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And I, for one, am glad that society as a whole doesn't behave this way. Imagine how obnoxious it would be if every other social interaction was somebody messin

And I, for one, am glad that society as a whole doesn't behave this way. Imagine how obnoxious it would be if every other social interaction was somebody messing with you. Wonderful.

scotty79 4y ago
Instead we have someone in every other social interaction trying to sell or upsell something.
bdhess 4y ago
Imagine how obnoxious it would be if you were detained by a federal agent for totally legal behavior.
ztrww 4y ago
Is every other person you interact with is a federal agent or a TSA employee?
xpe 4y ago
Very little is what it seems. Jordan Peterson makes a convincing argument that dominance hierarchies (having biologically existed longer than sex differentiation) drive significant portions of many interactions even today. So if you think of social interactions in this way, many people may (sort of) "mess with you" in the sense that they are testing your position in some hierarchy. All of this said, I haven't seen a critical analysis of Peterson's theory, which from what I can tell, does not connect the dots, so to speak, from biological behavior to individual intentions. Still, I think it is fair to say that individual intentions are not required for Peterson's explanation. The human brain does much that is neither conscious nor intentional in the usual senses of the words. This theory is really interesting to explore and extrapolate. I'll give an example. Let's say someone treats you with a normal level of politeness. You could argue that they are not messing with you, and not challenging your position in any dominance hierarchy. But perhaps this shows they feel confident enough to address you as a peer. Or perhaps they feel like they are in a higher position, and have no need to flaunt it. In any case, your subsequent response will provide a lot of data for the other person. I think of the number of times that people humble brag. Or the subtle things people do to demonstrate knowledge. The more I think about it, the more I think Peterson's theory is useful in an explanatory sense. To be clear, I'm not saying I agree with any moral philosophy that suggests such behavior is ideal from an ethical perspective.
bentobean 4y ago
Can you imagine being the kid behind the register at Woz’s neighborhood 7-11… Having to put up with him pulling out his pair of scissors and his sheet of $2 bills every time he drops by for a Coke? “Haha, yes yes, Woz - You’re very funny. Got me again.”

And I, for one, am glad that society as a whole doesn't behave this way. Imagine how obnoxious it would be if every other social interaction was somebody messing with you. Wonderful.

scotty79 4y ago

Instead we have someone in every other social interaction trying to sell or upsell something.

bdhess 4y ago

Imagine how obnoxious it would be if you were detained by a federal agent for totally legal behavior.

ztrww 4y ago

Is every other person you interact with is a federal agent or a TSA employee?

xpe 4y ago

Very little is what it seems. Jordan Peterson makes a convincing argument that dominance hierarchies (having biologically existed longer than sex differentiation) drive significant portions of many interactions even today. So if you think of social interactions in this way, many people may (sort of) "mess with you" in the sense that they are testing your position in some hierarchy. All of this said, I haven't seen a critical analysis of Peterson's theory, which from what I can tell, does not connect the dots, so to speak, from biological behavior to individual intentions. Still, I think it is fair to say that individual intentions are not required for Peterson's explanation. The human brain does much that is neither conscious nor intentional in the usual senses of the words. This theory is really interesting to explore and extrapolate. I'll give an example. Let's say someone treats you with a normal level of politeness. You could argue that they are not messing with you, and not challenging your position in any dominance hierarchy. But perhaps this shows they feel confident enough to address you as a peer. Or perhaps they feel like they are in a higher position, and have no need to flaunt it. In any case, your subsequent response will provide a lot of data for the other person. I think of the number of times that people humble brag. Or the subtle things people do to demonstrate knowledge. The more I think about it, the more I think Peterson's theory is useful in an explanatory sense. To be clear, I'm not saying I agree with any moral philosophy that suggests such behavior is ideal from an ethical perspective.

bentobean 4y ago

Can you imagine being the kid behind the register at Woz’s neighborhood 7-11… Having to put up with him pulling out his pair of scissors and his sheet of $2 bills every time he drops by for a Coke? “Haha, yes yes, Woz - You’re very funny. Got me again.”