Nitpicking Behavior Patterns Behind Fury Against Another Culture, Plus a Bonus Essay About Evolution

Here are some Unoriginal Thoughts in Original Language, on the subject of Fury Against Another Culture.

I originally started writing about this in response to a friend's Facebook discussion about the ongoing evolution controversies. (WHY is this still a hot-button issue in 2009?!?)

But I can't help it, I like to get really broad and think about the basic patterns underlying behavior, thought and feeling instead of just nitpicking the details of a single, specific cultural sore spot. With that in mind...

Foaming anger is (maybe always?) a symptom of severe unmet psychological or medical need. I'm willing to risk my reputation (what reputation?) to stand behind this statement. It's not a huge gamble, and I'm certainly not the first person to assert it. But still.

The thing, lifestyle, group, whatever that this kind of foaming, anti-them anger is directed at isn't necessarily related to the unmet need, although jealousy can certainly be a powerful force in going violently nuts.

The anger is USUALLY directed in a polarizing way at an "other" or opposing group's philosophy, as a quick and TOTALLY CHEATING way to get high off of a delusionally intense sense of intense group belonging and moral righteousness. It's a drug. It's escapism, and it's kind of sympathetic and heartbreaking (the way crack problems are) even though I'm talking about the absolute worst part of human nature.

If we could fully heal these loonies, they might just become rational. (At least in a few generations. Some people might lose their fire once comfortable, but still never gain a rational worldview. Capacity for personal growth can sometimes be just about nil.)

Also, I could be talking about ANY rabidly angry cultural movement, not just the angriest people on either side of the evolution debate. You name a scary group, I'm talking about them.

For that matter, I know that I've caught this emotional pattern in myself countless times! Just because I try to be nonviolent and compassionate, it doesn't make me holy or superior. I'm just another human being. Another crazy, talking thing made out of meat.

But because I've been trained to overthink these things, I try to remember that a different cultural background would put me squarely into the shoes of the people I rabidly disagree with, and this helps me keep my potentially very irrational and very active anger pretty damn well in check. Thank you psychology, and thank you Thich Nhat Hanh. (My #1 favorite Zen Buddhist author of all time.)

Now to digress into a bit of team-reinforcement ranting on my part, which I'll try to keep from getting TOO angry with:

How is evolution still controversial?! Children differ genetically from their parents, yet many traits are also passed from parent to child. It's a mechanism that allows the most successful mutations to be passed along, and evidence that genes do not stay static over time. Because they don't stay static over time. It's really cut-and-dry folks.

And seeing as how this is something that does happen, that's already BEEN measured, why not just say that God did it? If God exists, then God DID do this. Because according to most major monotheistic religions, God masterminded and designed everything. Therefore, that should include this system for slow genetic change over time. Where's the controversy? Wouldn't denying the existence of something that God did be disrespectful to God?

I swear, the evolution controversy in the United States just stems from team-allegiance trouble these days. (And maybe an ineffective science-education system?) Too bad that's such an effective way to totally overwhelm a human being.

I wonder what unmet psychological and medical needs are secretly fueling it? Oh, speculating about that could produce a very long list.

To change the subject AGAIN:

One of my quirky and idiosyncratic passions is the widespread dissemination of high-quality science information, using pop culture as a vehicle. We haven't perfected this art form, but it could be the highest intellectual achievement of our era. It's certainly a severely needed balm for most modern problems, and would help reduce poverty, despair and disease.