All, everywhere, share a common moral code. In a study in 60 societies across the planet, a team of researchers found no examples of human groups that consider these morally bad behaviors.
If you think following a list of 10 commandments seems to be too demanding, you will be pleased to know that there is indeed only 7 pillars of morality which are universally praised and observed around the world.
According to researchers at Oxford University, these common rules may have arisen due to a evolutionary need cooperation, and are therefore biologically integrated in human nature.
In a 2019 published in Current Anthropology, the authors sought to explore the theory of “Morality-As-Cooperation“It provides that certain pro-social behaviors will be inevitably considered good in all human cultures due to the collective benefits they bring.
The 7 universal moral rules identified by the study authors are “Help the family, help your group, return, be brave, respect superiors, share disputed resources and respect prior possession“.
According to researchers, each of these seven behaviors facilitates the success of the human species and prevents us from destroying ourselves.
Through inevitable process of natural selectionThese traits have therefore become reinforced over millions of years of evolution-and are now a basic element of our collective psychology.
Courage and fair division of resources, for example, increase our conflict resolution capacitywhile the impulse to help our own relatives is linked to a incest aversiondue to the negative impact this has on the genes of our offspring.
A reciprocity and caring for the members of the grouphowever, promote the social exchange, unity and loyaltyall essential to our survival.
Despite the logic of the hypothesis of morality-like, the debate on whether a Universal ethical code really exists It remained by resolve for centuries, note o.
In 1751, for example, the philosopher David Hume wrote that principles such as “truth, justice, courage, temperance, constancy, mental dignity… and faithfulness… Universally estimatedsince the foundation of the world ”.
However, other thinkers as John Locke They were less convinced, and believed that if they traveled enough, eventually they would find a group of people who disapproved of these virtues.
To test the theory, the study authors examined ethnographic reports of 60 cultures around the world. Summing up their findings, they write that “Hume was right, and Locke was wrong ”for the seven rules regarding morality-as-cooperation seem to be universally valued.
“In all societies for which it was giventhese 7 cooperative behaviors were considered morally good“The investigators explain.“There were no counterexamplesthat is, societies in which these behaviors were considered morally bad, ”they add.
In addition, the inquiry indicated that the 7 cooperative morals were widespread, appearing also throughout the globewithout any region showing greater or lesser tilt to any of these behaviors than any other region.
“The debate between Moral and Moral Relativists It has been extended for centuries, but now we have some answers, ”said the first author of the study, at the time, Oliver Scott Curryin one from Oxford University.
“Everyone, everywhere, share a common moral code. Everyone agrees to cooperate, promote the common good, It’s the right thing to do“Curry explained. Unfortunately, as we know, there are things that They are easier to say than to do.
