Apophenia I.
Attraction
There was a long-running discussion of another favored topic, attraction.
Why are two individuals attracted to one another, and is the path toward a crossing indirect, direct, chaotic or predetermined?
In fact, do we have any leverage whatsoever in hastening that meeting, and are there some whose fate is to seek, but never find?
There is the quest to “find oneself” and to find the one who will share the rest of life with you. These are related. Great when it works, but not so great if the impression is based on illusion.
We have all had the sensation of knowing someone previously, whom we had never met.
Likewise, there is the happy regret that we wish we had come across a certain person earlier in life.
The same applies to groups.
Vonnegut used the term “karass” in the same way more contemporary people speak of missing their “peeps”: a collection of favorites with whom one feels natural, comfortable and productive, and in whose absence something important is clearly missing.
The most obvious is appearance: in a sense, we are looking for kin, those who look and act like members of our own tribe, whether political, religious or based on common interests, social status or circumstances.
It is not limited to looks, nor are looks an absolute standard, although culture and media often perpetuate an ideal or standard that is held in high esteem.
Attraction, therefore, has cultural context.
Attraction is biologically a potential prelude to mating, and the field of ethology (the science of non-human animal behavior) has provided some fascinating clues to the origins of behavior generally, and attraction in particular.
Herein lies the secret of dominance, and the formation of societies.
Herd or group behavior has a protective advantage for individual survival.
Among evolutionary biologists, the only true measure of success is how many offspring an individual leaves.
Ask Richard Dawkins.
Now, ask yourself what (or who) is specifically attractive to you.
Then ask why.
More later…