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On 5/24/2013 12:13 PM, Charles Carlson wrote:
> It makes me think: No matter the topic and ensuing discussion, I suspect there are highly genetically conserved reasons for our lack of social consensus on anything.  It's ultimately and intimately rooted in life's ultimate safety net from extinction--variability.

Life is always, always, a quest for advantage, even IF it requires 
cooperation (usually a last resort!).  So I think the evolutionary 
forces at work here are not as benign as you suggest.

I am becoming more convinced every day that human society is just flat 
incapable of resolving any of the larger issues it is faced with, 
without more clearly, honestly, and unflinchingly understanding our true 
nature.  But Catch-22, our very nature makes that almost impossible at a 
societal level - yet I think there is hope if we can understand that 
nature and craft messages accordingly.  Global warming advocates are 
using the idea of "Six Americas", that each have to be approached 
differently:

     http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/SixAmericas.pdf

I think these concepts and strategies could be applied in many areas, 
particularly informal education centers.

For more on this, I HIGHLY recommend Robert Trivers' book "The Folly of 
Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life".  It covers 
far more areas than just individual human behavior, and while some 
criticize it for it's chock-a-block mixing of scientific studies and 
personal speculation, to me that's what evolution theorists are supposed 
to do (and he always clearly delineates his speculation).

His blog has quite a bit about deception in science:

     http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-folly-fools

Cheers!

- Lorne

--
http://noirflux.com

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