A small point about "murdering our way to niceness" - this murdering was happening until very recently. Watching good UK pre-2012 flicks, depicting 1930s in the case of Poirot and 1950s for Miss Marple, you cannot miss noticing that the swift punishment for murder was the death by hanging.
A few decades ago this mechanism for maintaining niceness became unthinkable.
And a decade ago the UK sitcom and serial production became unwatchable, and the prior mechanism for niceness turned into its opposite.
Nice point. I did it as a series of propositions, not only to try and make the reasoning clearer but also because they are contestable inferences from evidence, not a priori certainties.
This whole male vs. female thing is way overblown. The real contrast is between modern urban living and subsistence living, whether urban or not. In the subsistence mode the male vs. female rivalry becomes trivial, irrelevant.
Yes, but much of the point of urban living is that it greatly aggravates male v female distinctions, because less environmental constraints, the more innate effects come to dominate.
Outstanding, thank you! There's a helluva lot to chew on in this piece.
What a fantastically interesting essay. Thank you.
This is a serious treatise!
A small point about "murdering our way to niceness" - this murdering was happening until very recently. Watching good UK pre-2012 flicks, depicting 1930s in the case of Poirot and 1950s for Miss Marple, you cannot miss noticing that the swift punishment for murder was the death by hanging.
A few decades ago this mechanism for maintaining niceness became unthinkable.
And a decade ago the UK sitcom and serial production became unwatchable, and the prior mechanism for niceness turned into its opposite.
Enjoying reading, will take time to digest!
Nice point. I did it as a series of propositions, not only to try and make the reasoning clearer but also because they are contestable inferences from evidence, not a priori certainties.
Don't miss the fascinating Michael Rose lecture
As it happens we must kill to survive, certainly we can adopt better manners as a benefit.
This whole male vs. female thing is way overblown. The real contrast is between modern urban living and subsistence living, whether urban or not. In the subsistence mode the male vs. female rivalry becomes trivial, irrelevant.
Yes, but much of the point of urban living is that it greatly aggravates male v female distinctions, because less environmental constraints, the more innate effects come to dominate.
I was thinking of William Blake's "London".
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43673/london-56d222777e969
One of the best online discussions of the politics of cities.
https://youtu.be/0HuFuXzGJ_M?si=Gm9fbYFNwbQdSpkh