An interesting article in light of all that has been talked about during the past few days, with a no-holds barred battle between old and new values, calls for the preservation of our historic landmarks and protests over Obamas trip to Greenwich. What has happened to civility in our town? Were all experiencing more daily rudeness than ever, to the point where there seems to be a revised Golden Rule: Do unto others ... whatever you think you can get away with.. British anthropologist Robin Dunbar discovered that theres a magic population limit — approximately 150 people — beyond which civility breaks down. In a society of 150 or fewer, where everyone knows everyone else (like the small bands in which we evolved), concern for reputation keeps people from acting out. But theres no need to worry about reputation when you are surrounded by strangers, as we so often are these days, and its transformed our society into a free-for-all for the piggy and entitled. We obviously cant turn the clock back to a world where everybody knows everybody and the blacksmiths mother. What we can do is use my societies too big for our brains concept to bring back some of the constraints and benefits of the small societies in which we evolved.. latimes/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0925-alkon-rudeness-and-how-to-combat-it-20140925-story.html
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 17:54:39 +0000