Moral outrage = virtue signalling shaped by evolution. Science proves the obvious.

http://ift.tt/1n2TqrS

Quote:

The model involves “costly signaling,” the classic example of which is the peacock’s tail. Only healthy male peacocks with high-quality genes can manage to produce extravagant plumages, so these tails — precisely because of how “resource intensive” they are — function as honest advertisements to potential mates of a peacock’s genetic quality. We argue that the same can be true of punishing others for wrongdoing, which can serve as a signal of trustworthiness. This is because punishing others is often costly — but less so for those people who find it worthwhile to be trustworthy. Consider: Trustworthiness pays off for you if others typically reciprocate your good deeds or reward you for good behavior. This includes being rewarded for promoting moral behavior via punishment. Therefore, if you are a person who finds being trustworthy rewarding, you’ll typically also find punishing less costly. Our mathematical model shows that, as a result, choosing to punish wrongdoers can work like a peacock’s tail — if I see you punish misbehavior, I can infer that you are likely to be trustworthy. ... Our theory also explains why people sometimes punish in ways that don’t make sense from the perspective of benefiting the greater good. For example, punishment can sometimes be wildly disproportionate to the perceived offense.

Most normal people are depressed by what has happened to the internet, twitter, the press and modern dinner conversation. I have a lot of hope for the future because I believe that eventually most people will learn this information and the reality of how evolution shaped our cognitive biases like confirmation bias and in-group/out-group bias, leading to more honest and self-aware behavior. Hope for my children... maybe.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1QMbzrD