I want to pull back to the big picture, comparing humans to the other types of animals on the planet. In biological terms humans are very much k-selected. It is more than 10 years before they are biologically mature; no other animal is more slow life history strategy than that. This corresponds with us being scarcity specialists. We have a digestive system optimized for cooked food, which are not at all abundant in nature. Yes, we can survive in all sorts of climates and environments. But to do this human cultures universally require items they have to be construct rather than found in nature, items like clothing, tools, weapons, and shelter. Our biology is designed for scarcity seeking to a truly ridiculous extent.
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| r/K selection theory |
Humans have inborn biases like noticing that something is scarce and desiring it because it is scarce. We have expectation that things we want will take cleverness, foresight and long term planning to obtain. We often feel a certain thrill at taking calculated risks. As a species we show scarcity seeking behavior.
We also have lots of adaptations allowing us to succeed at this quest. We are social animals predisposed towards forming cooperative groups. We expect groups to have systems and rules in fact we have the mental ability to both discern and create a layer of socially constructed reality. This layer of socially constructed reality allows us to both track and manipulate social agreements and social hierarchies. We naturally notice patterns and can analyze complex situations. We have instincts for evaluating risk. We have imaginations that allow us to plan for multiple contingencies. These combined into a formidable suite of talents for managing scarcity.
This doesn't take away from my point that there is a lot of variety in orientation among humans. But to see that variety, you must filter out the background information that most humans naturally have a lot of tools for scarcity exploitation. These tools may be more developed among a scarcity oriented segment of the population, but we would not expect them to be entirely absent, even in abundance specialists.
We also have lots of adaptations allowing us to succeed at this quest. We are social animals predisposed towards forming cooperative groups. We expect groups to have systems and rules in fact we have the mental ability to both discern and create a layer of socially constructed reality. This layer of socially constructed reality allows us to both track and manipulate social agreements and social hierarchies. We naturally notice patterns and can analyze complex situations. We have instincts for evaluating risk. We have imaginations that allow us to plan for multiple contingencies. These combined into a formidable suite of talents for managing scarcity.
This doesn't take away from my point that there is a lot of variety in orientation among humans. But to see that variety, you must filter out the background information that most humans naturally have a lot of tools for scarcity exploitation. These tools may be more developed among a scarcity oriented segment of the population, but we would not expect them to be entirely absent, even in abundance specialists.
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