Modern Behaviour, and the Return to our Primal Selves. February 12, 2024

I cannot think of any circumstance where I would kill someone. Actually, no. Maybe I could, and so could you. You see, we all have that primal instinct to survive, and, when faced with the rare and exceptional circumstance of absolutely fearing our own continued existence by means of anything that threatens it, we will use whatever means are available to us to ensure we get out of the situation alive.

As far removed as we are nowadays from our Homo habilis ancestors the instinct to survive danger will always remain deep within our DNA: even if we choose not to use it, because we become so weakened and broken it feels so much easier to give in accept the consequence of our fatal demise. Now, if you've read my book 'The Sexual Philanthropist' you'll find it unremarkable that my blog posts (including this one) are an extension of what I've already written, and expanded towards deeper thinking. Equally, you'll find that the thread of one blog post is carried into the next. So, it should come as no surprise at all that I'm now delving further into human behaviour, if it's only for my own, greater understanding.

I've previously shared with you my concerns as to how human behaviour appears to have changed drastically since the beginning of this millennium. Of course, it isn't to say that pre-millennium the country was completely absent from violence, as the many gangs of the sixties, seventies, and eighties will lay testament to, as well as the many murderers, such as Hindley. However, nowadays we are witness to a new breed of violence where literally anyone can be attacked at any time, day or night - and to the majority of us, for the most illogical and senseless of reasons that we would simply shrug off and think little else of.

In my overview of just how much behaviour has changed within the Gen X to Z spectrum of behaviour I believe it's helpful to look at the neuropsychology which on the surface, at least, appears to drive this. It's inside of our temporal lobe where a control centre of neurons and protons regulates how we behave (again, this is all elaborated on within my book 'The Sexual Philanthropist'). In short, fear, emotion, and how these are regulated, to some extent maketh who we are, without being dismissive of our physiological selves. We humans are tribal by nature and monkey-see, monkey-do in many ways. Whereas, we wouldn't all rush into a burning building, we would, in principle, collectively take up arms to fight for a cause we believe in, which demonstrates the difference between irrational and rational thinking.  So, if that part of our temporal lobe tells us it's okay to take up arms, we more than likely

would. In the same way, it's my belief that by means of collective thinking through copycat behaviour it has now become more acceptable to a proportion of society that inflicting violence on another with little, or no justification at all, is somehow okay. Knife crime in recent years has exploded out of all rational proportion, even here, in Bristol. Currently, no less than thirteen people have been arrested over the senseless killing of a fifteen, and sixteen-year-old boy: one of which accused and charged with being a man in his forties, and six others aged fourteen to seventeen. In other parts of the country, primary children have been caught with knives, or have assaulted school staff. The predominance of teen knife crime escalates as much as drunken and drug-fuelled rages are unnecessary everyday occurrences on our streets. Speaking of school staff, it's just occurred to me that teachers don't invest three to four years of their lives in training to learn surrogate parenting, as much as childcare professionals shouldn't have nappy changing and teeth cleaning classes as part of their job description roles. 

Yet again, I find myself referring back to previous blog posts, and continuing the thread of self-entitlement through generational drip-feeding of learned helplessness. The abdication of responsibility and the apportioning of blame are the equivalent of creating a problem to then blame another for solving it, and vice versa. No matter how much you try, it ain't going to work while one is constantly at loggerheads with its opposite. For some reason, the realisation of this appears to bypass some, if not most people of the Gen X-Z cohort nowadays. It isn't a case of our human brain changing, shape, or size that causes such a sea-change in human behaviour to the extent we see it nowadays, and here's another thing to get your cognitive wheels spinning, whatever happened to respect?

I ask this question because it wasn't so far back that people had something called 'respect' for their parents, teachers, the police, neighbours, the elderly, etc. Nowadays, it's respect for someone who carries a knife. Yet, in a bizarre and totally illogical twist, the person carries the knife in fear, and therefore, in reality, this translates as respecting someone else's fear. Now, how does that work, exactly? You see, respect is taught at home, and if your child is a disrespectful little shit, it's your fault as a parent. Not society's. Not music. Not video games. Not social media. Yours, because the buck stops with you. You're the one who sends them off to the bedroom to play video games, or engage in other crap because you're too busy watching your favourite soaps, or even busier getting likes on Facebook, for instance. If all you want to do is breed kids to then hive them off to another object, or person, then don't have them. If you're having kids to not potty train, nappy change, dress themselves, or show them how to brush their teeth, don't have them. If you're not prepared to spend time teaching them to read, write, and help with their homework, don't have them. If you're willing to allow your young teenagers out on the streets late at night, and they get stabbed, even murdered, don't have them. More so, if this does occur, then blame yourself, not others, and give the child up for adoption to those who will provide a proper upbringing.

However, regarding the above paragraph, and my reflection regarding respect for teachers. We must, sadly, have to face the fact that a lot of kids: and not necessarily the majority, they have little, or no interest in education, and a fair percentage don't even want to attend school post-covid because they've been indoctrinated into feeling 'fear' again. So, it's blamed on ADHD, stress, anxiety, or some other things of a societal cause that in reality are more symptoms. Now, far from suggesting that all parenting is bad parenting, as yet again, I suggest generations of learned helplessness passed down. I've read, and heard so many parents striving the be 'friends' with their offspring, and while I understand that way of parenting children are being allowed to run riot because there are no hard, and fast rules in place that teach children important lessons such as boundaries and respect. Lines that, when crossed will be the severest consequences for, and absolutely no negotiation.

As I said a few paragraphs back, we're monkey-see, monkey-do in nature, and if parents don't display a respectful attitude towards their kids, and others, it is not unreasonable to expect their offspring to grow up being exact replicas of their elders. So, with learned helplessness instilled by default, it's hardly surprising to see a marked increase in feral behaviour and a lesser fear of both the law and any subsequent consequences that may apply. I use the term 'may apply' somewhat advisedly, given the complete disarray of our broken criminal justice system as it currently stands and increasing tweaks to legislation that serve little purpose other than to unnecessarily logjam court proceedings for months, even years in some cases. Our prisons are overpopulated by people who either shouldn't be there in the first place because their crimes are so petty they warrant a far less stringent punishment, or people dumb enough to risk losing their liberty over something which had they thought through in the first place before committing their crime, would have realised that detection rates aided by increasingly sophisticated technology nowadays make anything less than a crime of utter brilliance and meticulous planning not worth the effort.

Hence, we return to that part of the brain which is fundamentally the traffic lights of human behaviour where red signifies stop, green for go and amber a warning. The temporal lobe, and more specifically the amygdala (uh-mig-duh-luh), which being nothing more than an almond-type structure containing a cluster of neurons plays such an important role in our behaviour, emotional control and learning, which, after the amygdala sends a distress signal, it activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending signals through the autonomic nerves to the adrenal glands, and these glands respond by pumping the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) into the bloodstream via another part of the system known as the hippocampus.

Anyway, to cut an even longer and quite possibly more confusing story short, existing boundaries of fear that would otherwise prevent people from acting in previously unacceptable ways have shifted dramatically to where we find ourselves now, in feral Britain. It could almost be said that we are reverting back further towards our more primal selves in origin which would take a far greater brain than mine to translate and articulate. If, by chance, you don't believe me or refuse to accept my thoughts as being nothing more than conspiracy theories, that's fine by me. However, pause before you do, and long enough to absorb what you've already seen, heard, and are familiar with via news outlets.

The hungry who steal food from shops out of necessity. The increasing poverty that disempowers people from paying their energy bills, and more generally, keeping a roof over their heads. Those who have their shopping basics provided by food banks, and charities. Those who now have to wait months, even years for surgery. Those who have to resort to self-dental care because there are fewer NHS dentists, and those who fear walking the streets because someone may pull a knife on them - to those who will carry weapons in order to defend themselves against attack. Now, tell me that all of the above, and more, don't signify a return towards our primal instincts.

Our need to survive, whatever the odds against may be, as this is where it appears we now stand steadfast, in survival of the fittest mode. Of course, there will be those who will blame successive governments, and in part, they will be correct to do so because it's an easy blame when it stops us from having to take a long, hard look at ourselves instead, and accept the ownership and responsibility of who we are becoming through rediscovering our historically fearless, primal, inner beings.

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