|
It fits well and is a fun read, but isn't it a rehashing of long-observed human behaviors? Anonymity breeds it. I remember as a child thinking society couldn't work because there were just too many people. Depersonalization either through separation (I never _see_ my trash guy), ritual (different trash guys, different days, it's rare to see one who keeps a smile beyond their 10th customer which doesn't help), or lessons (think demonization during wartime). Maybe others? The sociology class part of my monkey brain has shriveled.
Anyway, The monkey brain rule could well be true but we can't change our monkey brain size (yet). We can work to change its habits. To some degree its ability. Striving day to day to include outsiders, consider consequences, and help others do the same. But somewhere in there, the poisoned monkey brains prey on those natural weaknesses, using them for personal gain, and we're once again at a disadvantage.
Same story, different names. It's a monkey-brain world out there. Be careful crossing the street.
__________________
There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
|