Every conventional moral value serves some kind of function for society in directing the future evolution of the population
Societies use morality to direct the unknown trajectories of future evolution happens at two points—interfering between sexual attraction and sexual consummation (Mating) by taboos and commandments, or else interfering between mating and reproduction. The latter case is represented by infanticide, a widespread birth-control measure always justified by the local shamans on magical grounds, e.g., the infants selected for sacrifice are breach births, or birth-marked, or twins, or in some way stigmatized by the “gods.” The actual function of such practices, of course, is population control; such customs are most common on isolated islands where runaway population would be a disaster. Similarly, the Judaic taboos functioned to channel all sexuality into increased population, since the ancient Jews were surrounded by large and pugnacious Empires eager to conquer them; they needed more boys for soldiers and more girls to breed soldiers. The most “idiotic” and “superstitious” taboos, from the Rationalist viewpoint, always had some function when invented. For instance, the most “pointlessly” elaborate (non-genetic) “incest” taboos, in which virtually everybody in the tribe becomes unavailable sexually to everybody else, force exogamy (marriage outside the tribe). This creates affectional alliances (family ties) between tribes and decreases warfare. Something like this primitive exogamy survived into very recent times, in the custom of marrying one royal family to another.
References
- Wilson, A., Robert. (1983). Prometheus Rising Chapter 8 The Moral Socio-Sexual Circuit (Location 1478). Grand Junction, Colorado: Hilaritas Press.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Sociology / Sociobiology / Ethology / Psychology / Evolutionary Psychology Status:☀️