An Evolutionary Science Perspective on Intuition, Rationality, Conflict and Moral Judgments (original) (raw)

2021, Rationalist Bias in Communication Theory

Moral judgments can be the result of cognitive deliberations, which take time and develop with experience, age, and socialization. Rationality began in humans began with the development of the cerebral cortex. Alternatively, they can be the based on survival mechanisms emanating in the sympathetic nervous based on innate, survival mechanisms (fight, flight, freeze) and the amygdala. Common examples are road rage (e.g., I was right while the other driver was wrong, cut me off, and could have killed me); and hold-your ground state laws for self-defense; The victim (self-defense) was justified in killing the intruder, even though the intruder had no weapon when reaching into their coat pocket. Moral decision making can be based on an innate, survival mechanism. There is no time for rationality in terms of cognitive, decision-making. Those who did this; did not survive and were NOT our ancestors. This chapter reviews the research on signal detection theory, how aggression is favored over conciliation, as cognitive reasoning breaks down. Physiological studies involving the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are reviewed in terms of the amygdala and emotional intelligence.