Stray thoughts under partial quarantine

[luka]

It changed your airport security.

Embroiled them in never ending war

 

[Leo]

Yeah, this feels different though, for any number of reasons.

obviously. but I'm just not sure how much things will actually change. people will want to get their lives back on track, businesses will be pushing it at them and most governments are enslaved to their economic well being. not entirely out of the realm of possibility that five years from now we have annual remembrance services and haunting BBC specials looking back but not much else.

 

[luka]

The easiest thing to do is press the reset button on the world economy. No more work for the over 30s. UBI. The young work in the fields etc.

 

[Leo]

am I being cynical? unrealistic?

I wish your vision of a better, fairer world would be a result, just not sure human nature will allow enough people to change enough to demand it.

 

[luka]

No such thing as human nature. If the circumstances change we will change too

 

[Mr. Tea]

No such thing as human nature.

This is a thing people sometimes say but I don't think anyone really believes it.

 

[luka]

That's partly true too. It is usually said as a corrective to the idea that the way we live now is the result of some deep inalterable structure.

 

[luka]

A way to de-naturalise capitalism basically.

 

[Mr. Tea]

That's partly true too. It is usually said as a corrective to the idea that the way we live now is the result of some deep inalterable structure.

OK yeah, there's probably some intelligent middle ground between "capitalism is inevitable and unavoidable" and "humans are the only animal species without instinctual behaviour".

 

[luka]

Instinct is a very tricky thing to think about. Sorting instinct from learned behaviour for instance is very difficult.

 

[luka]

It's useful to really pick away at the idea of the natural and try and determine how much of it is cover for something more provisional (ideological, self-serving whatever)

 

[shiels]

No such thing as human nature. If the circumstances change we will change too

Which is to say, we are nature. Free will, language, technology is nature. where you draw the line of separation is a question of ideology.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Instinct is a very tricky thing to think about. Sorting instinct from learned behaviour for instance is very difficult.

Difficult but not impossible. Newborn babies behave in certain ways. And there are behaviours common to humans from all sorts of societies, which are obviously not products of conditioning by one particular sort of society.

 

[shiels]

Yeah so drives and behaviours that are uniform across time and space can broadly fall under instincts. But with enough time and space even these change, are subject to environmental influence, epigenetics n that

 

[kumar]

and you can imagine groups of people in history, societies, who wouldnt have split the difference between learned behaviour and instinct in that sense, which makes determining the behaviours common to different groups inexact

suffice to say a "human nature" to do as little work as posible and look out for your self might not entail the end of more mutual aid efforts as soon as people are let out of their houses again

 

[luka]

I saw a rat by someone's front door today which lead me to think that less food waste in the streets might mean more rats in homes

 

[Corpsey]

Not sure how clever most animals are but surely some of them are wondering what the fuck happened to all the humans?

 

[Leo]

 

[luka]

So when you lot talk to yourselves do,you do it in your normal voice or do you put on other voices, silly voices?

 

[luka]

I use other comedy voices.

Also are you starting to enjoy this? I'm really really getting into it. It's done me the world of good.