tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post6013606579817208945..comments2024-03-28T00:11:33.489-04:00Comments on bensozia: Cousin Marriage and Western IndividualismJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-49238653824033825712019-11-14T15:37:17.313-05:002019-11-14T15:37:17.313-05:00It's not really a new theory. I've read ab...It's not really a new theory. I've read about it first many years ago on HBD blog by HBDChick, who was analysing the data about interbreeding from the around the world and their modern correlates, and later I've learned that actually there was also some another guy with similar theory earlier. szopenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12096688483881484656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-54944362245360274542019-11-12T12:05:43.136-05:002019-11-12T12:05:43.136-05:00I would add that I share John's skepticism abo...I would add that I share John's skepticism about an understanding of a civilization's centuries-long "nature" when that is based on psychological studies from the last 50 years.<br /><br />For one thing, I suspect a tendency to answer psychological surveys in a way that reflects non-conformity and individualism reflects European and American civilization as it has developed since 1945, and even more since 1960.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-25515570516314619022019-11-12T11:50:33.582-05:002019-11-12T11:50:33.582-05:00"Westerners are different from other people a..."Westerners are different from other people around the world: more individualistic, more analytic, with less automatic deference to tradition."<br /><br />There are distinctions between civilizations, but they are subtle and complex. It seems to me pretty clear that virtually any civilization is going to have deep-seated rational, individualistic, and communitarian aspects.<br /><br />For what it's worth, I would say western civilization has been distinguished by a certain model of rationality, which in the last 250 yrs or so has essentially meant mass submission to bureaucratic-organizational norms and discipline. Our individuality in practice means striving to please organizational superiors and rise in the ranks. In the days when the west was dominant, these were the source of our power (as well as still being the source of much misery, anxiety, and our invention of Prozac). These models of rationality and individuality have proved extremely transferrable, which is why western dominance is now fading.<br /><br />If you want a hypothesis about the deep historical roots for this model of western-ness, I would point to the church's sacramental system, which involves submitting the self to externally-imposed, bureaucratic-rational discipline for the purpose of attaining individual salvation.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-56356377663223599262019-11-12T00:01:56.469-05:002019-11-12T00:01:56.469-05:00So where exactly does Feudalism enter into this th...So where exactly does Feudalism enter into this theory?<br /><br />Close knit tribal societies lack the flexibility of a feudal order. A political order in which family ties aren't quite as important as vassal / lord relations is a totally different kind of thought technology that allows people to choose the winning side more easily.<br /><br />Don't like your tribal leader? Tough luck - you're largely stuck with them, because to oppose them is to betray your kin, which is supremely taboo.<br /><br />But if you instead don't like your liege lord, you have more options available to you, in large part because there are often <i>not</i> bonds of kinship. You can seek to be legally released from your vassalage, or to have your vassalage transferred to another lord. You can unilaterally break your vassalage and swear fealty to another lord you believe can protect you. You can band together with fellow vassals and work to force limits on the authority of your king and ensure your legal rights. Etc.<br /><br />I would attribute a tendency to individualism FAR more to the decentalization of power throughout Europe and the complicated legacy of the vanished Roman Empire than I ever would to the Catholic church's moralizing on things like marrying cousins.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com