One thing about evolutionary psychology is that when
scientists claim modern thoughts have a solid base in our ancient past many
people reject the idea, how hunter-gatherer adaptive behavior could apply to modern
life boggles their minds. This thought came to mind as I watched as my wife “collects”
fruits and vegetables from the shelves of the supermarket before I went to the
butchers counter “hunting” for steaks to grill—was I missing something.
This morning on +Morning Joe (MSNBC), the topic of private agencies
doing investigations into how people shop: what causes them to be attracted to a product,
what colors are most attractive for what product, how long do they stay in on
section of the store over another, and on and on. What part does price play in
their purchases? What they are doing is documenting human behavior. They are quantifying
inherited behavior.
Of course, people do not select fruit they do not like; but logically,
because the fruit is in the store it must mean someone likes it. Why do some people
like a type of fruit that other don’t. Why will someone pay more for a peach advertised
as juicy and sweet over an apple that I advertized as being crispy? Why does a chimpanzee
select to go to an area of the jungle where a certain kind of fruit tree grows
when there are other kinds of fruits available? It is my contention that the grocery stores
have the fruits and vegetables on their shelves because of their understanding
of inherited behavior extending back at least 150,000 and more then like
extending back to biological zero. The agencies doing the studies are helping
us to understand our genetic drives. Seen in this light, they are documenting genetic
control of human behavior. We are genetic robots and they are trying to find
out just what strings to pull. It is lucky Edward Snowden was not working for
one of these agencies or we would be accusing them so doing something bad
evil—accusing them of looking into our souls our private souls business.
URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com
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