(updated 2009-10-11)
I have a silly pet name for that part of our survival instinct that has been annealed through eons of ‘belong-or-perish’ regimes. I call it ‘Savannah Thinking’.

Figuring out what the group consensus is, and and then acting accordingly has worked since we, as is now generally accepted, got down from the trees and struck out onto the plains. Being ostracized by the group probably greatly reduced one’s chances of survival, and nobody wanted to be the chimp on the bottom rung of the social ladder (punching bag with no grooming or mating rights? no thanks!). Continue reading →