Morality, Power, and Choice: A Systems View
1. The Birth and Function of Morality Almost all evolutionary theories and philosophical traditions converge on one foundational principle: survival. In an environment filled with external threats—predators, climate instability, scarcity, and competing groups—individual survival alone is fragile. Under such conditions, cooperation emerges not as an ideal but as a strategy. Four coordinated hands are stronger than two isolated ones. This marks the origin of morality—not as virtue, but as a behavioral constraint that stabilizes cooperation. Morality, in this sense, is not uniquely human. Wolves hunt in packs, chimpanzees organize in clans, and elephants operate as extended families. What humans did differently was not invent morality, but externalize it—by naming it, teaching it, remembering it, and enforcing it consciously. Morality therefore functions as an early coordination technology. It reduces internal friction, increases predictability, and enables collective response to external...