RE: Hypocrite Dad, Hypocrite Dad
As long as we are biological beings dictated by the laws of evolution, this is the only game in town. Adapt or perish.
As much as I would like to deny it, @kyriacos is right. Each and every one of us is just another incident (hopefully not an accident) in the genetical pool. From the first moment we are equipped with egoistic genes, trying to ensure our survival and the species succesful reproduction. In other words, we are programmed to be selfish and egoistic - some more than others, as you can clearly observe around you. But the story doesnt end there, it would be great just to blame everything on our biological urges and simply think that this is how things work.
What defines humans from the rest of the animals are their cognition and their evolved conscience. Its what has enabled us to achieve all these extraordinary goals and dominate the planet. (More information on Sapiens from Yuval Harari) But this is exactly where the irony lies. We are able to do all these amazing things (cooperation, art, societies etc) simply because some of us understand the fundamental factor that leads to progress: resources. And what resources might be? Coal, wood, water, stone, uranium, oil etc. Noticed something common on the above? Yeap, they are all objective realities, connected with the physical world around us.Now lets try to think as an individual with quite effective egoistic genes, allowing him to think smarter than anyone else. From a evolutionery POV he/she/it (yolo) would try to do the least amount of physical work while getting the majority of the produced goods over the average "stupid" worker. But how can we manage to convince all the others to work for us and still get less? How can we make human labour just another resource available? Damn, if only there was a way to somehow invent series of imaginery stories so they could believe in and make them obey, work, bleed and even die for us, while we are thinking of better ways to keep them caged in their so easily manipulated cognition...
Welcome to the real world. Run by a small club, but you are not in. So the real question is: you consciously choose to join or not?
Not the case by far, Research the following Altruism in animals.
There were studies done in the 50's/60's on RATS, the rats were put one to a full metal wire cage, and one of the two rats would have a lever that once pressed it would release food but also electrocute the other rat. The rats would starve rather than cause harm. So much for "we are selfish", there's plenty of evidence of empathy in all kinds of creatures, this is natural, this is reality, the whole bullshit argument that we are selfish flies in the face of what most people exemplify, completely.
I will try to look for that experiment if you think it is a good example. But also try to think about some points!
-How was it possible that some partially civilized evovled apes are putting RATS into cages just to check their altruism ?.
-In 1974 a really interesting book was published Egoistic Gene by Richard Dawkins. I would advise you read it if you have the time, it explains a lot about altruism and our species.
-I think you missed the point of my comment, which I believe lies in the last lines of it
Have a good day!
That's the thing, I didn't respond to your entire comment, or it's "this is the way it is because some stories" conclusion, but only to
" In other words, we are programmed to be selfish and egoistic - some more than others, as you can clearly observe around you. But the story doesnt end there, it would be great just to blame everything on our biological urges and simply think that this is how things work."
So the "programmed to be selfish and egoistic" is the premise, the underlying premise of your story which you refer to as such.
Rats in cages is exactly what humans did, but the study was in the 50-60's (I think early 60's) and biological urges is exactly what anything animal or nature was marginalize into. When they studied the rats it wasn't for altruism but just to see what would happen kinda thing. They didn't conclude altruism, obviously it was inconceivable for them that it was altruism.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/12/09/empathic-rats-spring-each-other-from-jail/#.VTxJTPnF9XE
That isn't the actual study but it talks about it, I haven't checked the links, if you research this you will be hard pressed to say that nature is selfish, or even deny the obvious implications of consciousness.
It only goes even further, if you research the cruelty of man and the benevolence and care you wouldn't consider us "selfish".
As for the comment about
"From a evolutionery POV he/she/it (yolo) would try to do the least amount of physical work while getting the majority of the produced goods over the average "stupid" worker. But how can we manage to convince all the others to work for us and still get less? How can we make human labour just another resource available? Damn, if only there was a way to somehow invent series of imaginery stories so they could believe in and make them obey, work, bleed and even die for us, while we are thinking of better ways to keep them caged in their so easily manipulated cognition...
Welcome to the real world. Run by a small club, but you are not in. So the real question is: you consciously choose to join or not?"
All I can say is that I have stated my stance and reasoning in replies to kyriacos and others here, in short:
What happened in the west and elsewhere is legal slavery, it wasn't "stupid workers" that created the legal slavery or are to blame for any of it, desperate people aren't stupid people. The wealth wasn't gained off "tricking" people but ACTUAL slavery, which is now legal slavery, all working to EXERT as much wealth from the average man in material goods or actual labor, and this is prima facie evidence, not conjecture or baseless story.
There are numerous wars being waged, not a "this is the way it is, because some are smarter than others/stupid workers". No, that is wrong, you can be as smart as you want but without resources you cannot even commit one thing to reality, even as so much as transferring your knowledge for others if they lock you in a room and throw away the key, if you are poor you being smart is tantamount to how to survive, being smart means how to act under desperation, these are the ways truth is exterminated systemically and not simply how to make stupid workers work. War is what, how and why, war is not an exaggeration the least, and not metaphorically like claw and tooth war, but actual as in disinformation, misinformation, indoctrination, incredible fraud and identity theft, our very birthright stolen, actual slavery, peonage by any other name, legal peonage, excusing this or saying anything else other than "somebody needs to ask for forgiveness(remember iceland)" about the current state of affairs is tantamount to waging war against people of all creed and birthplace.