ecology
Societal Characteristics
On the one hand, the attributes of individuals all together form the fundamental features and determine the basic behavior of human groups, societies, and species. On the other hand, the survival of these collective entities requires certain behavior by their individual members. This mutual interdependence and accommodation are established over time by biological evolution in all animal species except man, who has greatly increased over the past several hundred years his unique capability to consciously affect his own individual and societal development and future.
Social insects are the supreme example of a binding relationship between individuals and the collective entity they comprise. Ants, termites, and bees "epitomize this kind of community in which several generations overlap, and individuals are divided into specialized castes that cooperate in producing and raising the young."
Different groups of the thousands of bees produced by the queen perform different activities: defending the entrance to the hive from intruders, keeping the hive clean, disposing of dead bees, controlling harmful parasites and pathogens, fanning the air with their wings to regulate its temperature and humidity, attending to the queen's bodily needs, and fertilizing the queen high in the air during her nuptial flight.
Termites and ants have the same kind of rigid caste system in which the individuals in each specialized group are identical for all practical purposes, acting in the same way to perform a particular function in the collective life of the insect society. Individual and group behavior have been matched with each other and with the environment over millions of years of evolutionary development to ensure the survival of most animate species, insofar as this can be accomplished by adaptive adjustments. During the past several hundred thousand years, the evolutionary development of humanoids has been far faster than for other animate life. During the past several hundred years the rate of change brought about by Homo sapiens for himself and the world has increased. To avoid a prolonged period of individual stress and societal distress, humans have had to adapt not only to the forces of nature but also to the consequences of their own intellectual advancement, technological achievements, and diverse activities affecting local, regional, and global environments.
Social insects are the supreme example of a binding relationship between individuals and the collective entity they comprise. Ants, termites, and bees "epitomize this kind of community in which several generations overlap, and individuals are divided into specialized castes that cooperate in producing and raising the young."
Different groups of the thousands of bees produced by the queen perform different activities: defending the entrance to the hive from intruders, keeping the hive clean, disposing of dead bees, controlling harmful parasites and pathogens, fanning the air with their wings to regulate its temperature and humidity, attending to the queen's bodily needs, and fertilizing the queen high in the air during her nuptial flight.
Termites and ants have the same kind of rigid caste system in which the individuals in each specialized group are identical for all practical purposes, acting in the same way to perform a particular function in the collective life of the insect society. Individual and group behavior have been matched with each other and with the environment over millions of years of evolutionary development to ensure the survival of most animate species, insofar as this can be accomplished by adaptive adjustments. During the past several hundred thousand years, the evolutionary development of humanoids has been far faster than for other animate life. During the past several hundred years the rate of change brought about by Homo sapiens for himself and the world has increased. To avoid a prolonged period of individual stress and societal distress, humans have had to adapt not only to the forces of nature but also to the consequences of their own intellectual advancement, technological achievements, and diverse activities affecting local, regional, and global environments.
Individual Characteristics
Individual characteristics that favor human advancement and survival are the obverse of or "counter" to the negative traits noted above: interest in and concern for others rather than selfish self-interest, love of other human beings rather than disdain, antagonism, or hostility that can escalate into hate. Open-mindedness or at least tolerance of other people with different customs or views, rather than preconceived prejudice. There are people who recognize and accept unpleasant realities as well as those who deceive themselves with unjustified optimism or wishful thinking. There are people who critically evaluate rather than automatically accept the implied validity of information presented in the mass media of communication, transmitted by word of mouth, circulated as rumor, or otherwise disseminated. Humans can react with sensory restraint as well as enjoying the pleasurable feelings of purely emotional response. They can be peaceably as well as hostilely inclined. They can take the longer-range view, look to and have a care for the future, or they can focus on the past and present only. The normal response of individuals to matters in general can be thoughtful and rational as well as disposed to provide emotional satisfaction. People can act wisely as well as stupidly. They can give as well as receive, act honestly as well as corruptly. And most do.
It is the positive potential of human character that has been the focus of prophets and religious institutions, and other organizations concerned with ethical and lawful behavior. Although it is anybody's guess, the great majority of the more than 5 billion people on earth probably react and act more in accordance with the positive than the negative characteristics of their species, since positive traits favor collective harmony and reduce societal discord. Insofar as we know from the few remaining examples of primitive people, they led peaceful lives for the most part, since this favors their individual well-being and their survival as a group. It appears as if the legend of Adam and Eve, the apple, and original sin does indeed represent the beginning of the negative characteristics of people, which have arisen during the advance of civilization. Most individuals exhibit both positive and negative attributes. The struggle continues between good and bad, virtue and vice, constructive and disruptive attitudes and actions.
It is the positive potential of human character that has been the focus of prophets and religious institutions, and other organizations concerned with ethical and lawful behavior. Although it is anybody's guess, the great majority of the more than 5 billion people on earth probably react and act more in accordance with the positive than the negative characteristics of their species, since positive traits favor collective harmony and reduce societal discord. Insofar as we know from the few remaining examples of primitive people, they led peaceful lives for the most part, since this favors their individual well-being and their survival as a group. It appears as if the legend of Adam and Eve, the apple, and original sin does indeed represent the beginning of the negative characteristics of people, which have arisen during the advance of civilization. Most individuals exhibit both positive and negative attributes. The struggle continues between good and bad, virtue and vice, constructive and disruptive attitudes and actions.
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To the extent individual characteristics that are not collectively constructive dominate human attitudes and actions, society suffers. The collaboration among people required to resolve critical problems as they arise is not furthered by some human predilections: our desire to retain complete freedom in our personal attitudes and actions, reluctance to join with unfamiliar people, an innate questioning of other people's motives, or concern about the uncertain consequences of cooperative action. Collaboration is made more difficult by the increasing substantive and operating complexities of civilization and the explosive population growth during the past century, which have aggravated disruptive religious differences, conflicting customs, tribal and group animosities, severe disparities of wealth and income, and political antagonisms.
There are further characteristics that set people apart. With few exceptions, other animals kill only for the food required to survive, to defend themselves against attack, or to effect evolutionary improvement of the species. The lion taking over an existing pride kills the cubs sired by the lion he drives away, and produces his own genetically superior offspring from the lionesses who acknowledged his dominance by becoming immediately sexually receptive. Benign survival of the fittest may lie behind the many wives of a tribal chief, but murder or genocide to attain privileged status is condemned when practiced and rarely acknowledged by civilized society. It is difficult to reason that modern wars promote natural selection. Humans are unique in their willingness to deliberately murder another member of their own species without defensive or evolutionary reason. With and without justification, humans harbor the conscious emotion of hate, absent in other animals. When we do not want to face the reality of our own inadequacy, or there is no individual or single group that can be held responsible, we almost always seek a scapegoat to blame, to hate, or to destroy in order to relieve a related.
Throughout history humans have been capable of deliberate cruelty, unknown in other animal species: torture; disfigurement and dismemberment; crucifixion; burning at the stake, within a flaming "tire necklace," or doused with gasoline; and other violent acts calculated to terrorize. Except for several insect societies, only humans enslave members of their own species, and they are the only animals that provide a low level of existence and security for a substantial portion of the population. Only humans foul their environment to the extent it causes sickness and death. Civilized man is materially acquisitive beyond his physical but not his emotional needs. In some individuals this is linked with a drive for personal power: manifest in a proportion of the population, successful leaders in society, powers behind the throne, and others exerting an inordinate influence. Certainly, lust for power lies behind the careers of many of the rulers who have shaped societies throughout history. It is difficult to imagine how these negative attributes could combine, cancel each other out, or otherwise function so as to favor the survival and advancement of the human species.
There are further characteristics that set people apart. With few exceptions, other animals kill only for the food required to survive, to defend themselves against attack, or to effect evolutionary improvement of the species. The lion taking over an existing pride kills the cubs sired by the lion he drives away, and produces his own genetically superior offspring from the lionesses who acknowledged his dominance by becoming immediately sexually receptive. Benign survival of the fittest may lie behind the many wives of a tribal chief, but murder or genocide to attain privileged status is condemned when practiced and rarely acknowledged by civilized society. It is difficult to reason that modern wars promote natural selection. Humans are unique in their willingness to deliberately murder another member of their own species without defensive or evolutionary reason. With and without justification, humans harbor the conscious emotion of hate, absent in other animals. When we do not want to face the reality of our own inadequacy, or there is no individual or single group that can be held responsible, we almost always seek a scapegoat to blame, to hate, or to destroy in order to relieve a related.
Throughout history humans have been capable of deliberate cruelty, unknown in other animal species: torture; disfigurement and dismemberment; crucifixion; burning at the stake, within a flaming "tire necklace," or doused with gasoline; and other violent acts calculated to terrorize. Except for several insect societies, only humans enslave members of their own species, and they are the only animals that provide a low level of existence and security for a substantial portion of the population. Only humans foul their environment to the extent it causes sickness and death. Civilized man is materially acquisitive beyond his physical but not his emotional needs. In some individuals this is linked with a drive for personal power: manifest in a proportion of the population, successful leaders in society, powers behind the throne, and others exerting an inordinate influence. Certainly, lust for power lies behind the careers of many of the rulers who have shaped societies throughout history. It is difficult to imagine how these negative attributes could combine, cancel each other out, or otherwise function so as to favor the survival and advancement of the human species.
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A degree of corruption is so common and widespread in human affairs that it should be considered a characteristic of human behavior, one which serves certain purposes but adversely affects individual character and the moral and legal improvement of society. Fundamentally, corruption is the consequence of the different motives of people. One person pays surreptitiously to obtain an advantage over others or to obtain the treatment he desires. People accept gratuitous payments to augment their income or because their position in society leads them to expect such pre- or postpayments for performing their duties. There are many human activities that incorporate this presumption, such as the invocation of favorable auguries or the removal of magical taboos, religious sanctions and prohibitions or the certification by inspectors and supervisors required at successive stages of construction, manufacturing, and many other operations.
A broader explanation for the corruption, especially at the higher levels, is that in a modest economy, politics provides more certain access to wealth than business does. . . . It is also why those in power do not want to open up the system . . . it would mean allowing others to have a chance at that power and the money that goes with it--or to relax controls on the press and on speech, and thus risk being exposed.
Commercial organizations supply products and services needed and desired by individuals and required for human affairs to function. Religious bodies render forgiveness from sins and spiritual succor. These actions are subject to preferential treatment which can prevent, delay, or alter human activities. They can produce or facilitate success. Or they can disappoint or inconvenience, cause financial hardship or economic ruin, abandonment of an activity or intention.
There is often an undesignated price to pay for the product or service that is officially provided without any special inducement or reward. It may be a bribe "under the table," a political "contribution," promise of a reciprocal favor, a "gift," a "tip," penance, or indulgence. In some countries the payment is an accepted cost of "doing business." It is considered neither immoral nor illegal. The extra payment is an acknowledgment of a favorable act, a proper means of supplementing personal income, a way of "sharing the wealth," or justified because it causes bureaucracies to perform when otherwise they would not. At times under certain conditions corruption may be necessary for people to survive. Gratuities, payoffs, bribes, and compensatory gifts are part of a spectrum of actions extending from an expression of appreciation for a service rendered to outright extortion. Actions of this nature are acceptable when they are the prevailing practice in some countries. They constitute corruption when they are exceptional, morally unacceptable, or illegal.
A broader explanation for the corruption, especially at the higher levels, is that in a modest economy, politics provides more certain access to wealth than business does. . . . It is also why those in power do not want to open up the system . . . it would mean allowing others to have a chance at that power and the money that goes with it--or to relax controls on the press and on speech, and thus risk being exposed.
Commercial organizations supply products and services needed and desired by individuals and required for human affairs to function. Religious bodies render forgiveness from sins and spiritual succor. These actions are subject to preferential treatment which can prevent, delay, or alter human activities. They can produce or facilitate success. Or they can disappoint or inconvenience, cause financial hardship or economic ruin, abandonment of an activity or intention.
There is often an undesignated price to pay for the product or service that is officially provided without any special inducement or reward. It may be a bribe "under the table," a political "contribution," promise of a reciprocal favor, a "gift," a "tip," penance, or indulgence. In some countries the payment is an accepted cost of "doing business." It is considered neither immoral nor illegal. The extra payment is an acknowledgment of a favorable act, a proper means of supplementing personal income, a way of "sharing the wealth," or justified because it causes bureaucracies to perform when otherwise they would not. At times under certain conditions corruption may be necessary for people to survive. Gratuities, payoffs, bribes, and compensatory gifts are part of a spectrum of actions extending from an expression of appreciation for a service rendered to outright extortion. Actions of this nature are acceptable when they are the prevailing practice in some countries. They constitute corruption when they are exceptional, morally unacceptable, or illegal.
Individual Characteristics
The individual characteristics of people discussed in Planning: Universal Process are among those associated with our evolutionary development--initially by chemical and biological reaction to the environment, and later as intuitive adjustments to environmental changes to ensure replication during many million years. Self-interest, fear of risk, territoriality, and anxiety when facing the unfamiliar are intrinsic forces that have favored the survival of animal species and societies. While the word prejudice implies a conscious reaction or attitude in humans, in other animals it is an instinctive avoidance of incompatible or potentially competitive societies or species. Human reactions today may be move instinctive than we realize. Research indicates that we may form likes or dislikes before our conscious minds are aware of our instinctive reaction and prejudicial conclusion.
Other inherent characteristics of individuals noted in the above blog also relate to planning and survival. Faced with extinction if they did not react, the earliest humans adjusted quickly to existing conditions. They could only hope that by worshipful or ceremonial acts they might propitiate the natural or godly forces that determined their fate. In countries with primitive or precarious economies, only a few of the most serious societal problems can be considered. In developed countries many crucial issues can be ignored at least for a while without immediate threat to the society. People can avoid the emotional discomfort of having to address major problems by refusing to acknowledge that they exist. Or they can ignore the situation with the wishful hope that somehow their children or grandchildren will resolve the problems passed on to them by the current generation, even though the problems will have become much worse and the cost of correction much greater. The human tendency to accept "false precision"--to falsify by pretensions of accuracy that are not supported by statistical calculation or analytical reasoning--also is rooted in our emotional desire to maintain certain of our beliefs and wishes regardless of factual or rational justification. Our attitudes and actions also vary with our "perception of time": whether in general we look primarily to the past, the present, or the future.
Emotional forces within us frequently conflict with the rational thought and scientific method that are features of civilized society. Often we want to react to situations in ways that are emotionally satisfying but neither rationally appropriate nor operationally productive. Or we react in ways we claim are sensible when in fact they represent emotional needs within us which we do not recognize consciously, or they involve matters that we repress from our conscious awareness because emotionally we want to ignore or forget them.
Other inherent characteristics of individuals noted in the above blog also relate to planning and survival. Faced with extinction if they did not react, the earliest humans adjusted quickly to existing conditions. They could only hope that by worshipful or ceremonial acts they might propitiate the natural or godly forces that determined their fate. In countries with primitive or precarious economies, only a few of the most serious societal problems can be considered. In developed countries many crucial issues can be ignored at least for a while without immediate threat to the society. People can avoid the emotional discomfort of having to address major problems by refusing to acknowledge that they exist. Or they can ignore the situation with the wishful hope that somehow their children or grandchildren will resolve the problems passed on to them by the current generation, even though the problems will have become much worse and the cost of correction much greater. The human tendency to accept "false precision"--to falsify by pretensions of accuracy that are not supported by statistical calculation or analytical reasoning--also is rooted in our emotional desire to maintain certain of our beliefs and wishes regardless of factual or rational justification. Our attitudes and actions also vary with our "perception of time": whether in general we look primarily to the past, the present, or the future.
Emotional forces within us frequently conflict with the rational thought and scientific method that are features of civilized society. Often we want to react to situations in ways that are emotionally satisfying but neither rationally appropriate nor operationally productive. Or we react in ways we claim are sensible when in fact they represent emotional needs within us which we do not recognize consciously, or they involve matters that we repress from our conscious awareness because emotionally we want to ignore or forget them.
