The human mind is complex, but as I posted before, it is very (statistically) improbable we are at the pinnacle of organized, conscious, intelligent complexity in the universe.

We are (or feel we are) free, but we are also operating within strict limits...a leash; our mortality, our size relative to the vast cosmos and the unknown effect on us by other intelligent consciousness in the universe, of which we have only limited awareness.

The universe is built...fortunately, like a brick outhouse...it is incredibly stable with multitudes of back up systems. Even if we manage to destroy ourselves and our planet, life in the universe will survive. We only prove by our undoing, that our role in (and importance to) the cosmic whole is much more limited than we arrogantly believed. I said also in another post that the universe does not respect arrogance and it most certainly does not- regardless how intelligent that arrogance is.

Morality is related to entropy creating, conserving and preserving mechanisms in the universe...construction vs destruction as you so adequately pointed out.

Ultimately we must come to understand that the universe, while rational, also has a metaphysical component. "Evil" is a frame of reference phenomenon relating to increased entropy and the destruction of orderly systems. "Good" likewise relates to the preservation of order in the universe...but not just any order, for life exists in untold exponential numbers of individual units. This implies a universal respect for individual point of view (frame), and freedom of choice within universally defined parameters.

Correct moral values can be derived from a careful study of the cosmos. It is interesting that these "derived" values resemble the religious values we already hold- though our greatest lessons from a scientific study of the universe will lie, I believe, in discovering the differences- not the similarities...respect for individuality as opposed to conformity, for example.

It is correct, and interesting to note that ultimately, the existence of the material universe may depend on something as metaphysical as morality.

Best wishes, Sam Cox