Page 47 - 20120708 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - July / August 2012

Beyond the Super Computer BEYOND THE personalities--those who do not fit the mold. repulsers which drive stressed bacteria apart, SUPERCOMPUTER: Numerous tribal groups turn their cross-dressers turning human migrants, malcontents, and and their insane into shamans or seers and use rebels into feelers who scour the technical, SOCIAL GROUPS AS the quirks of their vision as a guide in times of social, and geographic landscape in search of a uncertainty. Large-scale societies benefit even new way forward for the wider group. SELF-INVENTION further from singular individuals and MACHINES unorthodox subcultures. Between 361 and 206 UTILITY SORTERS. The evidence, at this point, is not BC, the Chinese empire gained its unity, its Continued from Page 44 bureaucratic structure and its standardized looking good for the selfish gene and its writing system from the most eccentric section promoter, the individual selectionist. Among of the future country, Ch'in, a territory bacteria, a built-in comparator mechanism As the two groups struggled to take over constantly nourished by the input of traders requires each forager to let the world know the petri dish, would a new innovation emerge shuttling between one culture and another. The whether it has succeeded or failed. If its quest from the contest, an innovation of the sort religious non-conformists of 17th and 18th has been productive, physiology drives the which enriches the fate of a species for eons? One which transforms ever more of this once century England were excluded from the bacillus to broadcast the message "follow me." If its expedition has failed, it has no choice but country's official schools. Formulating their entirely barren planet into food for life? own educational substitute, they abandoned the to signal "leave me to my fate." Voluminous Ample evidence indicates that complex adaptive systems, with their enormous traditional Latin trivium and quadrivium in evidence indicates that comparator mechanisms favor of the newly emerging sciences. are virtually standard equipment in all social competitive advantages, have progressed from Forbidden to participate in traditional high- animals, from the microbial level (Ameisen, kin groups through to mega-societies with little status occupations, they turned their attention to 1996) to that of crustaceans (Lange, 1996; or no regard for the interests of solitary selfish such déclassé new enterprises as canal building Barinaga, 1996; Kravitz, 1988; Adler, 1996), genes. This is particularly apparent in large- scale human societies, societies seemingly ruled and the mining of coal. The result: the non- birds,2 and mammals. At each evolutionary level these internal and external sensors of conformists saved Britain from possible by the same five principles which structure stagnation and helped usher in the Industrial adaptation become more varied and complex. colonies of bacillus subtilis: Revolution. Are humans slaves to similarly implacable Productive deviants frequently benefit biological impulses? CONFORMITY ENFORCERS. from "field independence" and a strong Through a variety of means, among Humans are biologically programmed to "fit in". For example, an infant's brain is shaped "internal locus of control" (Lefcourt, 1982). All them a sense of control (Lefcourt, 1982: 3-18; too often, one era's despised tinkerer--an isolate Miller et al. 1977; Shors et al. 1989; Shavit, by the culture into which it is born. Six-month olds can either distinguish or produce every like Gregor Mendel--will lay the groundwork 1983; Davis et al. 1980; Buchsbaum et al. 1982; Sagan, 1988; Davis et al. 1979) over for a later generation's innovative whiz kids. sound in virtually every human language. But Additional diversity generators include circumstance and the intake of social feedback within a mere four months, this capacity has impulses toward self-assertion, individuation, (Bloom 1995: 60-70, 140-145; Kemper, 1990: decreased by roughly two thirds (Werker, 1989; and youthful rebellion, not to mention Sigmund 7, 54, 197; Freedman, 1979: 100f; Kroeber, Werker and Desjardins, 1995; Werker and Pegg, Freud's "narcissism of minor 1952: 43-47; Holmes, 1979), comparator in press). This slashing of ability, like other differences"(Freud, 1989; Scherer and Ekman, mechanisms indicate to you and me our utility cultural blinkers of perceptions (Eisenberg, 1984; Boorstin, 1953; Birenbaum and Lesieur, to the social group. A sense of being unneeded 1995; Segall, et al. 1996; Shi-xu, 1995, Lucy, 1982; Stevens and Price, 1996), Eric Erikson's leads to a collapse of our self esteem (Brown et 1992; Berridge and Robinson, 1995; Lancaster, "pseudospeciation," and the closely related al. 1986; Price, 1988; Barkow, 1989; Festinger, 1968; Emde, 1984; Belsky et al. 1996; Bower, ecological phenomenon of "character 1995; Caporael, 1995; Nisbett and Ross, 1980; displacement" (Grant, 1994; Schluter, 1994). In 1944; Aronson and Linder, 1965; Goleman, 1988; Bloom, 1995: 47-72, 140-145; Maslow, Shweder and D'Andrade, 1980), is accompanied all of these, fundamentally similar individuals 1973; I.H. Jones et al. 1995) and a range of by extensive alterations in the cerebral tissue. seize on petty discrepancies and magnify them physiological changes which, in the natural During human development, brain cells are until they become insurmountable barriers world, would sharply increase the odds of death. measured against the requirements of the (Stevens and Price, 1996). Even in tribal Our immune system is impaired (Bower, 1986; physical and socio cultural environment. The societies, the resulting differences of opinion Ader, 1983; Sapolsky, 1990; Sapolsky, 1988; 50% of neurons found useful thrive. The 50% easily overleap genetic barriers, turning brother Davidson, 1992; Bower, 1988); our perceptions which remain unexercised literally cease to be against brother (Johnson and Johnson, 1995; de are dulled (Miller et al. 1977; Gazzaniga, 1992: (Gould, 1994; Young et al. 1994; Nadis, 1993; Waal, 1989: 247f.). In the last two and a half 191-193); our sexual drive diminishes Levine, 1988; Elbert et al. 1995; Barinaga, millennia, these forces have often gone one step (Sapolsky, 1987; Miller et al. 1977); in males, 1994; Pascual-Leone and Torres, 1993; Holden, further and created camaraderie among those of sperm count and motility both fall; our appetite 1995; Korein, 1988.). The cerebral floor plan wildly varying chromosomal background. shrinks or is lost (Gallagher, 1992: 12-15; underlying the mind is redrawn to conform to a Human diversity generators are shifted larger social pattern. into high gear by precisely the type of signals Lefcourt, 1982: 10; Thomas and DeWald, 1977: 229; Seligman, 1990: 69); our social magnetism Experiments by memory researcher which trigger diversity generation among evaporates (Gilbert et al. 1994: 149-165; Elizabeth Loftus (Loftus, 1980), psychologist bacteria signs that the environment is Bloom, 1995: 140-145); and we tend to Solomon Asch (Asch, 1956), and numerous experience a profound sense of lethargy, others have demonstrated that even among overcrowded, under resourced, or lacking in negativity, and hopelessness (Dabbs and adults there is a propensity to form a shared other critical requirements for survival. A large Leventhal, 1966; Gilbert and Allan, 1994). body of studies demonstrates how stressors perception of the world, a view so distinctive ranging from a rapid rise in taxes to a dramatic that it can give outsiders the impression of a increase or drop in temperature and even an A multitude of psychophysiological and mass delusion. Pressures to conform arise from intolerable noise level can break down group psychoneuroimmunological deactivators the urge to belong, the fear of social ostracism, contribute to these effects, among them "learned and the appeal of role models. Nearly forty cohesion, increase conflict, and encourage helplessness" and the chronic secretion of restlessness. The result is often a group split years ago sociologist Erving Goffman which provokes dissenters to search for a new glucocorticoids and endogenous opiates. A (Goffman, 1959) demonstrated that even much environment, a new world view, and/or a new persistent bath of glucocorticoids, for example, of what we think of as our most willful behavior modus operandi (Griffitt, 1970; Griffitt and literally kills tissue in the hippocampus--a part is guided by scripts drafted for us by the social Veitch 1971; Weber et al. 1988: 129, 341; of the brain vital to memory. organism of which we are a part. Horney et al. 1995; Roberts, 1983: 558-562; Ferguson and Rogers 1981: 141; Dollard et al. Continued on Page 48 DIVERSITY GENERATORS. All cultures impose conformity. Yet all 1957: 44; Braudel, 1981: 144f; Weber, 1968: Visit HOWARD BLOOM Online at benefit from the contribution of their marginal xxiii; Russ et al. 1979). These mechanisms and their effects eerily parallel the chemotactic www.howardbloom.net