Pro-Social Behaviour






Whilst contemplating the forest during my morning ablutions I considered the weighty question of antisocial behaviour. Several scraps of loo-roll desecrating the pristine maple leaf earth cried out: Why don’t people bury their leavings?

Two hypothesis immediately sprang to mind: they have no physical equipment (a spade) or and possibly AND, they lack what I will call the Pro-social Drive: the need or impulse to preserve the beauty and utility of nature (in this case) for social benefit. In short: antisocial behaviour.
Imagine 10,000 years back into our misty past those individuals who didn’t hunt or gather or pooped on pathways or routinely precipitated unrest and conflict. Such humans would have resisted and opposed the functioning of society and surely have been reprimanded, restrained or otherwise sanctioned if not completely expelled or even terminated. Their “antisocial behaviour“ would have nothing to do with being reclusive or awkward at parties. Their actions and in action endangered the group and tore at the fabric of society.

Enough of the negative.

Pro-Social behaviour or individuals are those actions or members building a better present and future. They look at the needs of the group as well as the resources and these compromise sufficient the fuel for their motion and motivation. From the environmentalist preserving the land, fauna and flora to the primitive socialist ensuring berries roots and grains are not hoarded to the farmers, mothers and midwives - all a part of the strong net holding things together and ensuring survival.

Popular posts from this blog

Simple Man

Image
Whilst pondering various life problems and processes the song Simple Man kept breaking through into my consciousness and accompanying me. I am in the process of buying land and possibly building a house I can’t afford and it hit me: this isn’t me, I am a simple man. be a simple kind of man be something you love and understand be a simple kind of man won't you do this for me, son, if you can Suddenly I had clarity - it felt like my Dad was talking to me - this isn’t me, I could do it (at great personal cost) but it’s not my path. Forget your lust for the rich man's gold  All that you need is in your soul
Read more

Unreal Existence

Image
What is existence? Are there parts of realty which do not exist? Or is reality exclusively all that exists? Existence implies some kind of permanence. A fairy which appears and disappears never to be seen again will readily be taken for some kind of illusion. And so we have our first dichotomy: real or illusory. Outside or Inside me, my head, my self? But is an illusion, delusion or dream, imagination not also real? That it „is not“ is simply not true. It IS. That it is „my illusion“ and not yours does not make it less real. It has become a part of my existence, experience and personal reality. I may even share the experience with you and thus it becomes a part of your experience since you imagine it with me as you listen even if you deny its external reality. So we now have something moving across different consciousnesses which is part of reality but which we daren‘t call real because it’s not „out there“. Nevertheless it is. Otherwise how could it move? We may say: Oh, Illusions...
Read more

Paying for Attention

Image
Are you paying attention? In what currency? In time of course, the most precious and ethereal yet endless resource we have. Are you paying for  attention? I am… Are we not constantly striving to be liked and cared for (loved)? If love were unconditional we wouldn’t be. We might be fortunate enough to grow up in families where care (physical and emotional) was given without any demands but usually there is an understanding that bad behaviour results in silence, isolation or even the traditional bed without dinner. So love is conditional, as children we cannot be whatever we want without expecting repercussions. But, you might say, your folks love you even when they are displeased. One question is whether love is just a general feeling or an action or something else altogether. The essential question however is whether a child actually feels loved in such conflict situations. If not, regardless of intentions, they will learn it’s conditional. Mastering that dilemma as a parent is tri...
Read more