Human Behaviour

 

 

Part of my whole INTJ thing is wanting people to make sense, but they don’t.  Me included.

I don’t believe in contrivances like souls to explain who we are; it’s a result of our physical being, particularly our brains, and the experiences that shape us.  Understanding this wasn’t just about basic scientific curiosity.  Coming to terms with being gay was an act of examination and introspection:  Why was I this way?  Could I change it?  Why did I think one thing, feel another, and behave regardless of either?  Why can’t I understand myself in silicon terms?

Fortunately you can drive a car without knowing how to build one from scratch. I came up with good-enough answers to establish a lasting peace between the conscious me and everything else, anatomy included.  More complete answers are coming from cross-pollenating harder sciences like evolutionary biology and neuroscience with overly-touchy-feely “sciences” like psychology. Popularizers like Sagan and Dawkins recognized it thirty years ago, and we’re starting to enjoy the fruits of a generation of multidisciplinary scientists–and not a moment too soon!

I’ve come to terms with my self, but the last eight years have left me bewildered and pessimistic about the species as a whole and especially Americans: Why do values voters willfully ignore their own self interest?  Why are Republicans still whipping the political asses of the Democrats?  How did a country founded on radically progressive Enlightenment ideals turn into a police state in a handful of years?  Why has the 20th century scientific powerhouse fallen into religious fundamentalism?  Why don’t people make sense?

Next, Politics IN the Mind …