Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 17:53:32
In reply to Re: different vs deficient, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 17:23:33
why do we value this emotional resonance / connection thing as humans?
it isn't particularly correlated with prosociality. i mean... people are capable of looking you in the eyes and smiling you off to your (supposedly humane) slaughter.
it isn't particularly correlated with any of the things that we find to be distinctively human. or is it? perhaps i'm missing something in this respect...
the funny thing is that i do value it. it is just that i find it to be far too valuable to indiscriminately engage in with just anyone...
perhaps because my nervous system is more sensitive to most so it affects me more. like how an accidental touch leaves an imprint for hours...
i guess most people are (relatively) desensitized.
which makes them more empathetic. yeah, right.
i'm interested...
some early anthropological studies suggested some indigenous peoples (without written language) lacked the ability to think hypothetically. the example was abstract. something about... if there were 40 women in the tribe over and half of them were married then how many were available? they wouldn't? couldn't? answer. that was taken to be evidence of inability to reason. then they thought actually it was a culturally valid unwillingness to speculate on things that didn't make any difference to their practical lives... we were being culturally insensitive in our questions... oh yeah? i'll give you 40 muskets if you tell me the right answer. now it is relevant to your daily life. now can you do it? it isn't genes... it is lack of cognitive ability because the environment is impoverished: there isn't any written documents. same thing happens today with kids who are emotionally regulated up to a state of excitement / squeeling all the time and nobody reads to them or teaches them to take pleasure from quiet activity. it is cultural. how do you get a culture to not invent written language? how does that happen? it is not 'friendly' it is 'invasive'. it is not 'friendly' it is 'inconsiderate'. it is not 'friendly' it is 'inability to be alone'.
(i'd say about 3/4 of first year university students have trouble thinking hypothetically. in critical reasoning / logic people ALWAYS have trouble understanding that in a hypothetical expression like 'IF IT WERE raining then the ground would be wet' is not false even though it isn't currently raining. and even though there might be no such thing as rain. this is a distinct point from the fact that around 1/2 do have (legitimate) concerns about paradoxes of material implication (it is odd to think that a conditional with a false antecedent is true and we have third truth value intutions))
boarding school is the solution. actually... even earlier... free childcare. like how uni is (sort of) an even playing field for all those accepted into university accommodation at least. insofar as those students need not worry about internet access, dishwashing detergent, quiet places to study etc etc. because universities (and not techs who want to make a little extra money from handing out degrees) actually prioritize learning as the greatest goal and the only real rule is not to interfere with / prevent the learning of others and that carries through to student accommodation. REAL student accommodation. not the pile of sh*t i've found myself in currently where they cant' even organize their toilet paper and dishwash detergent.
there is a concern with the state taking your children... especially with teh kinds of people who are attracted to early childhood (aka the ones who are unable to function outside the creche themselves). but what is the alternative? roam freely and struggle yoruself up somehow? how well is that working for y'all?
if i dont' get into medicine i think i'm going to do a double degree in science / health science. then i can write... policy. whether i work for the government (contrating) or stay within teh university. i think i am interested in government policy... i need to learn much more... but society is presently f*ck*d up. and there MUST be better ways...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1052545
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20130914/msgs/1052578.html