2 Replies to “You can’t trust people much……”

  1. Self-interest is about the biological imperative to survive. In this perspective, love, family ties and altruism can be viewed pragmatically. Romantic love can be seen as finding someone who will help you survive. David Attenborough says that all animals want to see their own genes propagated down the generations. Care for one’s children can be seen as survival in that having children is as close to immortality as it is possible to get.

    Care for the wider community also can be accounted for in this way. In a natural state, as a hunter gatherer for example, even the strongest, most able person would not survive for long alone in a wilderness without a tribal group. Hence tribal loyalty is part of self-interest and survival.

    Using the sports team analogy if one individual is a talented player, that person’s contribution will improve the success of the whole team.

    Unfortunately this does not translate into well functioning civilizations as populations divide into groups that attempt to dominate with results like the 1% and the subjugated 99%.
    The, for some, fervently held tribal loyalty of the left/right political divide among people who have no interest in policy analysis results in easy manipulation by politicians and the corporate media.

    Self-interest may have worked well for the survival of the human species up until the last ten thousand years or so of civilization, but may result in humans being a good geological marker animal for some future intelligent beings ie having wide geographical distribution and a short time on the planet.

    1. The biological imperative for all species is to proliferate their genes. That can lead to an exponential, self-reinforcing growth path unless predators/diseases also evolve to keep growth in check. If not, the eventual outcome is an exhaustion of resources (normally food/water) leading to a sharp decline in population.

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