Behind every act of altruism, heroism and human decency youll
find either selfishness or stupidity. That at least is the view
long held by man social scientists who accepted the idea that Homo
sapiens is really Homo economicus. Homo economicus versus Homo
Sapiens Chapt 7. The Moral Foundations of Politics
Slide 2
Homo economicus versus Homo Sapiens Harm/Care Fairness Loyalty
Authority Sanctity
Slide 3
It used to be risky for a scientist to assert than anything
about human behavior was innate. To back up such claims, you had to
show the trait was hardwired, unchangeable by experience, and found
in all cultures. With that definition, not much is innate, aside
for a few infant reflexes... If you proposed that anything more
complex than that was innate particularly a sex difference youd be
told that there was a tribe somewhere on Earth that didnt show the
trait, so therefore its not innate Weve advanced a lot since the
1970s in our understanding of the brain, and now we know that that
traits can be innate without being hardwired or universal. As the
neuroscientist Gary Marcus explains, Nature bestows upon the
newborn a considerably complex brain, but one that is best seen as
prewired flexible and subject to change rather than hardwired,
fixed and immutable. Chapt 7. The Moral Foundations of Politics
Sidebar on Innateness
Slide 4
To replace wiring diagrams, Marcus suggests a better analogy:
The brain is like a book, the first draft of which is written by
the genes during fetal development. No chapters are complete at
birth, and some are just rough outlines waiting to be filled in
during childhood. But not a single chapter be it on sexuality,
language, food preferences, or morality consists of blank pages on
which society can inscribe any conceivable set of words. Marcuss
analogy leads to the best definition of innateness I have ever
seen: Nature provides a first draft, which experience then revises.
Built-in does not mean unmalleable; it means organized in advance
of experience. Chapt 7. The Moral Foundations of Politics Sidebar
on Innateness
Slide 5
The Moral Foundations 1: The Care/Harm Foundation Cuteness
primes us to care, nurture, protect, and interact. It gets the
elephant leaning the Care foundation can be triggered by any
child.
Slide 6
A current trigger for the Care/Harm foundation
Slide 7
Lorenz on the Cute Response
Slide 8
Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous
women Glocker et al PNAS 2009 Ethologist Konrad Lorenz dened the
baby schema as a set of infantile physical features, such as round
face, high forehead and big eyes, that is perceived as cute and
motivates caretaking behavior in animals including humans, with the
evolutionary function of enhancing offspring survival. Glocker et
al carried out an fmri study to test this hypothesis.
Slide 9
Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous
women Glocker et al PNAS 2009
Slide 10
Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous
women Glocker et al PNAS 2009 Using functional magnetic resonance
imaging and controlled manipulation of the baby schema in infant
faces, we found that the baby schema activates the nucleus
accumbens, a key structure of the mesocorticolimbic system
mediating reward processing and appetitive motivation, in
nulliparous women. Our ndings suggest that engagement of the
mesocorticolimbic system is the neurophysiologic mechanism by which
baby schema promotes human caregiving, regardless of kinship.
Slide 11
Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous
women Glocker et al PNAS 2009
Slide 12
The Five Moral Foundations (Haidt) 1. Care/harm: Related to our
long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to
feel (and dislike) the pain of others. Underlies compassion,
empathy, kindness, nurturance. 2. Fairness/cheating: Related to the
evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. Generates ideas of
justice, rights, and autonomy. 3. Loyalty/betrayal: Related to our
long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions.
Underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group.
One for all, and all for one!" 4. Authority/subversion: Shaped by
our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions.
Underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including
deference to legitimate authority, respect for traditions and the
fulfillment of role-based duties. 5. Sanctity/degradation: Shaped
by the psychology of disgust and contamination. Underlies religious
notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble
way, idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by
immoral activities and contaminants.
Slide 13
Liberal and conservative caring The Moral Foundations 1: The
Care/Harm Foundation
Slide 14
Fairness Left and Right The Moral Foundations 2.
Fairness/Cheating
Slide 15
A car decorated with emblems of loyalty, and a sign modified to
reject one kind of loyalty The Moral Foundations 3.
Loyalty/Betrayal
Slide 16
Two rather different valuations of the Authority/subversion
foundation The Moral Foundations 4. Authority/Subversion
Slide 17
Two different views of the Sanctity/degradation foundation The
Moral Foundations 5. Sanctity/Degradation
Slide 18
Violations of the Sanctity Foundation Life of Brian Look on the
Bright Side of Life
Slide 19
From Freedomoutpost.com From Birtherreport.com Violations of
the Sanctity & Authority Foundations
Slide 20
Care/ harm Fairness/ cheating Loyalty/ betrayal Authority/
subversion Sanctity/ degradation Adaptive challenge Protect and
care for young, vulnerable or injured kin Reap benefits of two-way
partnerships with non-kin Reap benefits of cohesive coalitions
Forge beneficial relationships within hierarchies Avoid microbes
and parasites Original triggers Suffering, distress, or neediness
expressed by ones kin Cheating, cooperation, deception Threat or
challenge to group Signs of dominance and submission Waste
products, diseased people New triggers Baby seals, cute cartoon
characters Marital fidelity, broken vending machines Sports teams,
nations Bosses, respected professionals Taboo ideas (communism,
racism) Characteristic emotions Compassion, empathy Anger,
gratitude, guilt Group pride, belongingness, rage at traitors
Respect, fearDisgust Relevant virtues Caring, kindness Fairness,
justice, honesty trustworthiness Loyalty, patriotism,
self-sacrifice Obedience, deference Temperance, chastity, piety,
cleanliness