We are all members of the same flawed species. Putting our moral vision into practice means imposing our will on others. The human lust for power and esteem, coupled with its vulnerability to self-deception and self-righteousness, makes that an invitation to a calamity, all the worse when the power is directed at a goal as quixotic as eradicating human self-interest.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that our attempts to impose our moral beliefs on others can lead to negative consequences, given our flawed nature and inherent self-interest.
In this quote, Steven Pinker reflects on the complexities of human nature, emphasizing that while we aspire to promote moral ideals, the very act of imposing these ideals upon others can lead to disastrous outcomes. He highlights the contradictions of our species, combining the desire for power and recognition with the tendency towards self-deception. This makes any grand effort to eliminate self-interest a potentially futile and chaotic endeavor.
In practice
In a discussion about moral philosophy, I might reference this quote to illustrate the complications of imposing beliefs.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
The story of each stone leads back to a mountain.
Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.
I am thankful to the Nobel committee for recognising the plight of millions of children who are suffering in this modern age.
The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers' abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual, rights which they found implicit in the Bible's teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual. This same sense of man patterned the convictions of those who framed the English system of law inherited by our own Nation, as well as the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Maniacs of Procreation, bipeds with devalued faces, we have lost all appeal for each other.
But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so I never know who I am, nor how many I am or will be. I'd love to be able to touch a bell and summon the real me, because if I really need myself, I mustn't disappear.
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