ravi wrote:
>
> At the risk of adopting the very reductionism I find most repulsive, I
> guess we chalk some of it down to Darwinian instincts. However, rather
> than cater to that instinct in order to increase our rolls, perhaps we
> can find and encourage opposing (but similar) instincts, while
> continuing to lay the ground to free us from our Darwinian roots.
The concept of "Number One" -- of such comparisons in general -- is at most a couple centuries old. I can't think of any feature of modern life that is more obviously NOT grounded in instinct but is as near to a purely cultural matter as is conceivable.
Carrol