<!-- bryant-content-generator:start --> # Thermodynamics does not hate the newborn consumed... > Thermodynamics does not hate the newborn consumed by another primate. It does not approve of the coalition that dismantles a rival. It does not reward the mother who protects her offspring or punish the mother who destroys one. It sits beneath every human category, moving matter through temporary forms, permitting islands of astonishing order to arise only while energy continues to pass through them. We lay morality over this machinery{We lay morality over the machinery of physics{ because conscious animals cannot live together without stories about what should happen, and the machinery underneath has no concept of _should_.}} {{The universe does not reward virtue. It dissipates gradients. Everything else is a story told by frightened animals during the interval.}} **Source:** [[books/Chimping Out|Chimping Out]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Thermodynamics does not hate the newborn consumed by another primate. It does not approve of the coalition that dismantles a rival. It does not reward the mother who protects her offspring or punish the mother who destroys one. It sits beneath every human category, moving matter through temporary forms, permitting islands of astonishing order to arise only while energy continues to pass through them. We lay morality over this machinery because conscious animals cannot live together without stories about what should happen, and the machinery underneath has no concept of should. The universe does not reward virtue. It dissipates gradients. Everything else is a story told by frightened animals during the interval.” — Bryant McGill https://bryantmcgill.com/passages/passages-thermodynamics-hate-newborn-animals-during-interval ``` <!-- bryant-content-generator:end -->