In the book it was predicted that birth control would cull the pool of r-strategists, since a low-parental-investment drive, combined with a technology which facilitated avoiding parental duties altogether through a sort of purposeful self-sterilization, would lead to any responsible r-strategist culling their phenotype, through the use of birth control to eliminate all parental investment.
We predicted that this selective pressure would select among all r-strategists for those who were less rigorous in adhering to their birth control regimens. This would produce a population of r-strategists with a less responsible, less outcome-oriented psychology. This less responsible model would then eventually become the de facto form of r-strategist in our populations. Eventually today’s Liberal would appear a paragon of virtue, foresight, and responsibility, compared to the directionless imbeciles who will populate the new Liberalism 2.0.
Although the book didn’t predict its emergence this soon, psychologists have begun to study a new phenomenon which they have termed, “Pregnancy Ambivalence.” Basically, it has been noted that there is now a large subset of people who are ambivalent about whether or not to have children in their temporary sexual relationships, and thus they are adhering to birth control less rigorously, or using less reliable methods to avoid pregnancy. Although it hasn’t been found to be more common in Leftists yet, given their diminished conscientiousness, shorter relationship durations, and greater numbers of partners, it will not be surprising when it is.
If you understand how Darwin works, and acknowledge that he operates on humans just as he operates on other species, these things become clearly evident. Whether it is birth control selecting among r-strategists for those who lack responsibility and outcome-focus, or whether it is the fact that Liberalism, blindly followed, would produce the exact society and culture seen in the movie Idiocracy, these rules are very simple, and their effects unavoidable.
It always makes me laugh when Liberals assert that as our species matures, and we approach the ultimate in technological advancement, our future society will be unabashedly Liberal – as if Liberalism is an inevitable epitome of societal advancement. The truth is that Liberalism devolves everything it touches, from society, to culture, to the very ideologues who make up Liberalism itself. You cannot actively reject any scheme, anywhere, which rewards quality, in a world which will spontaneoulsy devolve anything genetic which is not actively maintained by a postiive selective pressure. r will always be about quantity over quality, and thus it will always produce the shoddiest product possible – and make it even more shoddy over time.
If ever an alien race from another solar system were to reach Earth, they will not have spent the last ten million years of their technological advancement facilitating the reproduction of imbeciles, hedonists, and cowards, and trying to strike down those iconoclasts with ability, drive, selfless motivations to see their groups succeed, and who care about how children are raised. If those aliens arrive, they will be the most K-strategist of K-strategists, and if we were to exhibit rabbit-like qualities, they would most certainly be happy to treat us as such.
To the r-strategy rabbit, we K-strategy wolves/sheepdogs are a scary alien species.
Speaking of which: I’d love to hear your take on Dave Grossman’s book On Killing.
I have not read that, but looking at an overview, it is probably relevant to a fuller understanding of the amygdala, and how behavior is driven. I’ll take a look.
Hey AC,
Really enjoyed the book. But I read it months ago and I can’t remember if you mentioned this in it.
Did you discover the similarities between r select species and liberals in a sudden Eureka moment? Did it just hit you like the Flux Capacitor? Or was it an idea that slowly built itself up in your mind over a period of time because of your work in the sciences?
Also, do you think you’ll be writing a squeal anytime in the foreseeable future? How is it selling?
It began with the transvestite cuttlefish, which I saw on a show on PBS devoted to cephalopods. There was a definite spark the moment I saw it. There were weak, effete, cowardly, sex-obsessed, moral-less, cheaters, who devolved the species. Then there were big, strong, masculine, honor-driven fighters, for whom sex was an after thought, waging the competition according to the rules (even if they lost) was everything, and who strengthened the species through their sacrifice.
I clearly saw the relationship to Liberals and Conservatives, and realized that difference might run much deeper. As I thought about it, I began to see the reproductive strategy angle, thinking to r/K in undergrad bio. It mixed with an understanding that bacterial pathogens will begin to grow larger colonies, faster, after being restreaked again and again on nutrient agar, but over time they would actually become so weak as to be unable to survive in their wild-type environment, even though they could multiply faster. By coincidence, I had just been investigating something, which had been driving that point home.
Over the next day or so, it all began to gel. At first, I was amazed nobody in r/K had seen it but as time went on and I read some of the papers, I think a lot of leftists in the field did see it, but either wouldn’t mention it, or maybe even denied it to themselves out of shame. Some even took to attacking r/K’s accuracy in the 70’s as a preemptive strike, IMO.
Once I had the idea, it took a few others to get it to this form. I am a good theoretical/idea guy, but for some reason guys like me tend to be good with the fun of unraveling the big idea, but not the drudgery of doing all the small details that finish it and make it worthwhile. I recognize the magnitude of that shortcoming, so I kind of wince when people act as if this was some sole accomplishment. It could never have been finished well without help from others who really made it what it became, rather than just an interesting idea that went nowhere.
>Also, do you think you’ll be writing a sequel anytime in the foreseeable future?
Not really a sequel, but there is a book in the works that will serve dual purposes that is about 25-30% done. It will be a combination book – an examination of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, manual on how to deal with it in the social/familial/work environment, and detailed examination of the amygdala hijack, including its application in politics. I feel for the people who deal with NPD, and think that will offer a decent enough insight to be worth people’s time. It will probably be offered free in Kindle form for a while when it comes out.
I think that it is unlikely anything as groundbreaking as this book will come out again, though I may be wrong. I do feel the hint of something gelling on cognition – it is just a feel that things are connecting. Milton Erikson had an enormous understanding of how to manipulate thoughts and behavior, often without people even knowing he was doing it. Most people view such an understanding as beyond them, thinking his unique circumstances gave him some sort of expansive understanding of everything about the mind, which they will never approach. I think the opposite. I think he got one very small piece of the puzzle very well, maybe even by chance – but that piece was an important piece, and that small piece caused everything else to suddenly fall into place, and even seem natural to him.
Just like that little spark of r/K causes every aspect of ideology, its purpose, and its effects to suddenly make clear sense, and you could even actually map all of politics out from just that one little idea, I think there may be one spark out there about how people’s minds organize their thoughts, which if understood, would convey great power upon all those who grasp it. The problem is that to find it, you have to process everything you can about cognition, think about it from every angle, hope enough info is actually out there now, and hope that a lucky thought will one day reveal to you that one connecting piece. I can’t say if it will hit, or how many years out it might be, but it feels like it might be approaching, though slowly.
>How is it selling?
With the periodic free Kindle releases, sales are modest. At this point, the book covers the costs of this site, covers the publishing listing at Ingram each year, and even self-funds a modest monthly advertising budget, which is better than should be expected at this point.
So long as it can cover its own costs and fuel any advertising, it seems inevitable that someday all Conservatives will view politics as r/K, which is the main goal, given that every Conservative who sees this makes a one way intellectual trip to its conclusion. I really don’t see how Liberals will continue to function when the other side doesn’t even view them as logical, or honestly committed to the good of our group, or even worthy of respect as equals and allies. It is only a question of how long it takes to do that, and if there are any explosions of publicity along the way to speed the process. I’m eager, and it can never move fast enough, but I also accept this thing is on God’s time-line, and I trust He will make it hit when it will have the most effect.
I’m glad you enjoyed the book, and appreciative of the comment. Thank you.
Best,
AC
You’ve mentioned that if conservationism is going to take hold again, there may have to be some sort of collapse first. This makes sense to me since:
1) A large portion of the population will probably never accept the r/K political theory (let alone allow it to guide their political decisions) regardless of how efficiently the message is spread or how clearly and articulately it is expressed because, well, they’re r select. Ha. It’s not like liberals are going to see this site and say, “Oh my goodness. He’s right. I’m a lazy, sex-crazed bum who parasites off of the more productive members of my species. I’m going to alter my behavior immediatly. Thank you AC! Thank you!”
2)Even if every conservative in the Western world excepts the idea how are they going to implement change when so many rabbits have there paws on the steering wheel?
Oh well. American society ain’t what it use to be, but sometimes you gotta lean back, sip a beer and enjoy the view while you watch the whole thing crumble.
Haha.
Thanks for the reply.
I remember way back, somebody in the military saying how the military does all sorts of stupid shit during peacetime, when nothing matters. But once a real war begins, the cream rises to the top, the ineffective leaders get rapidly weeded out, and the effective leaders who get promoted, begin taking out anyone not like them, at every opportunity.
The key is anger. Once scarcity sets in, people will get angry. That anger will motivate action, and all the people who know how things should be, but are too comfortbale to do anything about it right now, will begin to get up, and insist their views be taken seriously. Nothing scares the rabbits like angry rabble at their door. Watch how fast they flee the wheelhouse, once the people are rising up.
great point. ANGER is what the r/losers are always whining about.. well conservative anger, which is actually rarely seen. liberal anger is never confronted.
Liberals tell us what they are afraid of. Conservatives angry enough to turn on them is something so terrifying that just being confrontational in debate freaks them out. When the shortages begin, get ready for lots of anger, and lots of hiding Liberals.
I’ve long assumed that when society goes belly up, the urban cores will slide into a situation resembling a Mad Max movie. It always seemed likely to me that the vast majority of young black and hispanic men there would morph like grasshoppers becoming locusts, and eventually head for the suburbs to steal, rape, and kill.
The r/K paradigm has me re-evaluating things. Have the r-selected youngsters in the ‘hood gotten so rabbitlike that they’ll curl up and die during a prolonged shortage of gubmint goodies? I’m torn.
One thing’s for certain: any rampaging mobs headed for my exurban neighborhood will be vigorously discouraged with rifle fire from long range.
There is a lot of innate differecne between r’s and K’s. I deeply believe K is a full trait, traveling alone in the population, and this trait’s sole concern is the fitness of its carriers. So if you and I meet in a K-environment, we instinctively seek to compete in such a way as to figure out which of us is the fitter K-vessel, to carry the trait forward. We call it honor, and rule-following, or fair play, but ti is really about us sorting who the fittest K-carriers are, and letting the chips fall where they may.
If K’s were in the cities, they would come out and face off with your neighborhood.
But what we are talking about are r’s. r’s are about surivival and reproduction, however they can do it. Honor, fair play, rules – they mean nothing, and the idea of bravely risking all for your own is not in the cards. r’s will flood out from the cities, and they will be violent, but they don’t want to face off honorably, and let the chips fall where they may. They will look for the easy wins – the people they can brutalize without risk of them fighting back. That’s women, children, the sick, and the liberals. They may wander towards your neighborhood, but after the first volley of hot lead buzzes all around them, they will flee to that nice progressive neighborhood which thinks guns are icky, and verbal “feel-bad” is just intolerably painful.
A quick question for you AC, if I may?
I’m not very deep into the stuff you present on the amygdala hijack so my understanding is lacking but is it possible to be a right winger with a damaged amygdala? I’m talking about myself here; I’ve held a strongly right wing view of the world since I was very young, and for much of my teens and twenties when confronted with leftism in any stripe I had such a violent mental and visceral reaction that I wanted to destroy the purveyors of this thinking. It’s only in recent years that I’ve trained myself to tone down my reactions, but the strong feelings of disgust, threat, and repulsion I feel when leftism is present are still with me. Needless to say, I find our present society mentally taxing for this very reason.
Rodger, I believe that wanting to kill leftists is just a part of normal, healthy brain function.
That said (do I have to say its a joke?)… Seriously, it would depend on what is stimulating the anger, which is almost certainly originating in the amygdala (just electrical stimulation of the amygdala can precipitate anger, without anything else). Your amygdala is flagging things you are programmed to focus on, and deal with, like people betraying your team. The fact that your amygdala has other pathways precluding you from dealing with it (ie legal-related understandings of consequences) then causes the initial stimulus to hang in there, amping things up, irritating you, and making you want to eliminate the first stimulus even more, by any means possible.
Our founders would probably love you like a brother, as would I. You’ll do just fine one resources snap back. But the sad truth is you, and I, are somewhat maladapted to the present conditions of free resource availability today, where tolerating that crap, and even kissing ass around it, is the “right” strategy.
Back when I made the mistake of letting my Narcissist stay with me, I felt that emotion about as bad as you could, because he was the expert at screwing you over, and using rules and laws to try and keep you from doing anything back. But I don’t view that anger as the product of a defect, or weakness, so much as simply not being well suited to that type of r-selected, pacifistic environment. If you see a really evil person, doing evil, and they manipulate the law to get away with it, are you wrong to feel angry when you see it, rather than ignore it – even if ignoring it is what the rabbit society wants you to do?
Sadly, the free resources, courtesy of our national debt, has allowed that r-selected type of psychology to have a lot of advantage, for a long time now. As Vox points out, however, that is about to shift back, in a big way.
>It’s only in recent years that I’ve trained myself to tone down
>my reactions, but the strong feelings of disgust, threat, and
>repulsion I feel when leftism is present are still with me.
Your amygdala is continuing to develop, and it is laying down alternative pathways to shut off the anger, since it is not productive to hold it. The truth is, a lot of leftism can be ignored for now, even if there will eventually be a cost to the nation. If resources snap back (as they will), ejecting leftists from your group will produce a group that is fitter, and more capable, and that will have a clear benefit. As that becomes more fashionable, I expect you will be able to give those emotions a little more leash to play with, since everyone will be doing it – and it will feel good. We will be much more comfortable in that resource-sparse environment, ironically.
We have been living in strange times, and I too have felt very bothered by them. We are team players programmed to be horrified by our team’s suicidal nature of late. But if you look at the curve of the Conservative Policy Mood rising, understand the economic situation that we face, and see what is about to unfold, you will understand that our time is coming. The only question is does it come slowly and gradually, or quickly, and with a bang.
Keep the faith.
It all started under the Reagan Administration with the dirogulateen. (I was/am a Reagan fan, but the fact is that this was a misread, a blunder by his team) Bush Senior pressed on with the same policy. The Clinton Administration did nothing about it even when there were hints of an over-inflated market. Everyone in the country was dumb and happy and more concerned with who he was flirting with. Then the Bush administration continued with it even when the signs were right in their face. I guess that is what makes me blame Bush more than anyone with Clinton as a close second. We should be able to expect our elected officials to make the tough calls and take action to prevent disasters. Even disasters of a previous administrations making .isn’t that why we change them out from time to time? why we elect them? Clinton and Bush both failed the country on this issue.