The Functionalist Manifesto: Know Thyself at the Species LevelTeamwork, friendship, and loyalty are functional requirements of being a man.
By Guy Shepherd
April 15, 2022
How you see the outside world—and how you govern your relationship with it—matters most to your earthly success and happiness.
I have not figured everything out. But I have a pretty good handle on the functional basics of our species. It turns out that there is a logic both to rising and falling in this world. This is the logic that we aim to uncover.
First, it’s useful to “Know Thyself” at the species level. Who is this “neither beast nor god” apex predator called man?
Because there is a nobility to our species, we should look there first. The Golden Rule is found everywhere. It’s a signal in the noise composing all peoples and all cultures everywhere: “Treat others how you would want to be treated.” As a species, collectively and in the abstract, we know what is right, good, and just. Kudos to us!
The problem with the Golden Rule is that mankind’s follow-through is bronze level, at best. Sometimes, we don’t even medal at all. Slavery and genocide are two obvious examples—and to my historical recollection, no nation’s hands are clean. We are all descendants of Cain—the nice brother, Abel, got his head smashed in by his twin and our forefather.
How do we make sense of it? Human beings are capable of knowing what is true and what contributes to the well-being of society. But what do we do with that insight? Not much.
In short, the human species is a selfish, shortsighted, zero-sum bleep. Zero-sum thinking is natural to humans. As a species, our default setting is on covetous Karen. (See, Karen is the new C-word). My source for this information is the Ten Commandments.
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The call of our species’ and civilization’s survival is: “Women and Children First.” Men exist to protect and serve their family and their state—with their lives if necessary. Men are the expendable ones. I bring this up as a point of honorable distinction between men, women, and children. Father’s Day is Hallmark’s way of saying, “Thank you for your service.”
If you want to be functional and succeed as a man, you need courage. Courage is a habit of dealing with and managing the fear of violent death. It turns out that not everyone can run away from violence and the likelihood of death. Society survives and prospers because women and children go one way, and men are expected to stand and defend the ground in between. Look at what is happening in Ukraine to see this noble and necessary division of labor.
To develop the type of men required for the survival of our species and civilized life requires some functional tuition. We call this honor. Remember, we are not a particularly sharing animal. Men—at least those who can defend and feed society—require honorable competition—to distinguish themselves. The opposite of “honorable competition” is dishonorable competition, which results in a war of all against all.
Boys need to be boys, and men need to be men for the sake of civilization and its survival. Teamwork, friendship, and loyalty are functional requirements of being a man. The maintenance of civilization needs them at scale.
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Source:
https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/15/the-functionalist-manifesto-know-thyself-at-the-species-level/
