ...............stage of sexual exploration and
............................................. ........................................experimentation.)

Us/Them (Basis of prejudice, .........................................All of humanity is us.
crime, and war). ............................................................."One for all and all for one."

Territoriality: trespass on..............................................We each have our private space, but
my property at your peril. .............................................the earth belongs to everyone.

Emphasis on "right brain."...............................................Emphasis on whole brain.
(Non-dominant hemisphere) .......................................... (whole brain)

Adolescent males leave clan...........................................Both male and female adolescents remain
of birth and join a new one. ............................................with family, but have multiple opportunities and
........................................ ............................................... options to explore the freedom
.........................................................................................this propensity encourages.

For Work: Everyone participates as.................................Maximize creativity. Continuous
appropriate and necessary. .............................................self-growth. Necessary support
Everything by custom -- group......................................is provided so each person
decision making or by alpha male. ................................becomes socially productive.

[p. 6]

For Education: To fit into the group, ..............................To become one's best self --
and do the "right" things. ..............................................maximize their positive potential.

For Religion: Based on magic. Belief in...........................Inspired by a science of ethics.
miracles -- one's desire ....................................................One's knowledge properly used and
(wishing) controls what happens. ...................................behavior properly directed
......................................... ................................................influences what happens.

People today are in a unique position in terms of the growth of knowledge. Enough knowledge has now been achieved so we can see the "light at the end of the tunnel" -- utopia in which individuals recognize all human beings as "us" producing the possibility of social stability based on memes. It seems clear to me that all human history since Modern Humans gained the modern language ability and up to this time has been prologue. Humanity has been in the process of creating itself. But only in the past several decades has it become possible to understand what has been happening. In the past humanity's achievements in inventing itself have been by happenstance rather than design. And always with an inner struggle to overcome limitations imposed by raw "tribal" propensities. Nevertheless, this progress has been the result of a relentless inner urge (the "wisdom" potential) that under the proper circumstances guides behavior even though not understood by those countless persons who have collectively gotten us to the brink of success.

Of course as indicated before there has never been a carefully thought-out plan, subject to change with more knowledge and experience. Only within the past hundred years have we gained enough knowledge and experience to even consider the possibility of assembling goals with an empirical, testable focus. Only now do we have the possibility of developing such. This book, SCIENCE OF ETHICS: A User's Guide for Modern Humans, is directed toward providing the first draft of a blue-print for such a plan. It would utilize stresses within individuals and within societies in general to show us where social changes are necessary in order to allow all individuals to become enlightened persons living in enlightened communities. A science of ethics would be totally committed to clarifying what it would take to create a world in which all human beings achieve a rewarding life.

Human beings, like all animals, have strong sexual drives that easily lead to sexual activity with different partners. For humanity this is best interpreted as a "tribal" propensity. Therefore, except in the early experimental years of non-reproducing adolescents, and in between long term relationships multiple sexual relationships appear to be a distraction in creating true intimacy based on trust, full disclosure, and joint problem solving. In a society of equals where individuals are working to become enlightened persons monogamous relationships would seem to be the goal. Terrence Deacon [11] builds a very strong case that the "marriage" ceremony provided the experience with symbols that became the foundation upon which language then developed. As a result the idea of proscribed conditions for sexual union may lie deep within our psyche. And monogamous relationships seem consistent with the ideas of an enlightened community made up of enlightened persons. But by the same token a momentary lapse, or sexual indiscretion doesn't represent a moral blemish, rather at most a need for greater social support to focus more clearly on the elements of wisdom. Anyone attempting to become and remain an enlightened person doesn't have time and energy to be promiscuous. In addition a life partner to help us deepen our understandings and expand our joy seems an essential ingredient to develop one's full positive potential.

Different, but related to this issue, is the whole matter of reproduction. Our genetic propensity to reproduce is very strong. But our "wisdom" potential has brought us to the place where we also must apply wisdom to controlling our reproduction. The out-of-control reproduction promoted by our genes and supported by some folk religions is merely another element of the problems that must be mastered.

Another propensity that demands serious attention is the one that not only supports social classes, but also gives rise to prejudice, crime, and war. I believe this comes out of the "us" vs. "them" feeling. This propensity was no doubt of survival value in the 2-4 million years our ancestors were evolving as hunter-gatherers. But it is totally out of sync with the current world joined together by rapid travel and instantaneous communication. (Not to mention A-Bombs, H-Bombs, germ warfare, international terrorism, etc.) Modern technology makes our multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-national contemporary world a source of infinite beneficial possibilities if properly used, or a potential wasteland if our us vs them propensity is not altered. New powerful images that can address these feelings at this basic level must be developed and utilized. "Us" must be taken to include all human beings, but nothing else. (Cosmic consciousness, God, pets, all-living-things, planet earth, etc. must be seen as drawing their value from us -- human beings are the ultimate reference system.)

Another barrier to becoming an enlightened person is the remnants of the alpha male/alpha female instinct. In humanity's proto-human stage roving clans were almost certainly led by alpha males. As the language ability evolved these males were able to control larger and larger groups. The larger their clan the safer each member was from other groups, and the uncertainties of their environment. Therefore, alpha males were highly valued and had the pick of the food, work, and living space. Also, they were able to select a group of females to bond with and produce their children. The alpha female was head of this harem. Females to a certain degree achieved their standing in the clan through the male they paired with. However, at the same time it is very likely that females played a crucial role in the selection and maintenance of the alpha male. A given female as a result of her standing and drives either dominated other women or was submissive to them. The alpha female genetic propensity led these women to pair with alpha males. All women were in competition for the "best" men; i.e., the best genes for their children.

[p. 8]

The alpha male was the boss. He glowered and all the other members of the group jumped. The other males in the clan fit into a pecking order going down from the alpha male. As such they shared in the fertile females, work, food, etc. in accordance with their place in that pecking order. The male dominated. The female was submissive, except to other females where their own dominance hierarchy existed. We see alpha male/ alpha female behavior demonstrated in almost every society by those males who seek power and control over others, and those women who pursue such men and pair up with them. Although, such men and women may produce significant effects in their society, they can never become their best self and therefore an enlightened person unless they are able to master these drives. Nor can they be counted on to help build an enlightened community. They are too absorbed in their own wants and needs. (The need for power can never be satisfied. No matter how much power one has there is still the possibility of losing it, the realization that somewhere there may be someone with more power, etc.)

It is this alpha male/female factor which led to development of social classes, military rank, and leadership in general. As the agricultural revolution was initiated it was laid on top of this dominance/submission propensity. Prior to the evolution of the language ability an alpha male was crowned through personal attributes. But in societies of Modern Humans social classes tend to be hereditary since language makes this possible. However, this pecking order is inherently unstable in Modern Humans for several reasons. Two important ones are: Most males have at least some yearnings to be the alpha male, and one never knows how and when such behavior will surface. Secondly, the language ability complicates the issue of who "can be" the alpha male. In addition social classes are hereditary, but the alpha male abilities do not necessarily pass from father to son, and especially not selectively to first-born sons. The larger the society, the poorer the communication, the more incompetent the leaders, and unclear the lines of authority -- the more unsatisfactory the hereditary approach is. The fact that the dominance/submission propensity is even more restrictive for women -- to utilize their full positive potential -- than for men has been an additional serious problem with this propensity. But most importantly, following this propensity carelessly, cuts one off from becoming one's best self.

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