uman nature. Forinstance, if people observe the destructive effects of alcoholism, the accuracyof such observation over centuries will eventually overcome the most hardened ofself-serving beliefs to the contrary. From such observations, attitudes and lawswill likely follow. There is a chemistry evident in social life that allowscertain things to occur and other things to be prevented, if there is a way ofpreventing them. For example, there has been a natural progression of laws thatprohibit an intoxicated person from driving an automobile. After decades ofexperience, people can fairly accurately guess what will happen when peopledrink and drive. That intoxicants are destructive is no longer considered to bemerely a belief. Some moral values, therefore, derive from physiological facts.Over centuries of time, facts concerning generative or degenerative behaviorsinvariably lead to the creation of values. To a degree, values evolve as aconsistent response to persistent social problems. In this respect, biologicalprinciples lie at the root of ethics. The accumulation of facts and observationsleads to the construction of values to enhance systemic efficiency and theability of individuals, as well as the entire species, to survive. While valuesmay vary from culture to culture, the principles of biology affecting humanbehavior that contribute to the evolution of value systems remains the same.Sound empirical knowledge implied in portions of ethical systems is sometimesdifficult to distinguish from self-serving beliefs, delusions, and unexaminedopinions. Since ethical systems are complex, few want to take the time toexamine their logic. It is easier to believe that rules are merely opinions;thus, people never have to accept the discipline of any rule set. They aremorally free by their own ignorance to do whatever they want. Since laws arebelieved to be opinions, or an extension of an authoritarian state, theprohibition against drinking and drivi...
