Transformation, Empathy & Ethics

In this episode, Dr. Sally and Dr. Jen look at ethics, values and morals, and how they influence our development of empathy and impact the journey of transformation. 

Transcript

3:03  Jen says they were recently called “the Transformation Mavens”. The podcast is an expression of their own ethic of care, their values in action. Transformation requires we be intentional about the ethical and moral constructs we live by. For many of us, these may not be conscious. But the more we identify our values, the more clearly our voices echo out into the world, with more impact and sustainability. So what do we value? What is our moral code or ethic? And how do we cultivate a code? Jen then defines ‘morals’ and ‘ethics’.  Morals are the things we think are right and wrong, standards by which we live our lives. Ethics are the principles of conduct that we believe are important in the world. The standards that we live by can shift to reflect our development- from an ego-centric individual, to an eco-centric, interconnected awareness of Oneness. Some of our values can remain consistent throughout our lives, while others change as mature, eg: justice for all humans becomes justice for all sentient beings.

10:36  Sally agrees that morality and ethics are closely related, as is empathy. Episode 19, was about multiple intelligences. Episode 20 focuses on just a couple of those 24 lines of intelligence – the interpersonal (which is empathy, or social connections) and ethics/morality. We consider ourselves to be the most intelligent species of animal on the planet, but that’s only IQ, as opposed to EQ, which is the empathy line of intelligence, or SQ, the social line. We are also one of the most violent animals, and unethical. We are six times more likely to kill our own species than other mammals, according to Jose Maria Gomez, who studied 1000 species of animals(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308763452_The_phylogenetic_roots_of_human_lethal_violence). Meerkats are the most violent creature on the planet, but the next five most violent species are the primates, which include us. So we have to ‘learn’ empathy. Social intelligence is fairly low in humans, as we’ve seen with all the recent wars. We tend to kill other humans with cold aggression, and little conscience. Jean Jacques Rousseau said that we're naturally peaceful, but we're corrupted by society. Thomas Hobbes said, No, actually, we are naturally violent apes, and society civilizes us. This podcast has the Yin Yang symbol as its central metaphor, the paradox – so we are both - violent, as well as being the one animal that has developed social support programs, because we care about suffering. The combo of High IQ and low EQ is very dangerous. Sally then discusses the difference between Nazi surgeons, and normal surgeons, who can get PTSD, due to having to repress feelings, to perform life-saving surgeries. We must apply our IQ for the benefit all of society. If we are the most intelligent species as well as one of the most coldly aggressive, we have to learn to bring mind and body together, so we can actually transform. Empathy is our next level of development. Consciousness is learning how to become ‘relational’. Sally then cites Dame Jane Goodall.

21:41 Jen agrees that some professionals have a capacity for compartmentalizing

and can do it in healthy ways. Others get serious autoimmune disease , PTSD, and other serious illnesses. Accepting we are violent means we must develop an ethic of care. Jen then mentions Indian Jainism, a religion where we find the Five Great vows: non violence, truth, celibacy, not stealing and non attachment. Similarly, in Buddhism, there's the Noble Eightfold Path, which includes right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration and Right Thought. These are commitments towards non-violence, and the desire to relieve suffering, through compassion and empathy. In Hinduism, ethical principles are expressed through the concept of Dharma, which includes moral obligations, a sense of duty in life, right laws and virtues that guide our lives. Sikhs have principles of ethics, of being in service to others, being truthful and selfless, and striving for equality. In Christianity, Jesus shared many principles about loving our neighbors, forgiveness and compassion. In Judaism, in the Torah, ethical principles are outlined in the 10 commandments, which tell us not to steal, covet, commit adultery, or kill, to honor our mother and father. These principles are echoed in Christianity. In Islam, right action is outlined in the Koran - respecting others, mercy, justice, honesty, and the pursuit of knowledge. Then there are philosophical traditions like Stoicism and Confucianism. They all stress ethical positions, creating inner tranquility, and striving for a virtuous life, through cultivating wisdom, sound judgment, and the courage to face our challenges with bravery, justice, and temperance. All these result in self control, self regulation, moderation, and compassion. Empathy and kindness are the universal Golden Rule - treat others the way we want to be treated. Jen then discusses how one can also be ethical without being religious. We all have that responsibility to develop an ethic of care, which is critical to the future of this planet. 

29:36  Sally agrees we need to find common cross-cultural values, within the religions which arose in the pre modern epoch. Sacred texts guided whole ethnic groups. Civilizing violent people was originally the job of religion. But religion was also used to justify violence. Sally describes some of these violent acts fueled by ideology and pure zealotry, rather than a shortage of food or resources. We twist our religious principles to justify violence. Humans are both social and territorial animals, yet we are not born with high SQ - we have to develop it. We are actually stressed and traumatized by being social animals. We kill others to protect food, land, and children, because we still see ourselves as separate from other ethnicities. So developing an ethic of care can move us from ego- and ethno-centric, to a global- or cosmo-centric. Only then do we understand that everybody is sentient, even the livestock in the field, and the alleviation of suffering becomes more important than hoarding resources. Our consciousness changes. We may be brilliant, but we are violent when we dissociate from certain lines of intelligence, like EQ and the SQ. This is the way that narcissism and psychopathy is created. Religion helped us with a code of ethics in pre-modernity. Then in modernity, we developed law and order. Then in the age of enlightenment, we developed philosophies, and we started debating ethics. We became more finely tuned to an understanding of right and wrong. Then in post modernity, we started realizing there's not just one right and wrong. And we fell into a kind of relativism, as opposed to understanding there are actual universal values. It's not only ‘my’ value. We must ask ‘what value can I bring to the table’, and ‘what values benefit the whole’. Relativism is a bit of a trap and it's facilitating some deep narcissism, which is very dangerous. It's every man for himself now. Or we can fall into the ‘philosophy trap’ and become over conceptual about what is right and wrong, and just live in our heads and do nothing. This podcast is meta-modern. Which means we have to start ‘reconstructing’, not just ‘deconstructing’, and really emphasize that the future of our civilization depends on us noticing that there are universal values that we share. 

37:24 Jen agrees we are returning to an awareness that there are universal values. She jokes the merekats might need an intervention, just as much as the primates do. It is essential for our long-term survival, and the survival of other species on this planet. Jen then cites psychologist Carol Gilligan who popularized this term ‘ethic of care’, which prioritizes relationships, empathy, connections and interconnections, centering concern for others in our decision making, responding to the needs of both individuals and communities, human and non-human, fostering a sense of responsibility to, and interconnectedness to, all sentient beings, so we move away from the lie of separation, the illusion that we are alienated from each other, and from our Earth home, because nothing can be further from the truth. We are so deeply inter-connected and inter-dependent. And yet at the same time, we are also individuals, which is another paradox. We need a shift away from toxic individuality, instead, cultivating sane, reciprocal, sustainable relationships. What do we hold true? What do we hold valuable? It starts from within each and every one of us, and then it expands outward, into our world. This reduces the risk of ecological disaster and harm. Our ethics move us in the direction of transformation. We move towards healing, rather than causing harm. 

42:16  Sally reiterates and simplifies some takeaways. 1) All 24 multiple intelligences can be boiled down to 4 categories - IQ, EQ, SQ and AQ (which is resilience during adversity). We need all 4 to be balanced. And we need to develop mutliple lines of intelligence. These 4 fit nicely into Ken Wilber’s 4 quadrant model; 1: IQ ( bio- UR), 2: EQ (psycho- UL), SQ (social – LL), and AQ (eco/organization etc- LR). She suggests googling Wilber’s four quadrants, and his developmental models. The podcast always use these 4 lenses- the bio, psycho, social, and ecological perspectives, needed to transform the whole. Sally then cites other guiding principles for ethics in a post-religious world, 2) such as transparency versus secrecy. 3) We can also move out of relativism and develop a larger ethics of care. 4) The podcast refers to the yin and yang symbol as a model of restoring balance. And 5) working with paradox. Or 6) living by pro life principles that benefit the whole, which includes death. There’s no life without death. We can no longer be black and white about right and wrong. We need to integrate the paradoxes of pain and pleasure, the darkness and the light, we need to understand that things are not simple. We're moving towards more complexity. And 7) we need to alleviate suffering for all sentient life, but 8) be open to what is good for the whole, as opposed to just the individual. 9) We need to include accountability as a value that can be developed. 10) Sally then discusses the complexity of living in both a dual and non-dual world, and cites two non-dual thinkers, Rumi, and Nietzsche, because, the integration of opposites is where the transformative energy resides. Intelligence is the integration of information, and its application to a ever more specific contexts.