A Struggle With Biology
Here's a uniquely human problem. Our intellect is constantly at war with our biology. Isn't that interesting? We're hardwired to seek out and accept leadership for our own survival, and yet we seriously question and discourage the practice of "following". We are rigged for sex and sexual enjoyment and yet we spend our formative years being told to shun sex. When we get older we spend time battling our biological clock, frantically searching for a mate that may or may not exist and staring at our ledgers wondering if next month we'll have "enough" to have a baby.
No other species, that I know of, exhibits this behavior. Can you imagine dolphins (who are also rigged for casual and pleasurable sex) saying to each other, "No, I can't have a baby now, that will interfere with my migration plans!"
Perhaps we have built a society that is too complex for our biology. What if, instead of fighting our biology and trying to encourage everyone to be a rugged individualist (which I love, don't get me wrong!) maybe we should consider also teaching how to recognize good, healthy leadership so that those of us with bigger drives to follow make better choices.
It's just a thought.
No other species, that I know of, exhibits this behavior. Can you imagine dolphins (who are also rigged for casual and pleasurable sex) saying to each other, "No, I can't have a baby now, that will interfere with my migration plans!"
Perhaps we have built a society that is too complex for our biology. What if, instead of fighting our biology and trying to encourage everyone to be a rugged individualist (which I love, don't get me wrong!) maybe we should consider also teaching how to recognize good, healthy leadership so that those of us with bigger drives to follow make better choices.
It's just a thought.
posted by Bree O'Connor at 9:14 AM
8 Comments:
Dolphins have the ability to abort at will. They will often do this when a more desirable male comes around. Humans gave themselves the technology to abort at will. For some reason people think it's wrong to use it. And millions of people around the world never give finances a single thought when procreating.
If you follow you'll be mislead. If you go it solo you have to own up to mistakes as yours. I prefer the latter. Again, plenty of examples of packs and loners throughout the animal kingdom.
Everything working as intended.
I don't disagree with you, considering myself an individual with personal accountability is great. But let us not ignore the mountain of psychological reserarch that says that, under certain circumstances our biology will program us to follow rather than lead. Leaders and heroes are rare occurrances. My point is that even when we do follow, we should be taught skills to choose better leaders.
This is just a zygote of a concept. You'll have to excuse me while I chew on it a bit.
Some more food for thought, then. A reknowned Harvard psychology professor discovered that psychological programs are actually sociological scripts. Given the right circumstances these can be completely rewritten by the individual. His research was paralleled and confirmed in monkeys, dolphins, and humans by another reknowned doctor. The latter researcher found one hard wired constant. It seems animals with higher brain functions will seek sexual ecstasy above all else. They will abandon all forms of nourishment and suffer any level of pain if it means an orgasm in the end.
I'm not sure how to respond, really. I feel that in my discussions with you, along this vein, we tend to hit a brick wall of sorts. You and your barbaric yawp standing on some heaving mountain of individual sexuality and me and my very honest query about the balance of individuality with the needs of society at large. Perhaps it is a function of my feminine biology that my concerns are my community, but that does not negate my question. I have a very strong gut reaction that, at least for me, your approach to life would not balance. My biggest life question, at the moment, is how to balance my need to declare my individuality with my need to create and maintain cohesive social networks that do not turn sour. I need both in my life. You, however, seem to have an aversion to admitting a need of others that is not sexual. Just as a human, I know that is not entirely true.
At any rate, I feel that I do digress...
You two realize that you're essentially having the same conversation that Anarchists/Libertarians have been having for years, right? Check out anarcho-communism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-communism). People have been attempting to merge the competing biological and intellectual imperatives for a very long time. I'm not saying that's the right way, but it's an interesting concept, and the theories/thought behind it provide excellent fodder late nights full of ponderous and weighty concepts.
This probably stems from my barbaric nature of prefering counter-point arguments. Agreeing with people creates too much weight at one end of the scale. I am, after all, a Libra. Post something in support of the individual and watch me swing to the other side. After all, I love the team work it takes to work in a factory. Just keep the boss off of the floor.
Aw, who am I kidding? I love individuals! Especially big groups of individuals learning to work together as individuals. Sorry.
Don't apologize. I think there is a middle ground where we meet- it is just a matter of reconciling the language that we use.
I'm using American English that is getting heavily tainted with West Coast coloquialisms.
I stay away from the middle ground. That's where the shells tend to drop.
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