> Would you accept a broader definition: something like
>
> > Smart people, absent outlying social deficits, will arrive at a morality core that is seen in many religions.

Yes, that's a less ambiguous way of saying what I meant. I think the morality core exists outside of religion.

k00b

religion makes learning natural law easier by filling gaps and constructing narratives.

This is something that makes a lot if sense to me. And it is connected to this:

religion probably keeps the bottom of the class from lying, cheating, violence, and stealing better than anything else

Except, I think I'd apply it differently: religion gives most of us a baseline for behaving when not very much is on the line. I suspect that religious people are not more likely to be heroes (nor less likely to be villains) in situations where the stakes are high.

Smart people, absent outlying social deficits, will arrive at Christian-like morality on big picture things independently.

What is it about Christianity that leads people to it? Would you accept a broader definition: something like

Smart people, absent outlying social deficits, will arrive at a morality core that is seen in many religions.

I ask, because I wonder about Confucian morality -- which has always felt very similar to Christian morality to me -- or about something like Stoic morality. I should research this, but I wonder how much of the morality of the ancient world might be describes as Christian like.

Christianity

Should you tell your children if you stop believing in God?

Scoresby

> religion makes learning natural law easier by filling gaps and constructing narratives.

This is something that makes a lot if sense to me. And it is connected to this:

> religion probably keeps the bottom of the class from lying, cheating, violence, and stealing better than anything else

Except, I think I'd apply it differently: religion gives most of us a baseline for behaving when not very much is on the line. I suspect that religious people are not more likely to be heroes (nor less likely to be villains) in situations where the stakes are high. 

I'm curious about this:

> Smart people, absent outlying social deficits, will arrive at Christian-like morality on big picture things independently.

What is it about Christianity that leads people to it? Would you accept a broader definition: something like 

> Smart people, absent outlying social deficits, will arrive at a morality core that is seen in many religions. 

I ask, because I wonder about Confucian morality -- which has always felt very similar to Christian morality to me -- or about something like Stoic morality. I should research this, but I wonder how much of the morality of the ancient world might be describes as Christian like.