On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 2:34 AM, MATT MARINER BROZE <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com>wrote: > > If boys weren't that bloody stupid (risk taking) that might also make their > taking of risks in the future to save even a close relative much less > likely. > If boys weren't both genetically (and educationally) programmed to take > risks > we would have a lot better chance of putting and end to war though. Stock > markets would be less interesting too. > > I have to admit that I did not think through the situation as deeply as Matt has. His remarks about tribal influences are interesting. I've long thought that one of the strong points of American (or any "new world") culture is that we broke so many tribal ties when our ancestors moved away from their old ties and then, again, out of the cultural ghettos they had naturally gravitated towards when they arrived (in the Americas or the antipodes or wherever). It was hard to keep old hatreds going without constant reinforcement. My mother told me stories of scandalizing her parents by being friends with a girl whose parents were Italian. It was apparently quite daring then but seemed silly at a time in my life when Annette Funicello was my idea of teen beauty. My daughter's adoption of a half-black baby with a gorgeous tan and long eyelashes and curly brown hair has also made me re-think tribalism on the family level (which is probably the basis of tribalism anyway). I suspect that the idea of "survival of the fittest" has as much to do with cultural evolution as it does with physical evolution (at least in hominids). This forum is an exciting one for illustrating the various approaches towards taking risks. We are probably all more willing to take some risks than most of the population (wherever we live) but even within our subset there is considerable variation (witness the PFD debate). Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jan 29 2010 - 09:11:56 PST
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