The Future of Morality
Here’s a confession: I’m culturally Catholic, because I was born and raised in the Philippines. Which means I’ve gone through all the sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage etc. etc. I would occasionally go to church if there’s an important family gathering, like a wedding, and/or cultural holiday like Christmas or Easter.
But deep inside, I’m an Agnostic. A run-of-the-mill, wishy washy, don’t care about God nor his existence Agnostic.
My turn towards my agnosticism wasn’t an instantaneous revelation, but rather a decades-long journey that combines extensively living abroad, daily cross-cultural interactions with people of different nationalities and beliefs, and a shit-ton of reading, watching and listening about all things related to science, history, society, politics, and philosophy.
As you can see, I’m a big fan of Neil Degrasse Tyson. And apart from making science “cool” through his silky-smooth velvety announcer voice, he’s claimed to be himself an Agnostic. Not because he’s not sure of the existence of a higher being, but because as a scientist, he want to keep his mind open for any evidence of a supreme creator.
Because that’s what a scientist should be: a reasonable person who’s willing to accept a new point of view in light of new, incontrovertible evidence.
And it’s that open-minded mentality that’s driving TRUE moral progress, the FUTURE of Morality.
To illustrate this point further, here some key takeaways reading through Michael Shermer’s book, “The Moral Arc” (a fantastic read for those curious about how our current progressive beliefs came to be):
“Moral progress is the improvement in the survival and flourishing of sentient beings.”
Morality has always been logical , because we figured out the best way to survive is to cooperate, and not hurt each other
Despite what you see in the news, the world is a much more moral place than it ever was in human history. Wars and killings are a lot less prevalent, and while there’s still a long road ahead towards racial, gender and economic equality, we’ve seen a ton of progress in recent times.
Reason, NOT religion, tribalism, nor nationalism is what pushes morality forward. That is why as a whole we are much more tolerant as a society today towards each other despite our differences in race, culture, sexual preferences, and (yes) religious beliefs.
Because of innovation, we should be heading towards a future of abundance, NOT scarcity, and morality plays a big role in helping create a mindset of healthy cooperation, not needless competition.
Protopia (not Utopia) — the future of morality is not about aiming for perfection, but getting as close to it as possible one step at a time, through the scientific method of trial and error, and a prevalent mindset of openness and caring for each others’ welfare.
The future of morality will flourish in a world that allows free-thinking, multiculturalism, and a healthy dose of skepticism to keep our existing beliefs in check.
Going back to Neil Degrasse Tyson, the man specifically said, that the more he looks into the universe, the more he’s convinced that God doesn’t exist. Why? Because there’s no evidence. And simply having “faith” actually goes against his principles as a scientist, and probably a pragmatist.
Personally, I don’t believe in a higher purpose, not in the way that a lot of religious people say that “God has a plan”.
I believe the only real purpose in our lives is the ones we give ourselves.
And because there’s no real evidence of an afterlife, which quite a lot of people try way too hard to prepare for, I think being aware of our single-life mortality actually guides us to become more “moral” beings.
We only have one life to live, and the best way to make the most out of it is to treat each other, and other sentient beings, with respect, kindness and love.
It’s not so different from the goals coming my Catholic upbringing, but at least now I’m motivated to be moral, not because I want to get to that white mansion in heaven, but because it really just makes sense to do so, here and now.
