Mar 16 2009
Technology and Morality
The other day I read a notice about an upcoming debate titled, “Can We Be Good Without God?” I had to stifle a laugh. The answer to that question is a near no-brainer. It has already been answered by a natural experiment involving millions if not billions of subjects.
The hidden assumption that by “God” we mean “the Bible god” aside, all a person has to do is compare the rates of crime, violent, property, whatever, of groups of people who believe in a god and the rates for those who don’t. Japan, for example, has relatively few monotheistic believers, and their rates of crime are substantially lower than our own.
AHA! The critical thinker may think — but we must compare apples to apples and not Americans to Orientals. Why? Because there are so many variables involved. It is next to ludicrous, besides mentioning the possession of a y chromosome, to narrow down “good behavior” to one supposedly key variable. That variable — belief in a god — from all the research I’ve seen, is a pitifully minor variable at best, a non-variable or even a contributor to bad behavior, at worst. Within our own country there is no consistent link between belief and better behavior.
Of course, people like to cherry pick data to support their argument. Look at divorce rates! they will cry. Belief in god is going down (prayer to “him” has been removed from public school . . .) and divorce rates are up!
Behavior is a complicated thing. Recent research suggests, for example, that home appliances are as much to blame for an increase in the divorce rate as is loss of faith. Probably more, because there is good data to back it up.
Intrigued? Read on . . .
In the science news release, “Fridges And Washing Machines Liberated Women, Study Suggests,” we read this finding -
Plug-in conveniences transformed women’s lives and enabled them to enter the workforce, says Professor Emanuela Cardia, from the Department of Economics.
Of course, few will insist that women entering the workforce is a moral issue. But it does have moral implications. A number of demographic studies suggest that once women are able to be financially independent, divorce rates tend to increase. Of course there are other variables involved, including more lax divorce laws, general education level, etc.
Is women’s liberation a bad thing? If it is a good thing can we give religion the blame or credit for delaying or hastening its arrival? Or do we instead praise the refrigerator and give thanks to the washing machine?
Can we be moral without a god? Yes. Can we be moral without modern technology that brings greater equity among humans? That may be more difficult.
