Just Thinking About Science Triggers Moral Behavior

ananyo writes "The association between science and morality is so ingrained that merely thinking about it can trigger more moral behavior, according to a study by researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara. The researchers hypothesized that there is a deep-seated perception of science as a moral pursuit — its emphasis on truth-seeking, impartiality and rationality privileges collective well-being above all else. The researchers conducted four separate studies to test this. In the first, participants read a vignette of a date-rape and were asked to rate the 'wrongness' of the offense before answering a questionnaire measuring their belief in science. Those reporting greater belief in science condemned the act more harshly. In the other three, participants primed with science-related words were more altruistic."

Comments

Their definition of "Moral" is the problem.

[ShieldW0lf]

The human cultures that are most exposed to modern scientific education are also those with birth rates below replacement levels. So, for whatever reason, scientific education is co-related with the decline of human civilization. If it leads to the decline of human cultures, it is not moral.

The reason that the researchers found scientific thought leads to moral behavior is because the researchers have a flawed definition of what is moral and what is not. Which is to be expected, because they're scientific researchers.

Re:Their definition of "Moral" is the problem.

[ShieldW0lf]

Our basic nature is to breed. We can follow that or grow up.

The fundamental duty of all living things is to recreate themselves. After you do, something changes inside you that causes you to realize that you're not the center of the universe. That's called "Growing Up".

If you haven't bred yet, you're still a child. You shouldn't be allowed to vote, any more than any other mewling babe.

That is the biggest BS I have read in a while. There are plenty of people that have bred multiple times and yet to grow up or actual act like adults or they let their kids run wild (being non-responsible towards their kids because they are selfish as parents.)

If you don't have kids of your own, then who the fuck are you to judge? If they let their kids run wild, their kids won't let you tame them, and they'll reproduce, and they'll carry on their family line, despite social pressure to abstain from reproducing and work. It's an effective defense mechanism against efforts to "civilize" them and use them.

Re:I hypothesize..

[bluelip]

Wish more Democrats in the US thought about science.

Re:I hypothesize..

[Nadaka]

funny, I wish more republicans thought about science.

Democrats too, but they are only quasi-evil.

Re:I hypothesize..

[dgatwood]

The problem is the type of science that Republicans tend to fund. If it has a benefit to the military or the defense industry, it gets funding. If it doesn't, no money for you. This is something of an exaggeration, I know, but that seems to be the main focus for science funding when they're in office.

The Democrats, by contrast, might give less money in total, but they tend to give that money in areas that benefit all of humanity—solar and wind energy research, for example.

Or at least that's my perception. Feel free to present evidence to the contrary.