I have long been interested in trying to understand human nature, and how we cope with the challenge of being both a social species, but with the capacity for self-regard and self-preservation, even at the expense of defaulting on our social obligations.
I'd like to investigate this further by asking members to answer a simple poll question: "Which is more important to the advancement of humanities survival -- social cohesion or individual freedom of expression?"
Here are a few things to think about:
Stonehenge could never have been built without social cohesion and a commitment to shared outcomes, but could it be even conceived of without some individual imagination?
Invention is an individual, creative thing that committees are patently terrible at. Yet, how to use inventions (like the atomic bomb, or sex reassignment surgery) is too often a very individual thing.
Democratic governments offer individuals a say in how the world they live in is managed, and yet sometimes that say is overridden by a majority that wants it managed another way. If you lose, should your individual preference be suppressed -- or should you go to war to get your way?
Happy philosophising!
I'd like to investigate this further by asking members to answer a simple poll question: "Which is more important to the advancement of humanities survival -- social cohesion or individual freedom of expression?"
Here are a few things to think about:
Stonehenge could never have been built without social cohesion and a commitment to shared outcomes, but could it be even conceived of without some individual imagination?
Invention is an individual, creative thing that committees are patently terrible at. Yet, how to use inventions (like the atomic bomb, or sex reassignment surgery) is too often a very individual thing.
Democratic governments offer individuals a say in how the world they live in is managed, and yet sometimes that say is overridden by a majority that wants it managed another way. If you lose, should your individual preference be suppressed -- or should you go to war to get your way?
Happy philosophising!