[Ron]:
> I termed evolutionary step to mean that functioning in a
> group is more successful as it relates to survival than
> functioning as an individual.
All life forms are imbued with a need (drive) to survive. Some degree of
collective behavior favors the survival of any species in the natural world.
It protects the individuals from becoming the prey of other species,
facilitates the location of food sources, and generally fulfills the
Darwinian "survival of the fittest" role in natural selection. These animal
traits are instinctively based; they are not altered by value
discrimination, cognitive decisions, or environmental changes on the part of
the creature.
Man is a different sort of animal. Natural instincts have a minimal effect
on his behavior. His survival depends on his ability to organize, plan, and
invent. While banding together may be rooted in primal instinct, the
organization and cultural development of civilization is an intellectual and
moral process that can only be achieved through the cooperative effort of
cognizant individuals.
I don't speak for anthropologists, (and Pirsig was highly influenced by this
science), but I'm of the opinion that the ideals of "tribal collectivisim",
including group loyalty and compassion, express a sense of value which has
always been unique to mankind. The history of human evolution is rapid,
dynamic, and replete with examples of change, not only in the way we work
and communicate with each other, but in the way we reconstruct the
environment to meet our needs. This attests to man's ability to make
discriminative value judgments and apply his intellect and knowledge to the
enhancement of his world.
However, collective energy directed toward mutual goals is not what the
MoQers mean by "collective knowledge" or the "collective intellect". They
literally see Intelligence as the brass rail reached for in the DQ
merry-go-round. That is, they do not view value sensibility and
intellectual comprehension as faculties of the individual. On the contrary,
they see individual cognizance as a biological product ("pattern") of the
Intellectual Level and reject the "egoistic self" as a myth. And that's a
divide I cannot cross.
Thanks for remaining open to other perspectives.
Best regards,
Ham
moq_discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
