How did we develop as human beings, what is right and what is wrong

Question

what triggers this instinct in our brains that tells us what is morally wrong/right? and why?

Answer 1

" there is no such thing as right or wrong- only that we think so"

Answer 2

The answer you select will depend on your side of the atheism/theism debate.

If you believe there is a God, then the sense that there is right and wrong is inherited in a spiritual sense from Adam and Eve - had they not eaten from the tree, we wouldn't have a sense of right or wrong.

If you don't believe there is a God, then you'll need to investigate 'moral relativism' or Ayn Rand's "objectivisim" - which, as I understand it, says that "if everyone did a particular thing, would the human race develop or die out?"  

Answer 3

This is the antinomy: Insofar as we believe in morality we pass sentence on existence.

Answer 4

In ethics, sometimes we must use our own best judgment. And sometimes that is going to be wrong; yet being wrong is part of being human and the object is to learn from it. "Learning from it" is how codes of ethics are put together in the first place.

As far as what is right by law, if you don't have time to check it out, again you take your chances. I do not agree that "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Did you see the episode of Dr. Phil last week where some state has a law pertaining to father's rights, and even the 3 lawyers involved in the case didn't know about it, including the prosecutor? So you MAY get away with arguing ignorance of the law; it has been done before, with success, but not very often.

Then there is "right" meaning "good." Is something good for its own sake (inherent); good by some subjective standard (perspective); or good by an objective standard?

Aristotle formulated the idea that things are good which are good for the species involved, so they are not inherent and not subjective, but objective. What is poison to a human is, in some cases, very nutritious for certain flora and fauna, like rotting meat. It's a great fertilizer and some birds won't eat meat until it is good and rotting. So in that case, the "good" is good by an objective standard.

Which bring us back to "right and wrong." For the same reason as objective standards in "good," they exist in "right and wrong," but now it comes down to "context." If you shoot a good guy, the context is wrong because you shot the "wrong" guy and that is wrong. But if you shoot the bad guy, then shooting is not wrong, it is right.

Every thing is objective, but sometimes the objective is contextual.

Answer 5

I look at the high arches embedded in ancient buildings and wonder how precisely each of the stones is set, at its right place, in its right size, to add to the overall strength of the structure, functioning all the time but holding perfectly still, locked in its position but also save and secure. It is as if all the a stone has no weight of its own to pull it down but only a being in place for purpose much greater then itself. But then I also realise that the structure of an arch would not stand if only one of its stones were missing.

I therefore believe that just like all manmade structures the universe itself depends for its entirety upon all that it contains, for it to be what it is. I believe all things however big or small are indispensable in the universal design, and all would not be complete with any of its parts missing, a part as small a single electron of an atom.

Then I come to ask my self – am I indispensable too? I say, I might be, I might be indispensable, and nothing without me existing would have existed, but am I right too, is the questions, the question that always remains for me to answer. I see that a relatively simple disturbance in nucleons of an atom can cause an atomic explosion, but is atomic weaponry, the hoards of our nuclear arsenal in existence, are right?

I believe we get our sense of right or wrong fairly relatively from the world that we make part of, through our sense of value, through our respects and regards towards things that make up our world.

Then the as how do we develop as human beings, is best to be known if we ask, how does the world develop? The world and its things develop naturally, without having to be indebted to a sense of right and wrong, that is purely human. I see that all things fall under gravity; water, air and earth all fill gasps within the volumes of their containments; stones sink, the air when hot rises, all these are the demonstration of the laws of general nature, that nothing in physical world would ever deviates from.

Human nature however is such that it has inherent to it a capacity for any number of deviations. We can digress and diverge from the courses of our own nature, to cause harm or to unduly benefit. We could do wrong things easily even when we knew very well that doing something was wrong.

Then how do we keep safe, and develop? The answer is in fact in the question that you have already asked. We can keep safe by asking ourselves the very question  - what is right, and what is wrong? Or are we doing the right thing? We could see if we are right or wrong if we keep an open mind, if we observe ourselves, and others, for our knowledge of human mistakes and errors, for our true understanding of success, happiness, and of right and wrong. We could do this by learning and nurturing a good sense of humanity and passion for improvement and development.

There I see is nothing that could fix our recurrent problem of ambiguity in our understanding of right and wrong. We could sail through ocean of live across vast distances, only to end up in troubled waters in a moment. There is no guarantee that a certain amount of experience and one-time understating could sort us out for a lifetime.

The fact is that are not really like bricks set in a wall, or stones securely locked in their potions in an arch. The fact is that we are each a world that is dynamic and in constant state of flux of events and time. All the time we are confronted with new challenges, exposed to fluctuations and vicissitudes of an existence always in advance, we have to keep vigil to stay on the right course.

Answer 6

I believe it to be instilled into us by our parents or guardians at an age when we are most receptive to suggestion.  This becomes our subconscious - and we find it difficult to see the world in any other way....to do so takes us out of our comfort zone.

I am honest, I am truthful, I hate hurting other people's feelings, I hate argument and unpleasantness etc. etc.....these things, I am sure, weren't innate - I learned them at my mother's knee.  My conscience is my mother's teaching.

To see this on a universal scale I would say that humankind found out (in stone-age times) which actions produced harmony of existence and which not and they became the rules by which most of us live

Answer 7

Let me quote what Socrated said: " Morality is relative - that there is no absolute standard of right and  wrong. The highest duty of man is to care for his soul".

Thanks for asking. Have a great day!

Answer 8

Its all down to blood levels pumped into the brain.

Too much blood and we make the wrong decision.

At times we do the right things but it turns out to be the wrong decision.

That's life though.

Answer 9

Imagination and empathy.

"How would I feel if somebody did this to me?"

"On balance, do I feel comfortable with the decision I am about to make?"

Answer 10

well as far as you have a sound mind and body, that  is you not insane you just got to know what is wrong and what is right, your mind just tells you when you have done bad or good, is a natural instinct that occurs voluntarily, once you do good, you feel  happiness and whenever you do bad your mind fricks you

Answer 11

My retort is, as human beings have we actually developed what is right and wrong?

There are people in the world who, for example, feel that it is right and justified to blow up civilians in the name of a cause, whilst those on the receiving end of course do not share that conviction. Therein lies the dilema as both sides believe with conviction that they are right.

I personally enjoy a nice piece of steak but a staunch vegan may consider me the spawn of the devil.

In many societies people accept homosexuality whilst in others it is an abomination.

The list goes on, so to answer your question I would say that we have not developed as there simply is no categorical definition of right and wrong that applies to all human beings.