On Excellence as Morality - Part 1

The following is the introduction to what I call my pseudo-treatise on Excellence.  This blog is dedicated to Excellence and the pseudo-treatise explains my ideas about what it takes for Excellence to result.


On Excellence as Morality

Some long time ago in our shared history a person first came upon the idea that if meat butchered from an animal carcass is cooked, it tastes better. The fact that the cooking fire also killed the bacteria in the meat that could have threatened the welfare of his family was an unknown addition to his excellent behavior.

At about the same time, someone else realized for the first time that rolling logs let him transport more weight than he could carry. This allowed him to remove his prey from a dangerous open position on the savannah to a more sheltered campsite before stopping to perform the laborious task of butchering the meat, thereby increasing the yield of his hunting foray and lessening his family's exposure to predators.

Both these innovations increased the chances for survival of the hunter, his family, and ultimately the rest of humanity.

The incidents of human excellence date back to the very beginning of our development as a species. For it is through these actions of excellence that our species, Homo Sapiens, has developed. We have improved the survival technique of herding into communities. Rudimentary communication into language and literature. Contests of tribal domination into democratic governments. Vocalized warnings into music. The single most important reason humanity sits atop the evolutionary tree is the inborn need for excellence that we all share. It is here that I believe, feel, and think we find morality.

How can I defend this statement? Where can we find the truths that will sustain this argument if it's exposed to the light of inspection?

If our goal is to define morality, then our investigation must be analyzed within the only influential context that arises from some superhuman source so that we can compare our ideas to some higher authority. This context also needs to have enough of its mysteries identified, catalogued, and defined in human terms so that we can reflect on the applicable truths represented by the context.

A superhuman source is also required so we do not compound our lack of understanding on the issue of morality with incomplete definitions that have been based on the reflections of minds that are insufficiently evolved. Plus, we must avoid the mistake of drawing extensive and general conclusions from the extremely miniscule database of reality that we humans have been exposed to in our relatively short period of reflective capability.

This context must also be pervasive, engulfing us and influencing our every thought, sense, and action. The very universe around us, what I will refer to as Nature, represents the environment that fulfills my requirements. We have succeeded in identifying and defining this pervasive influence of Nature and have given this influence a powerful position in our thoughts. We catalogue its influence into what we call Laws of Nature. We hold them to be sacrosanct and we use them to define reality.