THE STRUGGLE FOR A BETTER LIFE
THE STRUGGLE FOR A BETTER LIFE
When identical same-sex twins are brought up in exactly the same environment and treated exactly the same (clothing included), they usually behave and feel much the same.
But identical same-sex twins brought up as individuals have different personalities are different people. Usually one is more dominant while the other is more emotional.
It is apparently easier for people who are 'cold and calculating' to be dominant, to dominate those who are 'emotional'.
Add that those dominating others may in this way acquire power over others, or social and economic gains from using, and from misusing, people.
Such a system rewards primitive inhuman brutal (beastlike) behaviour (acquiring territory by force, might is right), held in check only by the fear of consequences.
We also see that dominating others is conditioned, that is unnatural, behaviour which is destructive of humane behaviour. A throw-back to the level of the unthinking unfeeling primitive animal.
Humane behaviour is based on feelings of care and affection for the young and for the family, and then for other people and the community. From this emerges a sense of social responsibility: people matter and are important, need to be treated well and looked after, are entitled to share equally. Backed up by knowledge, understanding and reason.
And, in the hostile environment in which humanity finds itself, what are also needed are dedicated effort, strength and power to achieve a humane way of living, to achieve a good standard of living and a high quality of life.
Part of the hostile environment is an almost intentional-seeming conditioning which frequently portrays brutal behaviour as a norm, by media and other opinion-forming sources. This has the effect of brutalising society, seemingly legalising, making acceptable, inconsiderate and unfeeling behaviour towards other people.
What we see is a world-wide struggle for a humane life which shows people struggling to achieve a humane way of life, each struggling to advance at their own level of development and achievement, struggling against those who wish to dominate others, against those who wish to exploit others, against those who wish to oppress so as to exploit.
Struggling to achieve the satisfaction of needs which are entirely in line with the evolution and development of the human brain and human mind. Needs and wants such as those for survival (food, shelter, and clothing) and secure existence, affection and esteem, friendly and trustful co-operation and companionship, independence from domination by others, high quality of life and living, self-realisation and development. And "people will co-operate with each other and work hard and well to satisfy these needs and gain much satisfaction from doing so.
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14 Comments
I'm not so sure about this. There are many people who will do anything not to have to deal with the emotions of others. Crying or being silent, saying things are "fine" when they are obviously not.
You can only keep up aggression for so long. As soon as someone appears to agrees with you it is defused.
I understand what you are saying, but I think there is a great deal of power in emotionally aggressive people manipulating those who are more physically aggressive.
I think there is no right or wrong here, evaluation and understanding behaviour of the primitive animals from which human beings evolved is instinctive. Which means that behaviour relating to survival, such as attack, defence or sexual, is automatic. Territory is acquired by force and defended. (Might is right.) This has been happening for thousands of years (still is)
Emotion has always been with us and would have been involved in those primitive behaviours.
That's if you believe we were ever "primitive", which is a totally different matter.
The right hemisphere of the human brain is able to communicate by using images with the brains older and more primitive component organs; which have no verbal skills. And this enables us to communicate intentionally (that is 'consciously') with our autonomic nervous system and ask it by visualising to control body functions and to affect our body's immune system. Any or all our senses can be included when visualising.
Clinical trials have shown remarkable success in areas such as the treatment of cancer and heart disease.
After that, everybody noticed the change. He became cool, confident and started winning everybody over. He moved forward both career wise (politics), and socially, to the point where even his big love started seeing him differently and wanted him back.
Then he went on a killing spree and the rest is history.
A lot of primary sociophaths don't have Bundy's rage. They're content to play manipulative games with people and are usually found in politics or hosting game shows... (You will actually see words like "politics" and "showbusiness" in virtually all serious papers written on the subject!
I agree with Barb, though, about people using their own emotions to bamboozle people into submission. Happens all the time and it's all one big happy scrap that goes back millions of years.
Co-operation and manipulation must be close relatives. Something had to be done to make that bloody alpha-male stop hording all the food!
Give us a bit, Kenty!
Bundy is a very interesting case. Playing the game to prove something to himself and then destroying what he had created. Even after he was convicted of his first crimes, he could still play the game to get people to trust him (emotion, not brute force). That then let him get into situations where he could use his brutality.
Perhaps the strongest is the combination of these two strengths.
This all started from Writergug’s interesting blog (Aikido and writing) got me thinking about the mind and how powerful it is (penny for your thoughts) your comment was both interesting and informative and the following will point out where I was coming from. Please don’t think I am trying to be a smart arse; but it may answer a few points (I don’t know) just say; if we could somehow write during (when mind and universe are one) what we see; feel; what fantastic books would come out of that.
As far as we know the human brain evolved in three main stages.
Its ancient and primitive part is the innermost core reptilian brain. Next evolved the mammalian brain by adding new functions and new ways of controlling the body. Then evolved the third part of the brain, the neocortex, the grey matter, the bulk of the brain in two symmetrical hemispheres, separate but communicating. To a considerable extent it is our neocortex which enables us to behave like human beings.
So the human brain consists of these three different but interconnected brains and the way in which these three brains interact with each other underlies human behaviour.
How the brain evolved and functions say; sleep and sleeping, dreaming and dreams, and how we learn, memorise and remember.raises a number of pertinent questions which need answering. Questions such as why do we have to struggle for a better life and what motivates human beings.
Reptilian Brain
Innermost in our brain is what is called the reptilian brain, its oldest and most primitive part. The reptilian brain appears to be largely unchanged by evolution and we share it with all other animals which have a backbone.
This reptilian brain controls body functions required for sustaining life such as breathing and body temperature. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals which are warmed by the daylight sun and conserve energy by restricting activities when it is dark. The biological clock (controller) for their activity-rest cycle is located in the eye itself.
At this level of evolution, behaviour relating to survival of the species; such as sexual behaviour, is instinctive and responses are automatic. Territory is acquired by force and defended. Might is right.
Mammalian Brain
Next to evolve from the reptilian brain was the mammalian brain. An enormous change took place as mammals evolved from reptiles, the mammalian brain containing organs for the automatic control of body functions such as digestion; the fluid balance; body temperature and blood pressure (autonomic nervous system, hypothalamus) for filing new experiences as they happen and so creating a store of experience-based memories (hippocampus). for experience-based recognition of danger and for responding to this according to past experience. And for some conscious feelings about events (amygdala).
To this extent the mammal is more consciously aware of itself in relation to the environment. Millions of neural pathways connect the hippocampal and amygdala structures to the reptilian brain and behaviour is less rigidly controlled by instincts. It seems that feelings such as attachment, anger and fear have emerged with associated behavioural response patterns of care, fight or flight.
Human Brain
And the mammalian brain became the human brain by adding the massive grey matter (neocortex) which envelopes most of the earlier brain and amounts to about 85 per cent of the human brain mass.
This massive addition consists mostly of two hemispheres which are covered by an outer layer and interconnected by a string of nerve fibres.
The brain is actually divided into its 'hemispheres' by a prominent groove. At the base of this groove lies the thick bundle of nerve fibres which enable these two halves of the brain to communicate with each other.
But the left hemisphere usually controls movement and sensation in the right side of the body, while the right hemisphere similarly controls the left side of the body.
We saw that with the mammalian brain emerged feelings such as attachment, fear and anger and associated behavioural response patterns.
And human emotional responses depend on neuronal pathways which link the right hemisphere to the mammalian brain which in turn is linked to the even older reptilian brain.
Fascinating is the way in which work is divided between the two halves of the brain, their different functions and the way in which they supplement and co-operate with each other.
Most people (about 80 per cent) are right-handed and in the vast majority of right-handed people, the ability to organise speech and the ability to speak are predominantly localised in the left side of the brain. But the right side can understand written and spoken language to some extent at least.
"Appreciating spatial perceptions depends more on the right hemisphere, although there is a left hemisphere contribution. This is especially true when handling objects" and concerning abstract geometric shapes and music.
Test’s carried out found that, when presented with a stimulus, both hemispheres were active and could recognise the nature of visual stimuli as well as spoken words.
But while the left hemisphere can express itself by verbally describing a stimulus; the right hemisphere can express itself non-verbally by selecting the matching stimulus.
The left hemisphere deals with word choice, rules of grammar, and the meaning of words. The right hemisphere apparently determines the emotional content of speech.
So a general overview of the functional division of activities between the two hemispheres would be:
Left Hemisphere
Communicates by using words, has highly developed verbal abilities, is logical and systematic, concerned with matters as they are.
Right Hemisphere
Communicates using images (pictures), has highly developed spatial abilities, is intuitive and imaginative, concerned with emotions and feelings.
But the two hemispheres are interconnected and communicate, the human mind brings together these abilities and skills into a comprehensive whole whose operation depends on the way in which its parts contribute and co-operate with each other.
The right hemisphere links to the primitive older part of the brain, and I consider that it communicates using images with its primitive 'unconscious' functions. Thinking in pictures is fast. Think of how long it takes to describe a picture, a scene, in words and compare this with the speed of taking it in by looking at it. But images may be described, or transformed into a narrative, by the left hemisphere.
Language is spoken as well as written, verbal and visual. And speech and language and associated pictures, images and memories appear to be located all over the brain. Cognition of meaning (knowing and understanding sentences, for example (count’s me out) is high level processing which includes both semantic and visual processing. And behaviour involves the integration of activities in many different parts of the brain.
So now the human brain includes the processing and memorising of images and of their components. And the development of language and corresponding mental processing connected with memory and memorising. As well as the development of a wide range of emotions, of feelings, of care and affection, and the capability for objective and logical thinking and evaluation. And the later development of written languages and artificial images.
Ps: The majority of the above was copy/paste; well you didn’t think I was that clever to know all that. : )
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