The Right make so much of competition, and it’s true, we are
very competitive creatures, but we also like to cooperate which each other just as much, if not
more so. In fact, one of our distinguishing features is not just our
intelligence, but also the way we that we closely work with each other and in this way
great our civilisations are made. But what drives this? Is it our need
to fit in, to be accepted, and to be a valued part of our community, or our tribe back
in the olden days?
United we stand,
divided we fall.
Research shows that when we help others we are at our most
happiest.
Though economists and grumps have long argued to
the contrary, many spiritual traditions teach us that, at our core, we are
loving, generous, and kind. Recent research confirms this idea. Michael
Tomasello and other scientists at the prestigious Max Planck Institute have
found that even infants too young to have been conditioned by the conventions
of politeness will automatically engage in helpful behavior. Research conducted
by Dale Miller at the Stanford
Business School
shows that adults, too, are instinctively driven to help others. The difference
between children and adults is that adults will often restrain themselves from
this natural instinct because they are concerned with what others will think.
We hesitate to follow our natural instinct to be loving, generous, and kind
because we fear others will believe we are acting out of selfish motivation.
And, of course, we may fear the same thing — that our natural drives to be
helpful are secretly selfish — and so we hold back. Are we being selfish? Should
we restrain ourselves?
Why Humans Are Hard-Wired to Be Selfless, Not Selfish
New research shows
that not only do humans have a generosity gene, but there’s a biological basis
for why giving feels good. Author Elizabeth Svoboda explains.
The libertarians say that we our all just selfish, and that
we like to help others only because it gives us pleasure. In other words, it’s
selfishness that drives us to be selfless. Now that’s very Ayn Rand-ian. Hmmm, but that would be about being selfish
when it is really about ‘not being selfish’ that actually gives us pleasure?
Maybe the libertarians think like this because they don’t have that much
empathy.
What drove me to write this is that I have a problem with my
phone right now and so I went on YouTube to see if there was anything I could
do about it, and gee, the amount of people there all showing me how to repair
my phone. In fact, a few years back I needed to repair the cistern in my
bathroom and I was quite nervous about it because it meant stripping the whole
toilet down as it was a close coupled system. But wow, would you believe it,
not only where their loads of videos on this that people had made, there was also
one where the guy there went into every pit fall and problem you could possibly
think of. He also recommended that I replace the siphon with a newer type that
can be undone easily to change the flap valve in future without needing to
strip the whole toilet down again. With that, I felt far more confident about
doing the job.
I program my own music on my PC using Cubase but I’m a
novice and the software is very complicated, but no problem, I can just go onto YouTube
and there are loads of people there showing me how to program my gear well as all my
synths. Some people have patches and music samples they want to sell, but most
just do it because they enjoy it (being selfless and helping others, that is). Occasionally
I might come across someone who has put in a lot of hard work but no one has
written anything underneath their video yet. And so I always give big thanks and
they usually reply back saying they’re glad they were able to help me. And that’s
nice. Connection!
The other day my car had a flat battery and I thought, oh no,
what a load of hassle, and I’m so tired, and I just want to get home? But along
came this black guy and he told what to do, and I put my car into first gear but
he said no and told me to put it into second (we have mainly have manual gearboxes
in the UK). Then he pushed my car and at
the right moment he told me to take my foot off the clutch, and wow, it started
and off I went. I tried to wave and I don’t know if he saw me, but I saw him
waving in the distance. That was such a nice moment too, connection!
Now I can’t find the documentary that was made by some liberal minded biologists
who said that not all of nature is about competition and then they went on to show
how the plant kingdom works together to create a high quality biosphere for
them all to live in. Some plants grow tall and get lots of sunlight and the
nutrients they make then get put into the soil. And other plants have roots
that go deep into the ground which bring nutriments up to the surface. All the
plants have their own unique way of contributing to the biosphere, and so
cooperation is as much a part of nature as competition.
This documentary below is also superb which is about the
peaceful Bonobo apes. I’ve never been all keen on monkeys and chimpanzees up
until I saw this, but these little creatures are lovely. They look like
chimpanzees but are not closely related to them having split away from a common
ancestor a very long time ago. We share many of our genes with the Bonobo’s which give both of us our kinder, gentler side. The Bonobo's
live in the inner, deep part of the jungle where not many creatures can survive and so they have less competition for food which means they are very gentle and relaxed,
which leaves them with plenty of time for their favourite pastime, having
lots of sex. What a life, hey!
Bonobo Ape - Our Closest Relative (Nature Documentary, Full Length)
18 comments:
"divided we fall"
Kevin,
Consider its "divided against ourselves we cannot stand"....
Division itself looks like it is necessary...
1. Libertarians do not have a “theory” of “pleasure”. Because we overflow with empathy (unlike you vicious, hateful, violence-based “progressives”), we seek only to prohibit the initiation of force and violence. There’s no murder or theft with private property and no lying with contracts.
2. Because humans are hard-wired to cooperate, there is no reason a voluntary private property-based society cannot operate peacefully and prosperously.
3. Since people are hard-wired to cooperate, there is no longer an excuse for your violence-based funny money regime which exists solely to help the .1% loot the purchasing power of those getting the new funny money last. That kind of theft bothers us libertarians because we overflow with empathy. It doesn’t bother you heartless MTTers in the slightest because you enjoy bossing around average people.
Matt, in the UK, 'United we stand, divided we fall', is a slogan that trade unionists always used. It goes back donkey's years.
K, maybe that's why they are failing then.. .
'Libertarians do not have a “theory” of “pleasure”."
Well that explains why you're all boring as hell then. Is it something to do with ignoring the existence of Genghis Khan?
Neil Wilson: The depth of your know-nothingism is deep and profound. How exactly do you derive Genghis Khan from a program of meticulous non-violence?
Rothbard: The fact is that libertarianism is not and does not pretend to be a complete moral or aesthetic theory; it is only a POLITICAL theory, that is, the important subset of moral theory that deals with the proper role of violence in social life.
What a person does with his or her life is vital and important, but is simply irrelevant to libertarianism unless it involves the INITIATION of violence which is forbidden.
When you say “boring”, do you mean definitive books like “Man Economy and State” which don’t have large type or pictures?
"there is no reason a voluntary private property-based society cannot operate peacefully and prosperously"
Apart from the bit where I come and rob your house.
Andy Blatchford: What a clever response. I’ll bet that when you hear someone suggest more awareness and better enforcement of rules against the sex slave trade that you proudly announce your keen ability to get around those rules.
Don't care, still going to rob you but in the spirit of cooperation could you email floor plans, you know just saves time and I'm a busy man.
" in the spirit of cooperation could you email floor plans"
LOL!
As I try to understand the psychological motivations for MMT…..
Me: How do you guys justify the violence that is endemic to and the basis of your programs? Don’t you see that such violence is criminal?
MMTers: It’s because we are criminals. And we’re proud of it!
Course it's criminal, so what are you going to do about in your voluntary utopian society? Well you get together, decide to put some 'leaders' in who then employ some people to stop that criminality...Quite a reasonable thing to do of course, funny thing is that is EXACTLY what we do today and it's called Government. Without that protection by Government I am coming to rob you.
Your thinking is childish.
Andy Blatchford: You are apparently unable to distinguish between the provision of protection services and the INITIATION of force and violence. There is no reason for a protection agency to have the right to INITIATE force and violence. There is no reason to believe that a protection agency would fail in its mission if it were prohibited from INITIATING force and violence. Libertarianism is only concerned with eliminating the INITIATION of force and violence.
You “analysis” misses [probably on purpose] the entire gist of our proposals. That seems to me to be worse than “childish”.
And I’ll ask again (and do not expect an answer): WHY THE VIOLENCE? Especially since (according to this post) cooperation is in our nature?
Further, since libertarian neighborhoods would have private schools, streets and sidewalks and would probably vet in advance all people who came into the neighborhood, how do you plan to get inside the private community in order to commit your crimes? How would you get out once you got in?
As I said happy to cooperate if you send me the floor plan of your house.
I have proposals to be nice to unicorns but isn't any more realistic than the nonsense you are spouting. You can hope to eliminate anything you like but if you aren't realistic then what exactly is the point?
Violence...New thing innit? Er no http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3408654/Is-mankind-s-massacre-Prehistoric-tribe-men-children-pregnant-women-bound-battered-stabbed-death-invading-rivals.html
You can whinge all you like that I would be committing violence but whinging isn't going to stop it and for that you need collective action...So Government (big or small doesn't matter).
The NAP is possibly one of the most stupid & unworkable things I have ever heard.
Roddis resurfaces.
Andy Blatchford: Collective action is not only possible but ubiquitous without the initiation of force or the threat thereof. A prohibition upon the initiation of force and violence does not impede collective action. In fact, the initiation of force and violence is only necessary to compel “collective action” that does not occur voluntarily. The original point of this blog post was that humans voluntarily cooperate by nature. If there is natural voluntary cooperation, there is no need to initiate force or violence. Further, the reality of historical massacres justifies a rigorous and universally enforce prohibition upon the initiation of force and violence.
This marching band is engaged in collective action and no one is threatening to kill them or their families and pets if they do not perform collectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz5ZaOPCclI
You are purposefully distorting simple word and concepts.
Collective action is not only possible but ubiquitous without the initiation of force or the threat thereof. A prohibition upon the initiation of force and violence does not impede collective action. In fact, the initiation of force and violence is only necessary to compel “collective action” that does not occur voluntarily.
This is utopian thinking that is not substantiated by history. While this is possible it is not "ubiquitous." It is difficult to achieve without the requisite level of collective consciousness to sustain it.
Would that this were the case, but in most instances it is not. Moreover, where it has worked fairly well, the scale has been limited.
As a global political theory is visionary, and I agree with the vision. I hope that humanity will develop to the point where this becomes the natural state.
The question as always in historical matters is how to get there from here. Wishing does not make it so.
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