The False Allure Of Group Selection | Conversation | Edge

The False Allure Of Group Selection | Conversation | Edge

 Finally, a breath of fresh air, it is a long read, but time to listen.  The other night I was watching the Science channel, and a researcher, heard his mother say..."We are related to Lizzie Borden, why not research the murderers in our family?  There were around 5 or more murderers in his family, I don't recall the number he mentioned.  So the research began by viewing the brains of family members and comparing them  to those of known murderers who had a certain pattern in their brain.  Of all the family members ...you guessed it, the erudite, researcher was the one with the brain pattern of a murderer,  He was the only one in the family, and certainly not a murderer. 

In interviewing family members they all agreed he had certain traits that were not the greatest, I don't want to use an incorrect word here,  he agreed he had traits that were not pleasing, but, in all of this he learned that his upbringing, a happy childhood had overcome his genetic traits.   I bring this up here, because so much depends on mothers and fathers....a happy home made the difference between his being a murderer and a science researcher.  So, not the group, but the individuals who make the group, are important.

Don't most groups fall into patterns?   Then someone like Hitler steps forward to use crowd psychology.....or somone says follow me, I am right, we will abort  girls  they are worthless,we only need one per family...we have enough women of the right genetic disposition to take care of our needs
for 20years .  The point I think is that human nature has shown itself in collective societies  as being freedom bound.  History has shown that mores, grow out of taboos, right or wrong...so society will always set boundaries, it is part of human nature.  We need to concentrate on growing the individual to his or her greatest potential, so they don't go to gangs and end up in prison.  I think it is a tragedy that we don't have schools and apprenticeships for non college bound students.  We are not all college bound, nor should we be.

The immigrants that come here to our country show us, that there is more to life than college, there is hard work outside in the fields, that gives people a chance to build strong bodies, there is office work where the brain is used, but you are desk bound, and more prone to bodily aches and pains... so each occupation has its rewards...not all the same.  I could go on, but you get the gist of it...We work too hard to give everyone the same opportunity....the words are wrong.   The opportunity is here in the USA for all of us to reach our potential, only we are shutting down the non college "kids", who could run great repair shops, carpentry shops, and other societal needs that are growing daily with the new inventions and changing culture.  We are our own worst enemy, just getting the kids out of gangs with something interesting and fun that provides a career would be a big step....learning to drive trucks, learning the value of a clean record, so they can get licensed, encouraging them to start a business to be a leader of something good, instead of something negative.