Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Bonobo on tree: I see the 'biology' in evolutionary biology as important in this ongoing conversation among nontheist Friends

Hi nontheist Friends,

I see the 'biology' in evolutionary biology as important, and perhaps under-considered in this ongoing conversation among nontheist Friends, - not evolutionary psychology. Religion is another question.

For me, the relaxation response, 'troopbondage' (viz. Money), and language (an unusual characterization of language in the academic literature, from Saussure forward but maybe excluding Terrence Deacon's "The Symbolic Species" - and we ALL nevertheless learn language from around age 2, so it clearly seems biological) are all examples of this 'biology' which emerged for we primates, Homo sapiens, in the context of evolutionary biology and evolution by natural selection over at least 10s of thousands of generations. And building on the Johns Hopkins emeritus professor, and sexologist, John Money's 'Concepts of Determinism,' - he had a Harvard Ph.D. and was attempting to analyze sexuality scientifically - as universal, transhistorical and transcultural, the other 4 exigencies he writes about are also biology, in my unique reading here: pairbondage, abidance, ycleptance and foredoomance, as would be the coping strategies he mentions: adhibition, inhibition and explication.

I see 350 years of Quakerism, and nontheist Friends as well, as expressions of a constellation of this 'biology' - the 5 'Concepts of Determinism,' especially troopbondage, language and the relaxation response, as emerging out of the early context of the industrial revolution in England, where Friends formed a network around Fox's charisma, narrative ability, and all of their use of language together. Early Friends formed networks via a) Meetings, b) Quaker process including Silent Meeting and Meeting for Business, c) epistles, and d) Quaker mercantilism, )e +, and Friends had integrity, possibly due to religious language (as close as I come to religion), and became prosperous, trading among themselves, and with other non Quakers via their reputation for integrity. These latter interpretations are sociological and not biological, or rest on what I'm calling 'biology.' Group relaxation response in silent meeting, and language (ycleptance) exchange, deepened this troopbonding.

These last interpretations of mine therefore all build on the 'biology' of Money's five "Concepts of Determinism," especially troopbondage, as well as Friendly language and the uniquely-for-Friends emerging biological practice of the corporate relaxation response, and are therefore expressions of religion as bond (etymologically), - troopbondage - but emerging from my unique reading of evolutionary/primate biology, including the relaxation response, which I see as happening passively but with many corporate benefits uniquely among Friends.

As I see it, evolutionary biology, and evolution by natural selection, have fascinating implications for we nontheistically Friendly Homo sapiens.

With friendly greetings,
Scott


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(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/04/bonobo-on-tree-i-see-biology-in.html - April 13, 2010)

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