Why do we value human life?

When we discuss about human life is very important, who’s human life we are talking about. First of all, I’ll point that all life matter, no matter we are talking about human, animals, plants, etc.

Reported to our own person, based on the type of human life we have the following categories:

- our own life — usually this is valued and protected based on one of the primary instincts: survival instinct — so we could say when we are talking about our life, is valued by instinct

- the persons we love (means family) — the value of this is given by love, attachment and interaction, basically the history you share starting the day you are born

- the close friends — this is valued because of history of interaction

- buddies — empathy

- everybody else — sometime empathy but with coldness

Morality usually is based on duality: good or bad, right or wrong and this is given by the society where you are raised. The pillars of our morality usually are built by the religion. After that is shaped by the society you decide to live. In conclusion, in almost all of our current society our morality is based on religion.

Let take a society where, let’s call it “morality” is based on different instinct: survival of the hives.

Look at the bees, they have no religion, they know each one of them have one role and survival of the hive have priority. They value the life of their queen more than their own. So is for the ants.

There was a viral message over the internet a while ago: what was the first sign of the evolution? Answer: “the first sign of civilization was a femur which was broken and then healed, because in the animal kingdom, when you break a leg, you are dead.” — Margaret Mead

That was the first sign of civilization, that was the first sign of help. Back then, there was no morality, there was just feeling, empathy, love, attachment. That was the moment we started to value other human life than ourselves.

Where did the empathy originate?

Taking it to origins: Fear of loneliness. In fact, nobody was ever lonely when it was born until the moment started to procure the food by himself/herself…