Humans evolved in tribes and part of their humanity is their interaction with all other humans and indeed, the whole world. Evolution sees to it that every organism passes on traits that favor survival, so a moral sense is ingrained slowly over time. Nature is objective, and what is called “moral sense” is really just those characteristics which in aiding survival are most likely to be passed on.

Some examples are protecting of helpless infants, protecting kin and members of the group, having a sense of empathy, finding favorable cooperation that increases benefits, comprehending and communicating altruism, sharing food, grooming and bonding and demonstrations to increase likelihood of mate selection and group inclusion.

None of these are restricted to just human behavior. This suggests that a moral sense is created in most cognitively gifted animals. The saying, “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours,” began with observations of monkey grooming behavior. When they spend hours giving grooming to one another, they are bonding and displaying a moral sense of values. Primates value each other and bonding itself. In a literal sense they are giving their time and attention with no guarantee of reciprocity, especially those who live in rigid hierarchy. Over all, however, the behavior creates supportive social networks.

A moral sense is about values. Primates value attention and sharing. They also need to comprehend intention, and to accomplish this, humans and other animals are supplied with mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are evolved to help the organism detect whether a behavior is of good intention, or beneficial, or whether it is a threat of some kind.

A person watching another person offer food to a child has neural activity in the brain. The mirror neurons which light up, inform him or her that one should have empathy for a hungry child. If a child is being hit, however, the mirror neurons inform the witness that a threat and a “moral code” may be violated. Mirror neurons are of great interest to neuroscience’s because they confirm that behavior as well as being predictable carries with it an empathic sense as well.

As far as things such as sexual morality, this is largely learned, but also in part innate. There is a universal taboo on incest for example, because in evolutionary terms it creates a threat of birth defects. Taboos, such as those against homosexuality are learned, and in those cultures wherein it is acceptable, there is much less conflict about the morality of the issue.

In cases of rape, sexual slavery, exploitation of children and so on, people usually agree these are negative, and they create laws and rules to protect the exploited. The protection of the exploited is also rapidly coming to include not just human culture, but also the natural systems that support life, such as forests that create oxygen, soils that create food, and diversity itself which creates existence.

The brain is able to learn empathy and keep improving upon it, much as humans are wired to learn language. However, human beings are not born speaking Mandarin or Italian automatically, they must be exposed to an environment in which the words (or values) are reinforced continually. At present, mirror neurons are not without controversy, some scientists disagree as to how much of human interaction is biologically based.

That it is natural to be violent is debated, but in everyday interaction, there are more cooperative gestures than hostile ones. If non-empathy were the norm, no one could get out of a grocery store alive, for example. There would be too much conflict over that box of cereal everyone wants. Common courtesy and civilization would churn continual chaos.

With mirror neurons, and hard-wired sympathy and empathy, some wonder why the world is such a mess. Why then, one might ask, is there war, crime, pollution, exploitation and “evil” in the world? This comes down to the human capacity to see other living organisms, and even other people, as excluded from the group.

When the whole biosphere is realized to be of value and benefit for survival of the group, then the group continually upgrades their capacity to encompass other living things, and even nature itself into their sense of community and tribe.

It has been well documented by social scientists for many decades, that people can only kill or annihilate others when they can be made to perceive otherness, or that is, non-group members. It has also been well documented that anyone can be brainwashed to be a Nazi, terrorist, or a killer, all that is required is that a person is convinced their cause is “moral” or for a greater good for total community in the long run. And this is why hatred and war, exploitation and abuse continue. They also realize that blaming an outside entity, whether it is the devil, human nature, or usually, “the other” is a form of scapegoating that surrenders power, and creates helplessness.

However, the basic news is overwhelmingly good news. If humans are capable of learning about their sense of moral values, and the wisdom of inclusion for all beneficial systems, composed of entities, (including clean air, water, forests, soils and other living diversity, including multi-cultural human diversity) they are capable of learning to create, protect and defend all of those they include in the group. The group, called planet Earth, then, becomes the tribe, and a moral sense of protecting this, is of tremendous benefit.