Love is Useful
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by James Rick
Pavlov, the Russian born Psychologist is famous for his experiments in conditioning dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell in anticipation of food. As the theory goes, humans although more complex than a dog, can also be conditioned to react to the environment around them. In fact, Pavlov and many prominent Psychologists of his era believed that the human personality was the sum of conditioned responses within a complex social system. Pavlov believed culture & customs may be the product of conditioned responses over generations.
THE BODY WITHOUT USEFUL CONDITIONING
Imagine for a moment if the body was conditioned to do the opposite of what it does. If instead of running from fire, you dove into it. If instead of eating when hungry, or drinking water when thirsty you avoided them; it wouldn’t take long before the body would perish. Therefore, conditioned responses serve in the preservation of the body both in a physical sense as well as a social sense.
THE FEAR OF ISOLATION
Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment on obedience. One participant stood behind a glass and was instructed to match simple word pairs. The other participant was instructed to emit electric shock in case a participant got the word pair wrong. Milgram hypothesized that the participants emitting the shock would stop once the other participants cried out in pain or wished to discontinue the experiment. To the surprise of Milgram participants controlling the electric shock carried out the experiment to the extreme, repeatedly shocking the participant behind the glass many times at even the highest levels in spite of cries for help or pleading to be let out of the experiment. The shocking participants didn’t know the other participants behind the glass were actors and no shock was really being applied. The volunteers were not cruel people, they came from a wide variety of backgrounds, mothers, teachers, house wives but Milgram’s experiments proved that normal people would go against their own values in the name of a greater cause or in compliance to authority and that the pain of group isolation is greater than personal principle.
WHAT’S USEFUL ABOUT UNITY?
Unity make sense when the goal of self preservation is viewed in alignment with evolution. Human ancestors survived a critical period of time when other versions of homosapiens were going extinct. The humans that survived this period were not bigger or stronger than other species of animals. They simply developed an introspective intelligence that allowed them to think and reason in preparation for future events and a collaborative intelligence that brought the strength of collective wisdom to all. (Cranial capacity also increased 40% or more to make room for the additional ‘brains’)
When a person was separated from a group this meant vulnerability and death. Evolution had thousands of years to condition (hardwire) this response into the brain. The instinctual conditions are often unconscious to the individual observer, they simply feel a need and try to rationalize it. In Milgram’s experiments volunteers felt compelled to comply with authority or join a greater cause (science). They rationalized it much like Hitler’s subordinates at Nuremberg ‘I was just following orders‘ but felt on a deeper level to discontinue meant isolation from the group.
If a choice is perceived to bring about true isolation, it will be resisted. Just because a person runs away to live in a cave for 40 years, does not mean isolation if their purpose is to serve a greater cause. The unabomber might have lived in what appeared like isolatation, yet he still chose to reach out through bombs in the mail. Thoreau lived by himself at Walden pond, but he used that time to understand himself at a different level and would later share that experience with others. Although a person may live alone, rarely do they isolate themselves from a cause- that instinct persists in spite of physical isolatation.
The choice is not whether to love, but who to love. The choice is not whether to belong to a group, but what group. Sometimes people feel a need to demonstrate their loyalty or love through the identification / division and destruction of another.
Love is something that brings people together. Love is another word for feeling of unity. The ultimate goal of evolution – preservation through unity. Ultimately love is the greatest assurance of collective sharing of wisdom (society) self perpetuation (through sex) and parenting (through marriage). Love is useful.
The next step? Who becomes every living creature. What group becomes all of life. And no demonstration of loyalty or love is needed beyond an awareness of the present and an appreciation for all that is.
2 Responses to “Love is Useful”
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May 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Good Info, Thank You!
December 28th, 2009 at 11:23 am
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. You blog reAlly helped me and I will be back soon. Thank you