> I wonder how much of our contemporary behavior has as its root some
> ancient antecedent of this kind of behavior? Suspicion, testing,
> acceptance or rejection seems to be a generalization of what happens in
> nature.
>
> Having recently joined this list I found the same thing here. Since
> this group has less cohesion than a 'real' society I am pretty sure that
> I still remain in each of the categories mentioned above with the other
> people on the list.
i have little doubt that this evolutionary trait is a quick and
effective manner of deciding whether another is a threat or an ally. In
animalistic terms, and in many human terms, this is necessary. You would
not let a man you did not know into your house if you were alone, would
you? A woman, maybe because the threat of physical violence "appears"
diminished. And a child in need, sure you would because the threat is
perceived to be very small.
i would like to think that there is another way to go about this, but I
am at a loss. Being a male capable of self defense, I would feel
comfortable meeting you in your home, or anywhere else I can think of.
But if I were a woman, no matter how well I knew Wade, or Richard, or
Sodom, i would be at least a little leary of motivations until a decent
amount of contact and personal repoir had been established. kind of a
bummer. I have never raised my hand to harm another (If you don't count
fighting as a child with other boys)and hopefully never will, but I
would not hesitate if threatened.
It seems that one way of speeding this process is to meet on mutually
acceptable ground, or perhaps be introduced by a person who is
knowledgable about both people.
In establishing a meme replacement for the current evolved system, what
are the requirements?
1> Self defense or escape? = reason for suspicion
2> Communication? = testing
3> Decision making process? = Acceptance or rejection
over the net, we can choose #1 or skip it altogether. i would suggest
that those who read but do not post are doing this at an intellectual
level, they are acting on suspicion that they may not be accepted, or
attacked or that this group is a threat to their perspective. i skipped
this process and jumped right in - I do not see a reason to fear having
inferior knowledge or unacceptable viewpoints as i am interested in all
knowledge I do not yet posess - and this group has a lot of the pieces I
would like to incorporate into my perspective.
#2 is really non-existent for me here - at least from my viewpoint. I
never felt tested, though I admit, i commonly "test" the ideas of
others. i am not sure that this testing does not fall into a different
catagory.
#3 definately happened. I received mail from many of you welcoming me to
the group and offering support in my posts. (For anyone I didn't reply
to , thanks!!!) I do feel accepted here, and would gladly consider you
all "internet friends". So the acceptance/rejection thing did happen for
sure. i am sure that some older posters here, Chardin, nateman etc..
they felt rejected and acted emotionally to get out of the rejecting
group.
What do ya think Marie? Should we start from scratch on this, or should
be modify existing behavior. Also, how do we know that this behavior
isn't hardwired from scratch, and very resistant to change?
Sodom