Fantastic documentary, Dawkins is no longer the pioneer from the late 70s who took philosophy on behavior and ethics to its logical conclusion with The Selfish Gene, but a beacon of intellectual prowess moving closer and closer to the fundamentals of what Kierkegaard and Nietzsche set the groundwork for... an ethics for the future man. This competitive capitalistic system is the fastest evolving in human history, and the scientific output produced is increasing exponentially. As science continues to mature- expect in the next 15 years for eugenics and nano technology to be mature industries- Dawkins is increasingly able to describe the application of the philosophy of post-modernism with the way global citizens choose to live. Although i haven't read his newest book as of yet, it definitely seems to promote intriguing steps in the right direction: "The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_of_Reality:_How_We_Know_What%27s_Really_TrueReligion is a guiding light for those who need it, and when i look into the eyes of a grieving mother or widow i can see she needs her God. However, the ethics of a future civilization must be without the overbearing constructs of absolute power that organized religion exonerates. Social and ethical education can be learned at a much more sophisticated level when the established scientific knowledge and consequences of game theory, economics, psychology, and interpersonal sociology- are applied.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSV5LtVmR4 this documentary explains the exoneration of stupidity in the name of consumption within America, it reminds me of the exoneration of the weak and meek faithful of the dark ages- the circumstances under which modern organized religion became a powerful unifying factor.
However, with a highly educated population, such social constructs for stability lose their effect. These social constructs, even today with a majority of relatively highly educated people in western societies, are not unethical however, because after all we have had electricity for only a single century. Ideas of drastic change are frequently pushed to the background and suppressed, much like those of Nikola Tesla who ushered in our modern age. Human society has always been characterized by the leaders gaining power from the have-nots, but even in less unequal societies it is established that society must be a framework for capable future members to flourish.
Fundamentally evolution is already applied to global geopolitics because war is bad for business. No two nations in the top 20 world economies have waged war against each other since the advent of nuclear weapons. But more importantly, political differences have been systematically brushed aside in favour of "globalized" economic policies, until today war between the two largest economies in Europe- France and Germany- is an impossible notion. Stability is maintained at home while wars are waged on the authoritarian regimes who refuse to comply with modernizing economic trends, the economic outliers of international globalization. Today it is the economic outlier regimes, whereas in the past it was sequentially rival blocs, rival nations, rival races, rival religions, rival monarchies, rival clans, rival tribes, and so on.
Eugenics will epitomize the next stage of human evolution, the path that our civilization will slowly realize, through computer monitoring and implants, and through nano maintenance- to an evolutionary path that we will deem beneficial. Perhaps here I give "we" too much sovereignty, as things are never quite so simple in the flux of human advents and public opinion. More likely, the progress will be made in respect to what the markets deem ethical enough. First and foremost this entails solving the problems of the "Apollonian"- the necessities we must guarantee in order to prolong life. These will most likely be propagated by entrepreneurs that will solidify their positions as future business magnates.
Huxley and his family's version of eugenics is one lacking the technological support we will have when the science matures in some two decades, due to exponential growth trends.
Dawkins is predicted the faster and faster pace of change will be basic background to the MANDATORY reconfiguring of our ethical values. The public's changing views on nearly every issue discussed in the documentary will be forced to be reevaluated because of the development of technology in these fields. The consequences of these technologies will be eugenics, the self-direction of human evolution, perhaps literally directed by YOUR SELF as to what you want to implement on your own person or family along the lines of what is healthy and affordable. What is so wrong with eugenics?
Ethics is at its highest level atheistic. Plato described citizens adhering to law as fearing the consequences if they break it at the lowest level of insight, adhering to law as a utilitarian principle for mutual survival as the second level, and fundamentally understanding ethical fairness as the highest level of understanding that citizens cite in their following of the law. Religion tells us that the monotheistic god holds our destiny to be judged in the afterlife, the motivation to follow the commandments etc. is primarily so one does not fall into disrepute with god and is later forced to suffer.
