Hi everyone
I'm not sure if this is a private discussion and as such I should not be getting involved, but something Dan wrote concerns me.
Dan wrote:
If we equate memes with patterns of value, then all four levels "have" memes, but the lower level memes are separated from intellect by the social level, thus we are unaware of them.
Does the social level really mean we are unaware of the lower levels of value?? As law-abiding human beings (as i am sure you all are), why do we not commit crimes against our organic values? is it because society tells us not to and our intellect agrees (as Dan seems to be saying) or is it that the intellect allows us to perform our own evaluations of the situations giving rise to social law? I.E. our intellect allows us to make our own mind up about what is right and wrong and thus to challenge the outdated laws society has flung upon us.
I believe that society does not block the path between the intellect and the inorganic values, but rather that the intellect allows us to re-evaluate the role of society within the framework of organic values. Only by discrediting the society value system can we truly become a species with an intellectual value system.
As an example, take a crime against the organic value system. Serious assault. In the organic value system assault is bad, the society value system then says assaults are committed by people who shouldn't be allowed to assault so they should be locked up or sent away from the rest of society. The intellect however, argues that since all organic systems should be treated equally, and thus the criminal should be rehabilitated, made to understand his or her crime and allowed to live with a normal life once he or she is able to do so without hurting others. So here, the intellect has applied itself to the organic value system to change societies wrong doers and allow them to live decent lives.
If this system has value, then doesn't the whole business of "is a copy of experience the same as experience?" needs a new factor introducing, that being "What is the role of a DERIVED experience on the value system?" Analogous to this in the above example, the people deciding the new laws based on justice for all are not the victims of the crime so how can they be involved in the situation outlined? If you are going to talk about experience, you should include derived experience as this is the leading factor of the intellectual value system.
Apologies if i have duplicated past arguments, i am new to the group.
With kind regards
Richard.
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