PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN GREED
In my previous post, I wrote a poem about the reptilian brain. Why are some of our actions still dwelling on primal and old instincts for survival? Today, I'm going to expand on one human trait we know too well. How did human greed come to be? Is it our nature or a social flaw? and can scientific theories explain it?
According to the dictionary
Greed is a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed. source
Keywords to note from that definition are Selfish and Excessive, there is nothing wrong with the desire for the things you need. It becomes Greed is when it gets dangerous and hurtful to morality and the people in the society.
HISTORY OF GREED
How did Greed come to be and where does it stem from? well, taking a look at human history. We know that the earliest settlements survived solely on social groups and bonding, not a single person could survive or make it alone in the Old wild world.
We developed social communities as an instrument of survival. The hunters take down a deer and the whole camp eats. As the population grew and times began to change from nomadic to settlement and then to kingdoms and civilizations, It became easy for those social bonds to thin out. Individualism and classism began to arise.
Now the hunter only hunts for himself better yet, he decides to sell the meat for some shiny Gold. Now he has enough Gold to hire a guild of hunters but he still wants more Gold, So he increased the price of my meat and reduce the wages. Just like that, the Hunter became Greedy.
We know, previously, that the hunter had enough gold to live fine but why did he want so much more. The truth is, the hunter is afraid and insecure. He is scared that one day the animals might migrate to another place far away. What if there is no more abundance of animals to hunt, so he begins to amass more Gold than he needs. But where does this fear comes from? That brings us to our old friend THE "REPTILIAN" BRAIN.
THE PRIMAL BRAIN
Deep inside the skull of every one of us there is something like a brain of a crocodile. Surrounding the R-complex is the limbic system or mammalian brain, which evolved tens of millions of years ago in ancestors who were mammal but not yet primates. It is a major source of our moods and emotions.
— Carl Sagan, Cosmos p.276–277 source
Although The triune brain model is no longer accepted because of new discoveries in the field of neuroscience. but It can still be used to explain generalized and primitive behaviors of the brain. We now know that the brain works as a whole. As society shifts, we have evolved to use the now modern function of our brain to suit our environment.
Your modern brain (frontal cortex) is responsible for problem-solving, memory, language, judgment, impulse control, and reasoning.
Your primal brain (hindbrain and medulla) is responsible for survival, drive, and instinct. source
The Primal Brain saw social groups as a means of survival, loved to socialize and be in favor with his community, as civilizations arose and society shifted to individualism and classism.
The primal brain realized that social groups were not needed for survival. What was needed now is money, power, and status.
Money became its best friend, and even when its needs are met, It's still scared of losing it and will do anything to keep it even to the detriment of others.
Natural selection causes populations to become adapted, or increasingly well-suited, to their environments over time. Natural selection depends on the environment and requires existing heritable variation in a group. source
Natural Selection is indeed one of the factors to also consider in this case, the way we use our brain has changed over the centuries. We have learned to retain some traits that ensures our survival biologically as a specie.
GREED
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
– Gordon Gekko, Wall Street (1987) source
This quote above captures the mindset of a greedy person, yes greed is good. It's very good for you, but is it good for the society? surely not. Even with the popular Individualism and classism we have today, we shouldn't forget that we are still social creatures.
The action of an individual shouldn't negatively affect the real people dwelling in society.
Thanks for reading. see you next time 😊
Refrences
wikipedia.org 2
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
http://public.wsu.edu
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I know some people who operate mainly with their primal brain.
Great article. Really well written.
It's arguable whether or not it's good for society to act according to our drives. Survival of the fittest and all that. Generally, these 'greedy' hunters look after their nearest and dearest who become stronger and fitter as a result. Everything is a competition. People -- wherever they are in the food chain -- strive to outcompete others. It's just nature. In an ideal world we'd extend this goodwill to our wider communities, but while there are 'greedy' people operating covertly underneath, this allows them better opportunities to exploit us.
Even if you look at history, the most pious and 'altruistic' people had some pretty dark drives: Mother Theresa, Ghandi, the most recent pope...
Here's my take on how to operate for a better life for you and your nearest:
https://steemit.com/business/@anjkara/10-commandments-plus-some-free-bonus-ones-for-winners
Thanks for reading @anjkara. You took some words out of my mouth, I almost added natural selection into my post, but later changed my mind. I might still add it though. My view on the term greed was discussed looking at the general perspective on society.
Biologically, Drive is very good. take a look at that movie: Wolf of Wallstreet. we have been able to romanticize primal instincts in the business world. but the truth is one shouldn't dwell too much on primal instincts, or you could get burned or burn those around you. There has to be a balance. Take a look at the business world you'll see lawsuits in billions and shady things that have been exposed. If we try to normalize greed, It could result in general moral decay of society.
Are you sure one of the hunters will not sabotage his fellow hunters to become the top dog and get more riches? 100% on drive and instincts could easily turn into greed.
I think acting solely based on drives is not Ideal in society as a whole, there is a reason why we have evolved to use higher brain functions.
We all have a dark side. those people you stated also have one, infact I support that. the world is not all rainbows and sunshine. but did those people act solely on those dark instincts or did they find a balance and were able to impact society in a positive light.
Hiya Abmakko. Thanks for getting back to me :)
I don't think people operate 100% on their primal drives (unless they have a mental illness). The most successful use a combination of front and hind brain. There has to be strategy and intelligence to go with brawn and might or their genes would be long gone too.
Yes, some hunters will sabotage other hunters to gain the advantage. In every society there are people who will cheat to win. Although not everyone does this, it is a normal aspect of our society. Just as it's normal to find empathic and kind people too. We're just a mixed bag. But the strongest will win (or die trying).
Those 'altruistic' people listed did what they did primarily to further their own positions. The pope and Ghandi were/are paedophiles, Mother Theresa preached the glory of poverty and suffering while jetting around the world in private planes, dining with billionaires and enjoying state-of-the-art medical treatment near the end of her life. They simply took advantage of society's wishes for the world to be a better place.
Best wishes
Anj x
I didn't know about the crimes of pope/Gandhi, but by your explanation, those crimes don't fall under greed but morality.
Again, normalizing Greed will cause a moral decay of society. There is a reason we have moral and civic rules in society.
I have watched documentaries of Christopher Hitchens exposing the greed of mother Theresa. like I said to my other friend in the comments when an individual does something selfish that harms society they eventually get exposed. If its a normal aspect of society why did Christopher Hitchens go through the trouble of exposing her to the world.
I need to know what you mean by normal aspect of society. do you mean normal as in accepted? because I don't think those traits are accepted by the majority, even though it occurs.
and also what do you mean by win, do you mean success? because success can be defined differently from person to person. some people are genuinely happy with their simple life while some are not still happy with their tall mansions. I don't see society as a do or die affair.
I truly understand your Machiavellian principles expecially from that post. It is important to protect ourselfs. I have my own moral codes but I don't impose them on other people, Infact I assume they don't have the same moral codes as me. but I still take note of the moral acceptable codes of society. Thats how to protect oneself in this world.
They fall in the morality category too. Positioning yourself to enjoy all the wealth of the Catholic Church doesn't strike you as greedy too? Yes, with Ghandi, his motivations were a little more on the seedy side than the greedy side.
All those rules were created by powerful people to keep the plebs in their place. Many of the powerful don't live by those same rules. Nor do they uphold those morals.
Christopher Hitchens was a journalist. It was probably part of his job. He's known for hating hypocrisy (and religion). Mother Theresa was probably a good choice for him.
Normal: I mean human psychology falls on a very broad spectrum. It's normal for some people to be selfish and greedy. The majority don't have to accept or like this. It's just a fact. It doesn't change no matter how anyone feels about it.
Moral: What's moral to me might be immoral to another. Eg: I like eating meat. Some vegans think I'm immoral for doing this. I'm aware of the moral codes. If we're to get by in 'society', there are certain things we have to do or not do (if we are the plebs).
Win: I agree with you. Everyone views winning and success personally.
I don't have Machiavellian principles. Just exercising my brain :D
My topic was speaking on greed in society. those crimes of pope/Gandhi doesn't fall specifically under greed. we never knew their intentions we only know their deeds. through their deeds, they committed crimes against morality. which is not what my discussion/post is primarily about.
A journalist exposes the truth. the truth about someone's greed. which is not acceptable to society that is the bottom line.
Is greed good for the society? that is the question. the answer is capital NO. you can sight examples of when the human drive has benefitted society. but if those examples benefited society they cannot be classified under greed anymore. If you read my definition of greed you would see where I highlighted selfish(only for one's self) and excessive(harmful to others).
I have no argument with that morality definition, as I have said the same thing earlier. although that example you gave is a bit localized and not a general view of society. we all know the general rules like: do not cheat, do not lie, etc.
we are all free to act as we like, If one chooses to not follow the moral rules of the general society they could face scrutiny from society, even those powerful people you talked about also are not invisible from this, as I said earlier, If you take a look at the buisness/corporate world you would see lawsuits and scandals in billions.
I apply some machaevali principles in my live, not to inflict or hurt others but just to protect myself. for instance I would never cheat, but I can easily assume that someone else could cheat so I take necessary precaution. I got that feeling from that post thats why i mentioned.
I'm enjoying this discussion though :-)
I love that post you sent me, It takes to note some Machiavellian principles. one cannot be too nice or naive about the world we live in. 👍
thanks abmakko. I really enjoyed reading your post too :D
Anj x
Interesting post. It definitely got me thinking. I would differ in saying that the tribal socities were not socialism or even like socialism. In the tribal system, everyone had a role to fulfill for the survival of the group, so the meat was gladly shared with the rest by the hunter because the others in the tribe did things for him or her too. Socialism and communism only work in our world when a central authority takes from the successful members and gives the products of their work to others.
Also, I don't think greed, excessive self-centeredness or hoarding, is good, but individualism is important. That's what gives each human life value and meaning and what produces great art and innovation. Even in tribal society, there was room for self-development and competition between individuals. That's what brings out the best in us, I believe. Would you disagree?
As I said here
You are right. The social dynamic of early settlement is very different from socialism as we know it today. It was but my lack of better wording. I would say It was socialism or communism in the most primitive form.
And I agree Individualism is also very good and widely acceptable when the Individual does something innovative and good for the rest of society.
If an individual does something for selfish reasons that affects the rest of the society negatively, I'm sure it would be shunned and judged negatively
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