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Current Events » in reply to primitive dominance heirarchies

This may actually be the core of the problems of humanity
Tom Brosz — (archived)

Evolution scientists know that evolutionary traits are a random thing, that evolution is not "planned," and that it is possible for a species to acquire traits that give it enough of an advantage to persist as a trait, but don't really work well in other ways.

Human intelligence, reason and thought are individual things. A society designed to enhance the ability of one to create, produce and succeed is one that recognizes the rights of the individual as the highest value. Ayn Rand got that much of the equation.

Unfortunately, it appears we evolved, as Robert says, from the type of primate that is highly hierarchical. It sometimes seems that humans aren't comfortable unless they are either the boss or the flunky.

These two traits go together like oil and water. Obviously, intelligence is a very useful trait, and we manage to survive in spite of spending most of our existence trying to get to the top of the heap and squash the others down. But this might explain much of our violent history.

On the other hand, oil and water sometimes work well together. The powerful drives of the human species may have been responsible for pushing the development of human civilization, feeding back into more powerful intelligence. The flaw without which the system won't work, like Green Lantern's power ring not working on yellow. Without our "dark side," like Captain Kirk in "The Enemy Within," we are flaccid and unable to make the decisions and take the actions that make us effective. Wow...two obscure geek references in one paragraph!

This would sure explain why nobody has ever managed to construct a stable libertarian nation--although the Founding Fathers came close--and why societies seem to collapse into totalitarianism at the drop of a hat.

One wonders what the world would be like had we evolved from a more solitary, less territorial primate, like the orangutan, or from a species that has no territorial instincts at all. No wars, but maybe not much else either.

I'm sure an anthropologist could work this up more clearly, especially one with some background in libertarian thought as well.

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