PZ Myers has an interesting post up about the human instinct for war and violence. He's discrediting the theory of humans as natural aggressors. I just laughed myself out of my chair with this quote:
Most of our interactions with other people are regulated by deep-down protocols that we're socialized into — if someone cuts into a queue ahead of you, we don't pull out a stone axe and take care of the problem, we either roll our eyes and acquiesce or we complain verbally and get other people to shame the interloper. It's relatively harmless. We go to work, and maybe you share an office with annoying jerks (of course you do, we all do), but we don't go on a rampage and fight the boss for dominance, so we can purge the tribe of the ones we detest, who borrow our stapler and don't give it back — no, we grumble and accommodate and cope somehow, and maybe try to work our way into a better position with social networking.
Given how wolf-pack-like my group already is with everyone competing for dominance it's totally fun to imagine this playing out. Standing at your cube, hissing at others and peeing on the floor to mark your territory. Triumphantly jumping on the copy machine and growling. Asserting your position over the interns with nips and bites to keep them in check. Your boss in his office with a pipe fighting all-comers to maintain his authority. I don't suppose work would get done in this scenario but it's interesting given the group dynamics are already there, just without the violence and physical confrontation. Or maybe I just want to see my boss fight a giant lizard is what I'm saying (ok Gorn).
Love the post title. :)
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