Topic No. 310: Basic Drives of Life and Man

Topic Description

This topic searches for fundamental hidden evolutionary and historical patterns in life and man’s development and asks- “Are there any other alternative patterns or drives besides, or “underneath”, the assumed genetic one?” Thus, this discussion can cover a wide variety of ideas regarding life and man’s rudimentary drives, motivations, needs, basic goals and any other underlying regularities and forces which seem to “push” or “lead” life in general and man’s history in particular. The hope is that this discussion will entertain fundamental patterns and forces beyond the more common stated values and social goals which are discussed in motivational theories and can be debated in this website under the topic of “Basic Drives vs. Values”. The topic and the ideas can therefore vary all the way from natural forces and patterns found in inorganic matter to cultural and cerebral factors which are unique to man. The hope is to possibly uncover and better understand some underlying forces, patterns and motivations which, for instance, have continued to push humanity to wars, conflict, and abuse while cherishing alternative values of morality, equality and consideration. 

 
 
 

List of Ideas for this Topic

Idea No. 3101: The Drive for Sameness, Difference, Continuity and Change (SDCC)

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Sam Hadar
Sam Hadar

Idea Description

It seems that one of life’s and man’s prime drives is the urge to perpetuate and continue through time specific patterns and principles while permitting and/or requiring others to change. As part of the same drive, or in a parallel manner, life and man are driven to expand and spread through space certain sameness and homogeneity while allowing or requiring particular differences and/or diversity. Both could be seen as highly regulated intentional motivations for a distinctive blend of similarity and differences over space and time.   

Namely, the hypothesis is that life in general, and man as an extension of it, are highly driven by a very basic preference for a particular combination of continuity and change across time and sameness and difference across space. 

Various forms of life might interpret this drive differently and have very diverse manifestations of it. Nevertheless, many of our human drives, urges, motivations and inclinations might rise out of this basic drive and thus it can explain and connect many seemingly unrelated historical and current tendencies, actions and phenomena, in evolution and human history. For example, it can connect and explain previously disconnected activities and propensities that are taken for granted, as the perpetuation of life itself, sexuality, human love and socialization, education, political attempts for expansion and perpetuity, communication, as well as mummification, the building of pyramids, Hitler’s horrifying wish for a Reich of a thousand years and Mau’s blue dress code throughout China.

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Sam Hadar