Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of talk about what is natural or unnatural in regards to human behavior. I suppose it all depends on which part of the elephant one currently perceives. Beyond that though, I see this like layers of an onion—an emergent property situation. I’ll take a stab at sorting this out…
Humans are naturally (and usually) inclined to take the easy way, go for pleasure and avoid pain. In the wild this bio-hoodwink usually works out well. Human culture has been driven by this primary instinctive drive shared by all animals, from ants to duck to dogs to people. Consider the human highway on the left and the ant highway on the right (photo left). Both species are just trying to make life easier and more efficient. As I pointed out in Ants are Us, the similarities are striking. Continue reading ‘Naturally Unnatural, Naturally!’
King Sahura c.2487-2475 B.C.E.
This morning lightning struck. I got a great ideal for a book. Even so, it is a book I’ll never write. Still, I have a provocative working title, Why Man Is King, or perhaps, Why Man is King, is God. I’m not even keen on writing a post addressing this, or at least addressing all of ‘this’. As it turns out, the end of the book would dovetail right into a recent post Ant Are Us, so I just have to say something, otherwise this will haunt me for the rest of the day.
Up until now, civilization has done everything possible to put Man at the top, and Woman at the bottom of culture’s hierarchical structure. I always attributed this to simple social zoology where the ‘alpha male’ heads the group. That may still be a major reason for the main origins of human cultural biases. However, I realized another source as I was pondering the dynamics of male-female relationships… what keeps them either working or leads to their demise. Continue reading ‘Why Man is King’
I marvel at how seriously the prophets of doom are sometimes taken. Still, I do understand the apprehension. Indeed, my own apocalyptic sense of life probably accounts for my serious side.
If I were a true believer in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic world view I might even be susceptible to the ‘end of times’ stories these prophets preach. Being a Taoist lets me off the hook for the most part; any part that remains ‘on the hook’ is nicely assuaged by Buddha’s Truths.
I suspect this sometimes apocalyptic sense of life is one of the deepest we humans feel. I see it manifested in various ways, and while not as literal the “May 21″ end of the time story, they are nevertheless common. The stock market crashes foretell the end of the economy as we know it; extinction of species and global warming foretells the end of the planet as we know it. Continue reading ‘An Improper Sense of Awe’
Well actually it’s “Don’t trust any elephant under 60“. This Science News’ article is about elephants, but it applies to people, and all species I’d imagine.
Our choices for what to look for in a leader runs the gamut, as this excerpt from the Science News’ article puts it:
“There is an interesting trade-off here, which certainly applies to humans and maybe elephants as well,” van Vugt says. “The group might want a young, fit and aggressive leader to defend the group — the Schwarzenegger type — but at the same time might want an older, more experienced leader — the Merkel type — to make an accurate assessment of the dangers in the situation.” Continue reading ‘Don’t trust anyone under 60′
It’s about time we changed our species’ name from “Homo sapiens” to something like “Homo sociālis, my best Linnaeus guess. We are not the great “wise” or “knowing” animal that we claim to be. We are instead among the greatest of social animals, (for our size anyway). I became increasingly convinced of this over the years as I’ve observed how we are not as wise or knowing as we think we are, yet we are more profoundly social than we realize. Recent research reported in the Science News article, In-laws transformed early human society supports this. Naturally, I could quibble with some of the hypotheses… that’s what hypotheses are for, but why bother. The basic premise is sound, and besides the research backs up my suspicions! Continue reading ‘It’s Time We Changed Our Name’
I’m not sure where to begin when writing about this observation. Like many things in life, there are multi-faceted and multi-layered aspects to the ‘big picture’. Oh well, I’ll just plunge in…
We, like all social species, always have some form of governance. Social species need their ‘alpha male’ (even if that’s the queen bee in a bee hive).
Being a more complicated species than bees, hierarchical governance is multi-layered. Even within our species though, the more ’sophisticated’ the culture/civilization, the more layers. Hunter gather groups have the simplest – no courts, parliaments, congresses, or special interest clubs. Continue reading ‘Democracy as Myth’
Jungle church in Malaya
Well, why not! But seriously, this is a question I have not heard asked much… if at all(1) Debates mostly focus on whose God is best, the nature of God, or does God even existence. Asking “why do we believe in God” is more of a zoological approach to this issue. That is the place to begin; after all, we are animals first.
I’ve long see the God idea as an emergent property of our social need for leadership, i.e., ‘alpha male’, the decider. All social primate groups have some individual serving this unifying role. Being a thinking ape, it is natural that we would image the existence of a super-leader in a super-home (heaven). Being social apes, it is also nature that we’d enjoy gathering to share the experience. A recent article in Science News, Connected at church, happy with life, offered some support for the why of it all. Continue reading ‘Why God?’
I had a little bakery on the Thai Cambodian border in the early 60’s. It was little more than a shack, but enough for me and my Thai ‘wife’(1) (along with her mother, brother, sister). Most of the customers were Thai peasants who would stop by for some sponge cake on their return from the town market. Being partial to sponge cake, business never grew; I ate up most of the profits. After rising early to bake the days offerings, I’d sit at the front of the shop and swat at flies while awaiting customers. Continue reading ‘Poor Thais And Rich Swedes’
Modern hunting and gathering
It has been my habit for decades to eat nothing much until late afternoon. That goes against the standard ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ rule, especially seeing how I get up at 7am. Sure this may be a little stressful to my body, but that turns out to be a good thing. As with most everything, it isn’t the what that matters, it is the how much that ‘breaks the camels back’.
Consider this excerpt from Anti-aging: A little stress may keep cells youthful, a recent article in Science News.
“The study focused on individual cells, but for whole organisms the finding could shed light on a link between stress and life span. “A little bit of stress can actually prolong life,” says molecular biologist Richard Morimoto of Northwestern, a study coauthor. Mild stress activates the heat shock response but does not harm the cells, he adds. Continue reading ‘Hunger: A Natural Stimulant’
It seems my mind is always tempted to look toward ‘tomorrow’, whether ‘tomorrow’ is five minutes from now or five week from now. I reckon it is the hunter gather instinct that is driving this, for I see it occurring in everyone I know. We are always jumping out ahead of the moment. Why? Because we can. The mind’s space is larger than most mundane moments can stimulate. It seeks greener pastures, i.e., the hunter gather drive to look for that tasty tidbit the certainly must lie ahead. Continue reading ‘The Future Takes Care Of Itself’
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