Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe

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RIGHT AND WRONG AS A CLUE TO THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
PENNY: Have you read C.S. Lewis book Mere Christianity on the law of human nature?
SHELDON: Yes. But I disagree with some of his propositions especially on his idea of right and wrong and the meaning of the universe.
PENNY: Tell me about it.
SHELDON: Lewis alludes that the universe is created by a supernatural being who is like us; “We want to know whether the universe simply happens to be what it is for no reason or whether there is a power behind it that makes it what it is. Since that power, if it exists, would be not one of the observed facts but a reality which makes them, no mere observation of the facts can find it” (Lewis, 20). However, this is where I do not agree with him.
PENNY: Carry on. why or what don”t you agree with him?
SHELDON: First, the universe is the whole of space and all the stars, planets, and other forms of matter and energy in it. It is a physical thing of which we are part of. It obeys the laws of physical matter, namely the laws of physics. If you want to find the meaning of the universe, look no further than in these laws we learn in physics and chemistry. The universe comprises several major elements that are also abundant on earth (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, helium and nitrogen). These are the most abundant elements in the world on earth. On earth, life has developed and flourished, and while life obeys biological rules, it is still governed by the laws of the universe. Biological rules are built upon physical laws. They are secondary to the laws of physics.
The earth and everything in it is part of the universe, and therefore it must obey the laws of the universe. It is no exception. Thus, if we look for the meaning of anything on earth, we must acknowledge that it is a part of the universe which has its own laws. Any laws and or meaning of anything we have on the planet is therefore encased in the larger principles of the laws of the universe. Whatever laws we obey or the meaning of the planet or universe we have derived here on earth, we must acknowledge that they are directly derived from the laws of the universe. Therefore, if we seek to understand the planet and anything in it, we must learn and understand the physical laws that govern the universe.
And it is important to note that the laws of the universe are unbreakable hence forming a solid bedrock upon which the rest of the laws are built. For example, the laws of human society are directly or indirectly based on laws of biology. The laws of biology are based on the laws of physics, which are the laws of the universe. I will revisit the concept of laws of the levels and their scope of influence. If our thoughts or definitions break those laws, they are pegged on nothing more than imagination, and therefore they are wrong. It is not a matter of existence of a supernatural being or force at play but the reality of how the universe came to be in that long time. This explains why I find his concepts on “right and wrong” to be erroneous because they are pegged on existence of a force that created the universe and governs it. However much the idea of a god/deity/ supernatural force make sense to our mortal brains, it is wrong. Now I want to consider the element of rightness and wrongness.
PENNY: Go ahead. I reserve my questions and will ask after you explain the concept of rightness and wrongness. But consider that Lewis alluded that the supernatural being behind the creation and existence of the universe only allows us to know what we ought to know about it. He used the analogy of a delivery man and packets. “Suppose someone asked me, when I see a man in a blue uniform going down the street leaving little paper packets at each house, why I suppose that they contain letters? (Lewis, 24). He claimed that the packets for each address are delivered to the individual in that address who has no business knowing the information in the other addresses (Lewis, 24-25). We have no business learning about anything else which does not concern us. Hence, Lewis alluded that whatever is unknown about the universe, is made to be that way and we should not poke our noses into that because it does not concern us.
SHELDON: I beg to differ on the following grounds. First, we do not know everything and that is why science is a never-ending quest. We cannot believe in existence of supernatural beings for everything we do not know. We need to build on the existence of the knowledge we have until we understand our subject. there was a time that the world almost unanimously believed that the sun orbited around the earthCITATION Rob171 \p 86 \l 1033 (Price 86). There was a time the known universe was not even beyond our solar system. That has changed today. So, as we continued to explore and probe the universe, we may come across that information.
PENNY: Okay understood. Then what governs right and wrong if you allude that there is no god?
SHELDON: The way I understand “rightness and wrongness” is that it is a rule or a law. Therefore, according to our earlier discussion, it is still governed by the laws of the universe, which we boiled down to chemical and physical laws. Therefore, we just need to establish whether it is consistent with the laws of the universe. After all, the universe has been here, and it will be here for a long time to come. So, we must investigate the origin of the concept of right and wrong.
PENNY: Okay, go ahead.
SHELDON: As far as I can tell, the concept of right and wrong is a human construct. No other life has that rule of nature, as Lewis called it. Only human beings seem to be governed by this very law. Other forms of life and even somewhat intelligent and well-developed lives do not seem to obey this idea. They are primarily driven by primal instincts of survival which dictate their behaviour. They have evolved to only make choices that help them to propagate their genes. It is only humans who, despite being subject to the same primal instincts of self-preservation and propagation of individual genes, also have a concept of right and wrong.
I also do not agree with the observation made by Lewis that this law of nature is not made up by humans. The more you hold it against any other sentient being or form of life known to us, the more it looks like a human construct. Lewis claims that “this Rule of Right and Wrong, or Law of Human Nature, or whatever you call it, must somehow or other be...