Part II There’s More to Morality then Harm and Fairness – 5. Beyond WEIRD Morality

• If you are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic, you are WIRED, which makes you an outlier. Your moral system is individualistic, rule-based, and universal. This is what you need to govern a society of autonomous individuals. The second principle of moral psychology states there is more to morality than harm and fairness.
• There are three ethics. The ethic of autonomy is based on the idea that people are first and foremost autonomous individuals. The ethic of community is based on the idea that people are, first and foremost, members of a larger entity such as family, tribe, or nation. The ethic of divinity is based on the idea that people are, first and foremost, vessels with a divine soul, or children of God. Liberal and conservative policies are manifestations of deeply conflicting but equally heartfelt visions of the good society.

6. Taste Buds of the Righteous Mind

• Autism is a spectrum disorder composed of two spectrums. They are empathizer and systemizer. Autistic people tend to be low on the empathetic spectrum and perhaps exceptionally high on the systemizing spectrum. Humans evolved biologically until they started forming cultures at which point biological evolution became irrelevant. At that point reasoning could take one wherever one wanted to go.
• Five good candidates for being taste receptors of the righteous mind are care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity. They all feature: Adaptive Challenges, Original Triggers, Current Triggers, Characteristic Emotions, and Relevant Virtues. See figure 6.2 on page 125.

7. The Moral Foundations of Politics

• Jonathan makes five educated guesses regarding the first draft of human nature. They are: 1. Care/Harm evolved from the challenge of caring for vulnerable children. 2. Fairness/Cheating evolved from the rewards of cooperation. 3. Loyalty/Betrayal evolved from the challenge of forming coalitions. 4. Authority/Subversion evolved from the challenge of forming beneficial relationships. 5. Sanctity/Degradation evolved as we invested objects with irrational and extreme value (national flags for example).
• The left relies primarily on the care and fairness foundations while the right uses all five. This could give right-wing politicians a broader variety of ways to connect with voters.

8. The Conservative Advantage

• Here we encounter a sixth foundation, liberty/oppression. This one operates in tension with the authority foundation. This one supports the moral matrix of revolutionaries and it resonates all through our Declaration of Independence. Hatred of oppression can be found on both sides of the political spectrum. Liberals, however, go beyond equality of opportunity to equality of outcomes (equity). Conservatives see that as redistribution of wealth.
• Republicans have a better grasp of moral foundation theory as they consider all six taste receptors. Most people like the law of karma as they want to see cheaters punished and good citizens rewarded.

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