Sounds like our elites and the generals have exempted themselves from some basic selection, pick bad fights and losing and going on to breed nonetheless. I hear the story, how these functions turn to that . . . it’s too many steps, too many things, several functions and none of it works unless I think aggression is automatic . . . that’s all very weak, I don’t have an argument, it’s fine, I guess.
The fact that more battles are lost by the initiators than before doesn’t mean anything, does it? I mean who won the battle, where the border is drawn, the outcome of the battle – this changes society not at all, still two warring groups same as before, still generals and grunts, still the same social situation for the general population – unless one nation loses all, all the generals are winners after, same as before, the class war they are always winning . . . war is Hell. Who won and who lost is just about the least salient thing about it, at least in terms of science.
I think he’s telling me that this is the trend of modernization, just what I said: war serves a purpose, win or lose, “winning” the war hardly matters – sometimes that’s what complex means, that the basic idea is lost, that basic understanding won’t apply? Today and going forward, war will just be a constant grind at the borders, no winners or losers, just constant threat, to keep us in our left hemispheres, keep the adrenaline pumping and don’t give anyone a chance to think. I am not satisfied that the supposed purpose is nothing other than the elites’ egos, than their commitment to blind confidence because it had always worked before – something tilts the conversation towards war, something tips our deliberations to aggression beside that the aggressor wins, aggression logically precedes, it’s a chicken and egg thing, if you weren’t being aggressive before, how did you learn that it’s a winning strategy?
Again, EP, of course we want to win – I mean you’re going to fight, the fight is assumed – but it’s somehow worth talking about, the genius question – would you rather win – or lose? Science, donchaknow. Put down the sword and ask me, I’ll tell you: I’d rather not fight; I win some, you win some, we share this fish. How is that supposed to catch on if you think the fight is sacred and not to be questioned or avoided?
Bah. I’m not comfortable, I want to put this chapter behind me, get on with the wrap-up.
But that was a central thing there, that my antisocialization idea is what tilts the arguments, what makes us an aggressive creature so that aggression is foundational in our minds, and violence appears to be some default, you know, where for evil to triumph all that is required of good men is to do nothing.
Certainly the entire central theme of this book, the proactive aggression of simple war ambushes, and of aboriginal society executions, besides affecting conscious life and plans also antisocializes us, threat does that, you’re a different creature living under it, even if you don’t get selected out – and you matter more if you don’t, if you were affected by this fear and passed that effect on to your children.
I’ve been on about spankings, but lethal conformism is an abusive environment as well, no kidding. Again, I think we have discovered genes for it, and are exploiting ourselves, pressing the environmental buttons on purpose, and selecting for it. So in a way, all of this EP stuff is a branch of Antisocialization Theory, the Selection Department. An aspect of how we are engineering ourselves.
I’m stuck on it. For me, this, in all the infinite data points and all the theories and ideas, everyone sometimes thinks they know what the world needs, in all of it, this is my cause, what I think is the linchpin of it all, the social control, the threat, the spanking: it changes us emotionally, attitudinally, as I said above: when you live under threat, you have to get used to it. You have to start thinking it’s natural and inevitable.
I think it would be worth a try, to remove the threat – social control, punitive abuse, morality basically – and then see if we can think better things. It’s me plan.
Bit of a long shot, sure.
Jeff
July 27th., 2020
Abuse with an Excuse 