[iDC] Defending UC

[John Hopkins]

Hallo Stephen:

>> C'mon, it's human nature to grab for what you can.

hmmm, I stand corrected, it's the nature of living systems ...

> No it isn't. It's deviant behavior. Something approaching psychotic
> behavior. It's human nature to share, especially with friends and family.
> It's human nature to take only what is needed, and to leave the rest to
> everyone else.

"Especially with friends and family" is a reminder that nepotism is indigenous 
to all human culture.

I don't deny that altruism drives some certain percentage of behaviors, but 
without the pragmatic 'natural' power of the drive to extend the life of the 
species into the future, there would be no human social system to begin with. 
We have not shed this incarnate need to ensure procreative optimization, nor, as 
merely another life-form, will we.  And in this, the unknown Other does 
represent threat except in the instance of gene-pool renewal.  The known Other, 
meanwhile, basks in the warmth of shared wealth of the clan: cronyism.

If resource/energy optimization was called deviant, then it would perforce be 
the norm, as it is a major driving principle of any living system.  Psychosis 
deals with a disconnect with reality, so it clearly doesn't apply to the 
necessary actions and operating principles that surround living systems and that 
drive those who are elements thereof.

jh


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John Hopkins, Researcher
Centre for Creative Arts
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086
http://neoscenes.net/
http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
chazhop at gmail.com; skype: chazhopkins
AU Mobile - +61 (0)40 696 4610
US cell - +1 928 308 6466
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