I agree completely with the folks who discover their own goals, and I disagree completely with the people who argue for ancient goals such as fertility.
It shouldn't be surprising to find that our minds are architected to grasp onto any reason (logical, spiritual, pragmatic, or dogmatic) for reproducing our selfish genes. Steven Pinker makes it very clear in his book "How the mind works". It also shouldn't be surprising to find that our memes (AKA our "cultural values") are architected to strongly encourage reproductive yield. A "fertility cult" gains an obvious headcount advantage over other cults. Richard Dawkins covers this.
It shouldn't be surprising, but it should creep you out to realize that you are spending your precious free will for such an objective.
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I agree completely with the folks who discover their own goals, and I disagree completely with the people who argue for ancient goals such as fertility.
It shouldn't be surprising to find that our minds are architected to grasp onto any reason (logical, spiritual, pragmatic, or dogmatic) for reproducing our selfish genes. Steven Pinker makes it very clear in his book "How the mind works". It also shouldn't be surprising to find that our memes (AKA our "cultural values") are architected to strongly encourage reproductive yield. A "fertility cult" gains an obvious headcount advantage over other cults. Richard Dawkins covers this.
It shouldn't be surprising, but it should creep you out to realize that you are spending your precious free will for such an objective.