Chapter 14.                             Part E 

People in varied cultures in many parts of the world also gradually come to establish and use a market square in the middle of town, and to hire police to patrol in the market to stop thieves. Getting fish out of the water and into human stomachs is healthy for those humans who learn to catch fish. Marketplaces, policemen, and currencies are efficient, practical social constructs because they help the society that has them to maximize the usefulness of what the citizens produce, i.e. to allow capital to flow, in a timely way, to where it can do the most good in human terms. 

Thus, certain meme-complexes that we call “values” or “principles” steer us toward creating institutions that are advantageous for the tribe and especially for those sub-groups in the tribe that believe in the effective values most devoutly. The values (meme complexes) survive in meme-space because they foster behavior patterns that work, and thus the members of the tribe who hold these values most passionately survive to pass the values on to their young.  

                                  

                                                         greeting American style 

                             

                                                                greeting Japanese style 

It is true that deep differences between the meme combinations and morés of the different societies of the real, hard world can be found and found in large numbers. But to say, as some moral relativists do (3.), that these cultures are therefore incommensurable is to abandon humanity to war for all time. And it simply isn't true.

                     

                                                   English poet-musician Gordon Sumner (Sting)

In the first place, though there are differences, there are a lot of similarities in our ways of life. At least some of the highest peaks in the "meme-scapes" of all cultures coincide. Everywhere on earth, people respect and value wisdom, courage, love, and freedom. We adhere to moral values and the patterns of behavior that they lead to, in varying degrees, and in varying ways and combinations, in our various cultures. But the areas of thinking that we have in common far outweigh our differences. As Gordon Sumner (Sting) said in the 1980's, "The Russians love their children too."   

In the second place, we can learn. We can learn to fish in four ways instead of just one. We can learn to talk in four or even more languages. We can learn to refrain from giving in to violent impulses that cause us to beat women or children who have displeased us. We can learn to imprison rather than execute convicted murderers. We can learn to eat vegan and stop using livestock completely. 

The values discussed in this book – values that derive from, and are tailored by and for, the physical universe – are pointing us toward a society that will place ever greater emphasis on imagination, self-discipline, education, citizenship, pluralism, and good will. Courage, widsom, freedom, and love. We want and need a global human society in a state of dynamic equilibrium of ever greater internal tensions, capable of responding successfully to an ever greater range of challenges, both short and long term. Then, we can spread our species out toward our destiny. Space.