[ExI] ep thought experiment

Tue Jul 7 23:09:18 UTC 2020

I have been thinking overtime on evolutionary psychology and have an idea or
question.

We can get tangled up in the term "instinct" if we wish, but I propose
simplifying it in a way by focusing on a set of behaviors that (as far as I
can tell) are not learned behaviors but rather something we just have.  It's
hard to explain.

Picture in your mind the kinds of characteristics that cause what I call the
Maurice reaction (Steve Miller Band, song: The Joker, that guitar slide wolf
whistle right after the line ".some people call me Maurice." (ja that (when
you see a person of your favorite gender with a lot of these
characteristics, that happens in your head (even though you don't say it or
play it on the guitar.))))  Let's call that set the Maurice characteristics,
ja?

I need not go into detail on what those characteristics are, for we all
know: it is easy enough to see that under stone age conditions, they
generally point toward fertility and ability to enhance your biological
children's chances at living to produce robust offspring.  Those
characteristics cause the Maurice reaction.

Even if we have no intention of producing biological offspring, the Maurice
set stirs us anyway.  Does it not?

Even if we are evolutionary psychology hipsters and we completely understand
that conditions have changed, we no longer need the fertility stuff, we
don't need the ability to fight off invading tribe characteristics, we
understand the Maurice characteristics are not only unnecessary in today's
world but are in many ways detrimental. even if all that. we can't really
turn it off.

If we fully recognize the Maurice reaction is now an evolutionary dead end,
or once had its purpose but now is a detriment. we still cannot switch that
off.  Or if so, I don't know how.

Thoughts please?

spike  

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