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This is the classic hypothesis of why our ancestors started to stand, and there is a species of monkey that lives in grasslands now (forget what they're called though) that are standing erect as well.

This is the classic hypothesis of why our ancestors started to stand, and there is a species of monkey that lives in grasslands now (forget what they're called though) that are standing erect as well.

I just realized there's a Search History option in Google...woo! Mine has cute fuzzy animals. :)

Science will never present us with a peer-reviewed study proving once and for all that you should be good to your fellow man

Interesting claim! I have two ideas that may spark some discussion.

Economics is a form of science, and one interesting branch of economic study is the study of cooperation. Some economists study this through statistics and computer modeling (http://www.brook.edu/es/dynamics/models/pd.htm). Some economists and psychologists study this through models of happiness (http://www.quebecoislibre.org/05/050415-16.htm). Some study this through research into primate behavior (http://www.primates.com/monkeys/fairness.html). The general consensus is that, although a free economic system requires there to be some level of competition, cooperation and mutual assistance are innately bred into us by natural selection, since it helps us achieve things we could not achieve alone.

Philosophy, the study of thought that gave rise to modern scientific theory (http://www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm), has always been capable of tackling these moral issues. Some of the the best writing on the topic of justice includes John Rawls "Justice as Fairness" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067 4005112/002-0144128-7693626?v=glance), in which he argues that the best possible society is one in which we are all treated fairly. He has a pretty clever way of defining fairness, too. If you dislike Rawls, there are tons of other philosophers to choose from who have created logical arguments for treating men justly - Socrates and Locke are two others you may wish to read, or Hospers if you're into the libertarian thing (although his vision of fairness can occasionally sound a little like the mindless pursuit of wealth).

Science is a process that we can use to evaluate ideas through objective criteria. It makes no difference whether those ideas are biological, astronomical, legal, or moral. As long as we have an objective, measurable goal, we can use the scientific method to try to better understand which ideas work and which ideas don't.

To respond to your rhetorical questions, yes, economics does show us that there is a lot to be gained by eliminating hunger. Philosophy and ethical theory does indeed show us that we can achieve more if we pursue our interests living within a just and fair social framework.

What does make me very sad is when people say that you cannot be a good, moral person if you don't believe in God. Neither one causes the other.

If you think only humans have opposable thumbs, please read #23 of the faq:
http://www.primates.com/faq/index.html

lack of opposable thumbs.

Regarding all primates having opposable thumbs: this turns out not to be the case. (Thank god - I watch enough David Attenborough that I'd've been highly embarrassed to have gotten this one wrong!) Summary of the linked entry: some primates (although not tarsiers) have thumbs of varying degrees of opposability, but humans are the only ones who could actually use theirs to do complex things like, say, hijacking people's domain names or dupe-posting hoax news stories.

Unlike the chimpanzees, whose behaviour consists of aggression, threats, and chest-thumping I-am-da-alpha-male etc attitudes, bonobos resolve conflicts by cuddling up to each other and having snuggly therapeutic sex. Sometimes the whole troupe gets into it.

Nothing like an orgy to defuse aggression.

So, if it were bonobo behaviour the study was emulating, I would leap into my monkey suit and sign up right away - wild monkey sex was after all the stuff of my schoolboy fantasies.