darling, you can't have been to australia.
visit my school. See the feral packs swarming around.
(Poppet some assembly required., Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:02, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

That doesn't explain those
who don't belong to the pack though. I think looking at examples of friendship and support no more proves that we're a 'pack' than we'd assume that because one person likes a head massage from another, that we've got a genetic memory of enjoying having fleas etc picked out by another member of the tribe
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:04, Reply)

this is a good point.
my school is undeniably feral though. I'mm glad I've got less then 17 days of classes left. getting away from those scrotes will be the best thing that's ever happened to me.
(Poppet some assembly required., Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:07, Reply)

Is your school like Mad Max....
...with thousands of 'punks' in Zandra Rhhodes outfits chasing poor Poppet on customised BMX bikes?
Cool.
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:12, Reply)

I fucking wish it was.
it's filled with girls who love fake tan, boys who don't brush their teeth, 13 year olds who think sex is the height of cool and every other kind of feral in between.
I'm in the nerds group. I'm universally shunned for the most part.
(Poppet some assembly required., Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:15, Reply)

This reminded me of Sealab 2012.
Mainly as I think there is a scene where people are going "Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuned" but I may have made that up.

I'm pretty sure I have them all on a HDD somewhere...
underneath the seeeeeaaaaaalab
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:23, Reply)

that's not at all how it works.
You are trying to apply conscious choices and decisions to a deep-seated, unconscious, biological mechanism. Or, to put it another way, you're looking at it from the point of view of the individual. This isn't chaos theory, the effect of an individual's behaviour is essentially meaningless.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:08, Reply)

It could just be that I'm stupid
but I'm failing to see the point you're making. If it doesn't affect conscious choices and decisions (I assume you mean that instead it shapes the minds that make those decisions so we are predisposed down a certain way) then how can we be aware it's functioning.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:17, Reply)

It's not that you're in any way stupid
it's a fucking difficult concept to understand let alone explain.

We aren't aware it is functioning on any meaningful level because its timescales of action are so long. "pack mentality" is a species working co-operatively, and it's how this species has always functioned.

The simplest way I can think to explain it is, say you were carrying a gene that made you work totally and completely outside the pack, you'd need that gene to, over many many generations, show itself to be more useful to the species than a "pack" gene. Which, really, couldn't happen now when you think about how intrinsic in society the pack system is.

Incidentally, we do sometimes get people who (possibly for genetic reasons) are predisposed to act against the pack. We generally call them sociopaths, and they usually die in prison, which limits their breeding possibilities*

*TMB apologises for this sweeping and faintly ridiculous simplification of sociopathic behaviour from a "nature vs nurture" argument
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:28, Reply)

I do see the point now
though sociopaths are hardly the only people who show a lack of pack mentality. After all having a gene that made you an unpack animal still wouldn't mean that you'd necessarily live/breed outside the pack, especially if born in it.

Thanks for the clearness of the explanation.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 22 Sep 2010, 10:52, Reply)