Some people claim that gen known as DRD4-7R is responsible for wanderlust
https://www.contiki.com/six-two/wanderlust-gene-travel/
Little bit different to what the article is talking about, but pertinent to the discussion in the comments
When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
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Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah I agree with this. I thought I read that scientists claim there's no such thing as "group selection" in evolution, i.e. where one individual in a group will do something bad for himself but good for the group (reproductively speaking). Yeah it looks like wikipedia has a page on this controversy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_selection Richard Dawkins apparently doesn't believe in it, and neither does Steve…
Don't ants in a colony all share the same genes and have the queen do all reproducing? (From the sperm of a single male possibly? I'm not super familiar.)
Yeah I'm not sure. I think ants are an extreme case, but I do think groups of humans have similar sorts of "mechanisms".
The book Sapiens repeats this over and over and I tend to agree. Religion, government, corporations, etc. are ways in which we cooperate with thousands or millions of others. We don't have to have the exact same genome, and it's not perfect cooperation, but there's something there.
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Some cultures wouldn't recognize some things as a disorder if it wasn't difficult for those people. There are a few mental disorders like that, but it's important to bear in mind that most of them (major depression, mid to low functioning autism, anxiety, schizophrenia, and so on) lead to objectively reduced functioning independent of society and a lot of suffering in whoever has them. It's not something to be roma…
There is also the converse - what is accepted as "normal" or even praised as a virtue is harmful and destructive. To give real examples smoking was normal, as was pedestray and ironically the Roman gladiatoral combat which is considered peak decadence was intended to combat decadence! Normal is a pretty shitty heuristic for being good.
> what is accepted as "normal" or even praised as a virtue is harmful and destructive.
> To give real examples smoking was normal, as was pedestray
From an objective perspective, in what way was classical pederasty "harmful and destructive"? What was the harm and destruction that resulted?
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#74Aren't most mental disorders just behaviors that differ from the norm and make it difficult for those people to function in everyday society? Some cultures wouldn't recognize some things as a disorder if it wasn't difficult for those people. My point being that I don't understand where you draw the line. If someone had such a need to wander the world that it meant that they couldn't live properly in modern society th…
> If someone had such a need to wander the world that it meant that they couldn't live properly in modern society then it seems as much of a mental disorder than most others.
But what if they can but simply don't want to function that way in society? What about people who wouldn't be able to function in a different kind of society but don't have to?
And what if society is so crazy that the crazies are the real sane ones?
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Aren't most mental disorders just behaviors that differ from the norm and make it difficult for those people to function in everyday society? (Story time.) I went to a presentation one time at work about mental health. (It was part of the government's mental health awareness campaign[0].) In this presentation, the presenter mentioned bathing/lack of changing clothes as a marker for possible mental health issues. As…
Access to water in Ireland is assumed to such an extent that it isn't even listed in the ESRI's criteria for poverty. As such, it's very obvious that lack of bathing/changing clothes will almost NEVER be due to lack of access to water. Even temporary halting sites must have access to water considered by local councils. > From a privileged, lower-middle class or above perspective Very confused as to why you think 'wat…
Intsead of assuming an amicable posit, say that I were an immigrant (hint: I am) or the like, you - instead - opt for the worst: That I must've come from the land of Eire and that I must, therefore, be talking out of my arse - because the ESRI doesn't constitute access to water as criteria for poverty and because we could only be talking about someone who grew-up and lived in Ireland their whole life, yeah?
So, pardon me for asking this question but does this not demonstrate the myopic view that the aforementioned privelege entails? In other words, just because you (as an overall whole) had this kind of access (e.g.: water, socialised medicine, etc.) your entire life, it doesn't equate to everyone having had the same, yeah?
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Mexico it is more common to have water shortages on low income areas in big cities. Whereas rich areas can even have their own water wells.
Right, but this post refers to the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state in the British Isles, a part of the world where there is, on average, zero shortage of water in general. It literally falls out of the sky.
Because Ireland has no immigration and, therefore, everyone who lives and/or posts from Ireland is automatically Irish, yeah? /s
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Access to water in Ireland is assumed to such an extent that it isn't even listed in the ESRI's criteria for poverty. As such, it's very obvious that lack of bathing/changing clothes will almost NEVER be due to lack of access to water. Even temporary halting sites must have access to water considered by local councils. > From a privileged, lower-middle class or above perspective Very confused as to why you think 'wat…
Intsead of assuming an amicable posit, say that I were an immigrant (hint: I am) or the like, you - instead - opt for the worst: That I must've come from the land of Eire and that I must, therefore, be talking out of my arse - because the ESRI doesn't constitute access to water as criteria for poverty and because we could only be talking about someone who grew-up and lived in Ireland their whole life, yeah? So, pardo…
Assuming that a guide in Ireland is mostly for people born in Ireland isn't privilege. It is myopic, but that doesn't make it wrong. It's a searching tool, not expected to be perfect, and impossible to make perfect; no matter what someone is doing, there could always be some healthy reason.
It's not about just you.
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how Roman gladiatorial combat is so different from modern sports. The only major difference is the fact that nearly all gladiators were slaves, but otherwise I see no difference between gladiators and UFC fighting tournaments (or for that matter, American football). I just don't see the peak decadence point.
> I don't see how Roman gladiatorial combat is so different from modern sports. If someone were to properly incentivize you (say, by offering to give you $10000 or whatever) I bet you would be able to come up with few more very important differences.
"You'd change your opinion on a trivial matter if I paid you a giant pile of money" is a very strange way to argue a point...
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#79Aren't most mental disorders just behaviors that differ from the norm and make it difficult for those people to function in everyday society? Some cultures wouldn't recognize some things as a disorder if it wasn't difficult for those people. My point being that I don't understand where you draw the line. If someone had such a need to wander the world that it meant that they couldn't live properly in modern society th…
I'd be more inclined to blame society itself for the individual feeling that way.
Much of our modern western society is highly individualistic and exploitative. We are encouraged to exploit as much and as often as we can to reap wealth. It's totally at odds with our nature as a social species and it's honestly not surprising to me that mental illness is on the rise all over the developed world.
Re: When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
#80Aren't most mental disorders just behaviors that differ from the norm and make it difficult for those people to function in everyday society? Some cultures wouldn't recognize some things as a disorder if it wasn't difficult for those people. My point being that I don't understand where you draw the line. If someone had such a need to wander the world that it meant that they couldn't live properly in modern society th…
Labeling someone "crazy" is often a convenient means to assume there is nothing wrong with the world. It's normal. People who have an issue with it are simply disordered. The article even lists an actual diagnosis invented to call runaway slaves crazy: In the United States, physician and noted racist Samuel A. Cartwright invented a related mental disorder called drapetomania, the urge that led slaves to run away. He…
Is this a gender thing, or should we just not have benefits/health coverage held over our heads in marriages and jobs?
Seems they both really cut down on mobility and freewill. For marriage, I get the State's motive, the "entice people to build a family unit" idea, but that's clearly not happening anymore.