[ExI] anger

[Stuart LaForge]

Sorry for the repost but I sent the last one before I changed the  
subject and stuff.


Quoting Bill Wallace:

> One of my answers on Quora:
>
> I think that anger has no place in modern society and wish we could excise
> it from the gene pool. It is irrational and often makes us do things we
> regret later, if we are able to (we attack those stronger and pay the
> price). Sure, it can make your fighting hormones flow, and that can be an
> advantage in an attack, but just a bit overdone and it can be disaster.
>
> Among the worst is getting mad with children because they are not behaving
> as you want them to, and so you hit them, often too hard. Or someone
> weaker, usually, like a woman. Yes, I am aware that women can hit men and
> abuse them.
>
> It?s just really good for nothing in the modern world.


Anger, vengeance, and violence, even if detrimental to the individuals  
practicing them, are essential for our social and cultural evolution.  
Life is a lot like the classic "hawks versus doves" computer  
simulation that Dawkins wrote about at length. Basically if too few  
individuals are willing to take revenge on hawks even at personal  
cost, then the hawks over-run the system. Once the hawks come to  
predominate, then it becomes the doves that have the selective  
advantage since they are not prone to get into costly fights. Ideally  
there is a Nash equilibrium in society between hawks and doves. You  
are a dove, William, but hawks have their place in society, modern or  
not, also.

Also on a more personal note, I once did some freelance computer work  
for a rich lady in Bel Air. She was a single mom raising a somewhat  
spoiled young boy. Her vanity caused her to get botox injections to  
stave off the lines and wrinkles on her brow. As a result, she could  
no longer control her bratty son because he would do bad things and  
even though she was furious with him, her face could not express her  
anger. Now imagine what her own kid or a full grown adult stranger  
might have done to her if she not only could not express her anger,  
but could not feel it in the first place.

Anger is sometimes the only way to effectively communicate what one  
will tolerate and what one will not.

Stuart LaForge