On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 10:18 AM, Dmytri Kleiner <[email protected]> wrote: > On 20.05.2012 23:54, StealthMonger wrote: >> Speak for yourself. Others simply go their own way in peace, perhaps >> occasionally temporarily detouring to cooperate with others in some >> mutually beneficial endeavor. > > Nothing I have read from anthropology nor psychology bears this out, both > portray us as a deeply social species
While the species as a whole is deeply social, the degree of sociability for any given *individual* is highly variable, and indeed varies along more than one axis. Some of its axes have extrema that we recognise as pathologies, e.g. the profound disregard for others that the DSM-IV identifies as "antisocial personaity disorder". But there is plenty of healthy natural variation between, e.g., extroverts and introverts. Thoreau, for instance, qualifies as someone who fits the description StealthMonger gave. > and suggest that our primary motivations are social ones, not individual > utility maximization. If _Walden_ isn't about individual utility maximization then I don't know what is. --mlp _______________________________________________ liberationtech mailing list [email protected] Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator. Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
