[darwinist]

IMP

You knew i had to post something here. :)

Greed is not good!

Consider the following:-

Darwin and Evolutionary Psychology:
A New Theory of Four Basic Human Drives

A recent book on motivation offers a new theory on basic drives in humans: Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices, by Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria (Jossey Bass, 2001). These two Harvard Business School professors draw evidence for their four-drive theory from evolutionary psychology and Darwin as well as from the social sciences and business. Human beings are driven to seek ways to fulfill all four drives because these drives are the product of the species’ common evolutionary heritage: they increase the ability of our genes to survive. They make a good case for the following basic drives:

The drive to acquire objects and experiences that improve our status relative to others.
The drive to bond with others in long-term relationships of mutual care and commitment.
The drive to learn and to make sense of the world and of ourselves.
The drive to defend ourselves, our loved ones, our beliefs, and our resources from harm.
Each drive also has a counter-productive side. For example, when the drive to acquire becomes excessively competitive it diminishes respect for others; when the drive to defend one’s current thinking becomes excessive it diminishes the drive to learn new perspectives.

These four drives exist in each of us, and determine the choices we make. In some people, one drive will be more developed than others, creating an imbalance. In some jobs, some drives will be emphasized more than others. The authors suggest that organizational life can be enhanced when attention is paid to all four drives.

The independence of these drives is what forces people to think and to choose, because not all drives can be met at all times. These four drives are what make people distinctly human- complex beings with complex motives and complex choices.

While debating this above issue. One person with an Nihilistic outlook. Said:

--- Greed is not a syndrome, it is the basis for LIFE... life demands greed... life is always wanting to sustain itself and sustain itself better and better... that is human life, not a social system...

While another more enlighten individual Said:

--- The conditions of our current way of living demand greed, i other words our capitalist system requires you to be greedy to survive. If you change our mode of living to a communist or socialist one, then greed is not neccesary for life. Of course you could argue you need to have a greedless society before you start communism or it will fail.

Greed is, in my opinion, just another word for absolute self-concern in relation to our most primitive drive of self-preservation. To succeed in one's environment socially and economically is to survive, and competitiveness is an aspect of this. Greed however, is another thing entirely.

I think 'greed' is an excessive desire for something. That why i think it is a bye product of the survivial instict. For example, if threaten by a 'food shortage'. One might become 'greedy', horde all the food. Fight anyone for the food. In order to survive.