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AudioMy philosophy is simple. People start out driven almost entirely by their animal instincts. Many, if not most, never get too far beyond this. The purpose of life, as so many people far smarter have noted, is to TRANSCEND our nature as merely animals. But to deny this animal nature and pretend it is not operational because we don’t like the implications is just intellectually dishonest. Even the brain has evolved this way. The frontal cortex is the most recent addition and it is often overruled by more primitive areas of the brain that are far bigger.
According to Margaret Meade, monogamy was the female victory at the dawn of history that made civilization possible by coming down on the side of female reproductive “quality” over the male “quantity” that is typical for mammals. This female victory has always been tenuous and each generation has had to win it anew. The fight against male polygamy is never completely won. There is always a clear and present danger that males will revert to acting like male lions, tigers, and bears.
As a result, societies down through history have invested an enormous amount of energy into mating rituals, marriage contracts, etc. to keep monogamy intact in the face of the biological pressures to undermine it. Besides finding enough to eat, the single biggest thing society worried about is who their kids would marry and building up massive religious and societal taboos against adultery etc. Much of this was designed to keep male competition for females within bounds so they wouldn’t end up killing each other and wrecking the society in the process.
Our own society has ignored all this history starting with the so -called sexual revolution back in the 60’s. I think as a result we’re coming apart. So far apart in fact that all of western civilization is in danger of failing at the one thing we must do to survive. Reproduce.
What do I do?
Ponder the difference between what we “believe” or “feel” about something, and what we KNOW about something. Watch what other people DO, not what they say they “believe.”
Don’t figure it out, Find out by reading more:
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Read Turak’s article The Essence of Leadership: Learning to Lead Yourself to explore how to lead all the competing factions of one’s brain, one’s self!
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Read Resistance and Transformation for August Turak’s advice on “putting yourself in play” on the journey toward transformation.
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Take a self-inventory: Where are “better angels” at work in your life? Where are the more
primitive animal drives at work? Ask yourself: Is there is a community I could join or start to
address a transformation in your life centered on your better angels. -
The Heath Brother’s mission is to help you create Change. Read more from them on how make change when change is hard.
The 60’s Sexual Revolution was a societal transformation, no doubt. Do you think the changes set in motion by this value shift have been useful for individuals? For society as a whole?
Network with August Turak on LinkedIn, follow and participate in some of the threads there, or ask August a question directly.
To touch on just one small point about the frontal cortex being the most recent
addition to the human brain: the frontal cortex is often overruled by more primitive areas which are not only bigger, but much faster and which consume less energy. It literally takes a lot of mental effort for men and women to override the biological subconscious – and those rituals, rules, and norms were all tools to help reinforce the power of the frontal cortex. Without those rituals, rules, etc., we are more likely to go with what “feels good.” (My extrapolation from “Your Brain at Work”)
By the way, Allison, everything we value as being essentially human relies upon the frontal cortex and the frontal cortex itself relies on the female victory for monogamy. Human children are born helpless and stay that way for a very long time. They require constant attention and this means two parents investing in only a few young. When humans opted for “quality” over “quantity,” the prolonged, protected childhood where the brain developed over time became possible. Not only was civilization a child of monogamy, but our most precious gift, the frontal cortex and things like language, as well.
I take the approach that human beings are capable of being much more than they are… yet am constantly amazed that most people do not stop to consider their beliefs about this world and its structures as just artificial, created systems and beliefs, not destined by biology.
Tamara, Why do people overeat? Why is internet porn the hands down most
popular use for the web? Why do so many obviously bright people like Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer, Tiger Woods, and John Edwards utterly destroy their lives by risking everything for sex?
You say individuals have the ability to transcend their natural drives. Yes, and that is what monogamy represents for men. But when we forget that what is essentially human in us is the tip of an iceberg sticking up from a mountain of primitive and mostly unconscious drives we are heading for trouble.
Criminy, Homo Sapiens is only about 40,000 years old and life is hundreds of millions of years old. We’ve only been able to read and write for a few thousand years. That’s NOTHING in evolutionary time. Nature red in tooth and claw is always lurking. There are far more countries on the planet today that are still red in tooth and claw than are functionally “civilized.” When Rome fell, humanity fell back into a Dark Age lasting 1000 years. What we all value as essentially human is precarious and the worst thing we can do is just arrogantly assume we can never go back.
There is a very fine line between rejoicing in our ability as humans to go against and beyond our genes and the vanity that this is easy and all it takes is individuals remembering that “we’re all adults here.” This is why I believe so much in community. Whether it is overeating, over competing or over anything else we need peer pressure and social norms to keep our better angels on the straight and narrow. People are far more likely to lose weight or get to the gym or quit drinking when part of a group or community.