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It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

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Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#31

Post by dragonwriter »

felipeko wrote: post #15
givan wrote: post #5

Call it anyway you want, lizard brain, flyers (Castaneda), Yaldabaoth (agnostics), this force that pushes evolution on earth at great speed through predatorial behavior like competition and flight or fight. We humans are the most intelligent species and still can't overcome it, as a civilization whatever political system or religion we tried no matter how hard we try we can't seem to overcome it, we still have wars a…

I call it scarcity of resources. You won't see wars and what not when you have humanity with abundance of resources.

Scarcity is a universal (more abundance doesn't cure scarcity, it just changes expectations of what is acceptable.)

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#32

Post by dragonwriter »

robotresearcher wrote: post #19
felipeko wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I call it scarcity of resources. You won't see wars and what not when you have humanity with abundance of resources.

a) The problem is more distribution more than abundance. b) I bet that we'll have wars even if everyone has all they need. I'd like to be wrong.

> The problem is more distribution more than abundance.

This. Not because scarcity isn't present, but because it is fundamental and inevitable; distribution isn't he thing that can be addressed, and scarcity is not.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#33

Post by b_emery »

Atlantium wrote: post #21

The human brain's electro-chemical makeup and its response to stimulus, both from the other organs and through the external sensory organs, are the reasons we act the way we do. Like the Human Genome project before it, this mystery can be solved with large amounts of personnel, money and time. Do not complain that it's complex (it is, we know, the sooner we commit the appropriate resources the sooner we'll be finishe…

Maybe start with something very small and hopefully simple, like a zooplankton, and figure out how that works, then work your way up ... anyway, good luck.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#34

Post by robotresearcher »

felipeko wrote: post #26
robotresearcher wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a) The problem is more distribution more than abundance. b) I bet that we'll have wars even if everyone has all they need. I'd like to be wrong.

a) World gdp per capita is less than $18.000, hardly what i would call abundance. We are still a few good decades away from abundance. b) I bet that rich countries, where people have all they need, will not provoke wars or engage on unprovoked wars (unless for humanitarian reasons).

The richest country in the world has been at war overseas almost constantly since the end of WWII.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#35

Post by Bakary »

givan wrote: post #5

Call it anyway you want, lizard brain, flyers (Castaneda), Yaldabaoth (agnostics), this force that pushes evolution on earth at great speed through predatorial behavior like competition and flight or fight. We humans are the most intelligent species and still can't overcome it, as a civilization whatever political system or religion we tried no matter how hard we try we can't seem to overcome it, we still have wars a…

First, I'm not sure how we can anthropomorphize an evolutionary force like that.

Second, evolutionary forces have made us value nonviolence in the first place. If they hadn't, we wouldn't have any notion of the reason or means to overcome what we see as a never-ending cycle. If we are able to even conceive of violence as something negative then it means we are already able to "overcome" it to some extent, but then we find that the question itself is circular.

Essentially, to be able to think that the world is shitty you already need a framework in place where members of your species are influenced by a widespread desire to make it less shitty according to criteria determined by their biological needs.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#36

Post by belorn »

felipeko wrote: post #15
givan wrote: post #5

Call it anyway you want, lizard brain, flyers (Castaneda), Yaldabaoth (agnostics), this force that pushes evolution on earth at great speed through predatorial behavior like competition and flight or fight. We humans are the most intelligent species and still can't overcome it, as a civilization whatever political system or religion we tried no matter how hard we try we can't seem to overcome it, we still have wars a…

I call it scarcity of resources. You won't see wars and what not when you have humanity with abundance of resources.

I recall from primatology lectures that a majority of violence is not triggered by a scarcity of resources but by friction in social ranking. I also recall a lecture by Sapolsky where he talk about this successful peace negotiator which focused on mutual respect, understanding and a feeling of kinship rather than negotiating about borders and resources.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#38

Post by amasad »

The schism between our science and politics is finally getting airtime. Liberal western politics are based on individual liberty and free will. However, mainstream science maintains that we're neither individuals nor have free will. Do we try to reconcile both views? Or do we drop one in favor of the other?

This, by the way, is also the subject of Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by the same author behind Sapiens.

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#39

Post by [deleted] »

nope123 wrote: post #8

Per Deep Thought, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. It's a very deep thought, if you go past the literal interpretation. EDIT: Before you down vote, read what I meant, since it is obvious that if you are considering a down vote then you're not getting what I'm referring to, and probably think I'm talking about numerology. What I'm referring to is his choice of a number to represent the answer to…

[deleted]

Re: It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

#40

Post by DonaldFisk »

givan wrote: post #5

Call it anyway you want, lizard brain, flyers (Castaneda), Yaldabaoth (agnostics), this force that pushes evolution on earth at great speed through predatorial behavior like competition and flight or fight. We humans are the most intelligent species and still can't overcome it, as a civilization whatever political system or religion we tried no matter how hard we try we can't seem to overcome it, we still have wars a…

Minor pedantic point: it's Gnostics (i.e. the exact opposite of agnostics): http://www.gnosis.org/gnintro.htm
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