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Where does morality come from -affect hunger?

Started by glintofpewter, July 05, 2009, 12:36:10 AM

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glintofpewter

Kylyssa, in her blog, June 30, Where Does Morality Come From If It's Not From God?
http://www.thatatheistbitch.blogspot.com/

wisely wrote

Quote"Those little mothers also had to be very delicate with their large-headed, weak infants. Big brains made early hominids feeble, floppy fetuses even after birth. Those proto-human women had to coddle and cuddle their immature infants or they would have lost them soon after giving birth."

Walter Goldschmidt in, "The Bridge to Humanity," calls this "affect hunger." He provides some biology to show that the brain grows when babies are coddled and cuddled. Since other primates also coddle and cuddle Goldschmidt suggests that homo sapiens have a complex language ability that could carry this nurturing mother based morality beyond the family and the tribe. He also has examples of groups which tweak the "affect hunger" mechanism for less than good outcomes.

Sophus

I always love a good book recommendation. Many thanks!

On a related note, in one of my conversations with a friend who is a psychologist he explained how the human body needs "affection" or human contact at an early age in order to grow. Something to do with releasing certain chemicals in the brain that trigger the growth. The biological reasons for human behavior are always fascinating  :)
‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver