IN SEARCH OF REALITY VII





The maturing Personality





A Study in Thought





by





Marius Heuff

@M.Heuff

Chapter 1

Content

Fields of human endeavour, relevant to the nature of man.
The usefulness of specific disturbances in brain function to show normal mechanisms in the intact organism.
Behaviour of mammals and primates.
Dominance and the question of ethical behaviour.
The genetic and cultural codes as co-determinants of man`s nature.

What and who are we? Why do we function the way we do, and before we ask this question, we should ask ourselves, how do we function? In short, what is man? Where do we get our answers to such questions? It may be worthwhile to outline, briefly, once more, the areas of information from where we can try to formulate our answers. The field is large indeed.

Traditionally, the field where man has concerned himself with thoughts about his own nature, is the realm of philosophy, and, if man thought he knew the answers and behaved accordingly, we are entering the field of religion.

Long ago, man began to look around him and started to name what he saw, with the help of representative symbols. These representative symbols were, eventually, classified into categories of similarity and cause-effect relationships. The field of symbolic descriptions has become immense, but, only recently, has man applied the techniques of scientific description to himself; studying himself as a lifeform. The areas of knowledge we can use for our efforts to comprehend the nature of human existence, include the following fields, which are enumerated, only, as a short summary.

There is the study of man`s behaviour, which is the field of psychology, as well as the way man expresses himself in the arts. The interrelationships of man can be studied in the fields of sociology, social anthropology, economics, as well as his religious beliefs. The study of man as a part of the biological spectrum of life, includes inorganic and organic chemistry, cellular physiology, biology and the evolutionary classification of the animal and plant species`, as well as the anatomy and physiology of the multi-cellular organisms, including man himself. In addition, we can look at the more specific studies of the mammalian species`, and, especially, the behavioural manifestations of species` that are close to our own. Then, there is the history of man in its various forms; the history of his fossil records and the prehistoric records of his living and burial sites; man`s numerous artifacts, and, of course, the recorded history of man and his societies.

All these areas have a contribution to make to our ideas about the essence of life, and, especially, about the essence of human existence. Even those fields of human endeavour that seem far removed from any consideration about man`s nature, such as mathematics, cosmology or nuclear physics, give us valuable insights about man`s ability to form conceptual structures, and the nature of these conceptual frameworks reveal something about the nature of man.

The knowledge of man`s functions and behaviour patterns can also be enhanced by studying disease processes that alter normal behaviour. The correlations between specific injuries, especially, an area of localised destruction of the central nervous system and the resulting loss of function, have been very useful to help us understand the basic mechanisms that play a role in the function of the brain and the "nervous" or neural tissues in general. From these localised "experiments", (carried-out by nature because of accidents or disease processes, as well as deliberately induced injuries in animals that are somewhat similar to man), scientific observations have elucidated the mechanisms behind many clinical findings. (A clinical or bed-side finding is an observation made at the bed-side of sick people).

The problem we face with many of the animal experiments, is the difficulty to relate the observations made in animal experiments to conclusions about a function of the human organism. If the areas under study are concerned with a basic function of the living cell, such as a nerve-cell, the conclusions can be applied to our efforts at understanding similar cellular mechanisms in the human nerve-cell, but all psychological studies, the analysis of language, thought and mental images or motivations, are, in essence, limited to observations of the human being.

From the fascinating observations of the "primates", or anthropoids, especially, in their natural environment and social organisation, we have learned to appreciate the important similarities between basic human behaviour and that of our close relatives in the evolutionary family of living intelligence. We have also come to appreciate the importance of our biological heritage, constituting those behavioural functions and physical forms, which are a manifestation of the "actualisation", or realisation, of our genetic potential.

What conclusions can we draw from all these studies? I have the impression, that our contemporary generations are, gradually, accepting the truly overwhelming evidence for the evolutionary origins of mankind. Not only, are we a single "family", or, rather, a single species of the spectrum of life on earth, but, all our capabilities, even those of intelligence, image-formation, emotions and communications, (maybe, even, those of symbolic representation, concept formation and thought), are foreshadowed, to some extent, in other life-forms, such as the primates.

The question, then, shifts to the search for an explanation of our position of dominance amongst the primates, as well as the reasons for the vast differences in development we can see between the other primates and ourselves. Yet, there is an even more important question for us, here. The conclusion that we are just one of the naturally developed species` on earth, (a species which happened to become remarkably dominant, at least, in manipulative skills), may leave us with a distinct feeling of disappointment, or, even, disgust. We may conclude, that we are, after all, "only animals", and the whole question of the range of our abilities and the need to be "ethical animals", may be tossed aside as irrelevant or unanswerable.

The really important question, then, is the following. Can we build upon the image of a naturally evolved animal, a conceptual structure that explains the existence of ethical behaviour? Can we trace ethical abilities as a logical consequence of the mechanisms of natural selection? Can we correlate the hopes and aspirations of the human being, (which have been expressed so ardently and eloquently in his religious beliefs), with the evolutionary imagery that is now coming relentlessly to the fore from our scientific investigations? Can we expect to find new answers to the problems of human co-existence, if we attempt to broaden the functions of hope and expectation with the imagery of a relativistic reality perception or interpretation? I think we can, and, I believe that there is an urgent need to do so.

Before we tackle the problem of ethics, (which is a field of concern that is going to be, by far, the most important consideration in any philosophical interpretation of human existence), we should lay the foundation for the possibilities of natural ethical behaviour. The framework of naturally ethical patterns of behaviour can be based upon a sound understanding of our biological and cultural heritage, because we can already see these factors at work, throughout history, in the mechanisms and functions taking place between human beings.

These two complex codes for the guidance of our behaviour, the genetic and the cultural code, determine the characteristics of each one of us. The genetic code contains within its organisation and physico-chemical relationships the entire organisational blue-print for the living cohesion of the cellular and molecular elements forming a human organism. The cultural code regulates the flux of experiences, notions, images and ideas, which are functions of the living human organism and determine the overall behaviour of the human being during its contacts with other people and the non-human evironment.

From these two sources, one encoded with the rigidity of hereditary experiences, the other flexible and vague, changing quickly and often deteriorating disastrously, we are what we are, and, the important questions we have to ask ourselves, relate to our ideas about the manner in which these two sources of guidance determine, together, the nature and appearance of the human being.

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Chapter 2

Content

The need to re-evaluate.
Images from biology and neurology.
The importance of the function of recognition.
Reflexes, seen as inborn "recognition" patterns.
Changes in neurological function resulting from the processes of maturation.
The helpless human infant.
The formative years and the acquisition of skills.
Feedback information for monitoring progress.

We may safely assume, that we will always be modifying the ideas and concepts we have about ourselves, but, from time to time, we need a clear and persuasive picture of human existence, because the factor of the common "will", (the collective voluntary choice), is going to be increasingly important in deciding the course of our history and the events of our future.

Just as we need, individually, a belief structure upon which to base our decisions, so do we need, collectively, a belief structure we can trust. We need a structure of beliefs that will give us some answers to the questions about ethical behaviour, as well as questions relating to our physical origins. Such a belief structure has to give us, also, a few answers about our individual value and the purpose of our existence, as well as the meaning of our social objectives. It has to give us answers for the question, why we are subjected to the force-fields of hope and fear, rising expectations and brutal violence, and, these answers have to make us willing to accept the wisdom of compromise and tolerance.

Wisdom and knowledge may, once again, go hand in hand, and, we may avoid the divisive elitism of the initiated, who find their security in an attitude of scorn for the masses. On the other hand, reflection and understanding may soften the emotional reactions of suspicion and hatred, which outsiders always experience towards a powerful elite.

What is the basic structure of the human personality? The answers will have to come from many areas, and, it will not be easy to agree amongst ourselves about the validity of any one particular structure of concepts describing the essential functions taking place within and between us.

Let us start with the imagery from biology and neurology, where we see, that all the reactions of a multi-cellular organism with its environment, (as well as the interactions with the internal environments of the various cell-groups or "organ systems" within a multi-celluar individual), are mediated through a system of neural and hormonal connections. In the hormonal or "humoral" systems of regulation, we see a variety of functions carried-out by "messengers" traveling with the blood-stream. These messengers are responsible for a fairly slow and rather generalised form of metabolic regulation, and, they make use of the blood-stream, rather than specific neural path-ways, such as those used during the coordinating functions of the neural systems.

The humoral or hormonal systems play a major part in the internal adjustments of a complex, multi-cellular organism, but rapid and precise adjustments to environmental circumstances are mediated through the neural path-ways. We see, for example, rapid and specific reaction patterns in the formulation of coordinated behavioural responses, such as mating, the hunt, the fight or the flight. Yet, the humoral adjustment mechanisms are playing a role, here, too, especially, in supporting and regulating metabolic activities, but, the coordination of muscles, the registration, recognition or interpretation of specific sense impressions, such as vision, smells and sounds, these are all functions of the central nervous system, and, these functions are making use of many, specific, peripheral neural path-ways.

It is this concept of interpretation, or recognition, that seems to play the most important role in our attempts to understand the mechanisms of "adaptative activities", and, this concept of recognition is not limited to neural functions or conscious acts of recognition, as we see in the physiology of immune mechanisms, where purely chemical recognition patterns play a dominant role.

Even the newborn infant can recognise a set of appropriate stimuli and may respond with the reflex activation of a specific behavioural complex. When an infant feels the nipple of a breast or a bottle, a reflex mechanism is activated resulting in a sucking movement. This sucking movement is a highly complex organisation of muscular activities with a certain sequence, or "ordened progression", leading to the removal of fluid from the breast or the bottle. The behavioural complex is, obviously, genetically encoded and has been inherited by the infant as part of its physical structure. Such an inborn reflex mechanisms is necessary, because the infant would not be able to survive, if it still had to "learn" this basic mechanism of sucking and swallowing its nourishment.

If the infant`s metabolism starts to run short of nutrients, the sensations of hunger and thirst arise. These sensations can only be verbalised as conscious awarenesses at a much later date. When these sensations arise during infancy, another reflex activity is initiated in the act of crying. Again, this is a complex behavioural organisation that has been inherited by the infant, and, it has been shaped by the genetic code as a basic behavioural response in order to attract the attention of its parental environment.

The act of crying can be triggered by a variety of internal or external stimuli with an unpleasant or painful quality. Besides the remarkably well coordinated act of crying, the infant exhibits, only, a series of jerky, uncoordinated movements of the limbs. These indicate, clearly, how helpless the human infant really is, and, how it relies, completely, on parental care for its survival. It can only suck, when presented with a nipple, and, it can cry when it wants food, or, if something is wrong. There is no other form of contact with, or adaptation to, external influences. The infant can not walk or crawl away from danger. It can not even recognise any danger, apart from a response of crying to a situation that is unpleasant.

We have considered the helplessness of the human infant before, and, it is quite accurate to see the birth of a human infant, primarily, as a transition from a parental nutrition and respiration through the maternal blood-stream, to a physically more independent state, where the functions of nutrition and respiration are carried-out through its own alimentary and respiratory tracts. Apart from this change, the infanct needs almost as much protection as it needed in the womb.

Yet, the importance of the change from an existence "in utero" to one outside the maternal womb, lies in the fact, that the infant starts to receive, from the moment of its birth, a continuous stream of sensory impulses through various sense-organs, such as the eyes, ears and nose, as well as the tactile transducers of the skin.

The infant`s ability to respond to the environment takes time to develop; a lot of time. Over a period of several months, it becomes able to focus its eyes, to follow a moving object, to smile in recognition of a familiar face, and, slowly, its arms and legs begin to acquire the ability to execute coordinated movements. It starts to lift its head, turn around and crawl, and, it begins to grasp and reach for objects.

The development of the human infant has been described in detail in the sciences of medicine, paediatrics and psychology, and, many observant people have correlated the remarkable changes that take place during the processes of post-natal maturation of the central nervous system, which are characterised by rapidly developing capabilities of the infant. We do not want to trace these developments here, because we are interested, only, in the philosophical generalisations we can draw from these observations.

Let us focus our attention, now, on the act of recognition. The recognition of a nipple by an infant is an example of a response that has been triggered by the reception of an "appropriate stimulus". As we have discussed, this response has been "pre-formed" and is genetically inherited. It does not require any learning. The reasons, why such a response has been included in the instructions of the genetic code, are obvious, since an insufficiently developed sucking-response to the appropriate stimulus, (such as feeling a nipple), would be incompatible with life. We can safely assume, therefore, that this "reflex", this complex pattern of behaviour, is a heritage from our mammalian ancestry. The response is stereotyped, precisely formed, and, its expression is augmented by a feeling of hunger and thirst. As a corollary, this response is attentuated by a feeling of "satiety", or "being satiated".

Under a reflex activity, we generally understand a precisely formed, inborn response. This response is present within a newly born member of the species, and, many reflex responses persist during the entire life-span of the individual, even, if most of them seem to disappear, as soon as the functions of the maturing central nervous system become profoundly altered by newly acquired abilities.

The coordinated muscular abilities of the maturing individual develop gradually, and, they depend, to a large extent, on learning. As always, the potential for a learned ability is "given" to the organism by its genetic code, as well as by the actualisation of the individual organism as a healthy, normally formed infant. The maturation of the central nervous system, (which includes the brain), seems to open the possibility for a process of learning, where certain abilities and skills can be acquired. Learning depends upon a continuous influx of stimuli from the skin, muscles and tendons, as well as stimuli from the special sense-organs, such as sight, hearing, equilibrium or balance, before a capability can become incorporated as a nearly automatic function. Such an acquired ability has to be developed during the early, formative years, because the ability to learn new skills diminishes rapidly as the organism gets older.

It is in those formative years, that the special skills, like speech, have to be developed. In particular, the more sophisticated motoric capabilities, such as playing a musical instrument or the performance of acrobatic activities, have to be unfolded early in life, and, they have to be maintained or perfected over a long period of time, extending well into maturity. Walking, running and other, more basic, coordinated movements, are also learned or acquired during the first few years of life, and, we may safely say, that, few, if any of the activities we perform as an individual, later in life, are void of a learned component.

Super-imposed on the innate or non-learned reflexes, (such as the single muscular contraction in response to a sudden stretch, or the more complex reflexes of sucking, breathing, bowel or bladder evacuation), we develop the more elaborate behavioural activities. These are built upon many layers of learning, and the execution of many of these complex and learned activities requires a certain degree of variability, or "plasticity", of our behavioural response mechanisms.

This means, that all our complex activities require a constant stream of "feedback" information. Feedback is a constant stream of information about the state of the activity in progress. This constant feedback of sensory information about the progress of a certain movement, is the cornerstone of our ability to modify a particular activity, because such a modification allows the subsequent stage of the act in progress to be shaped slightly differently. This modification is necessary, if the monitored information starts to deviate from an anticipated and projected objective.

If I reach for my pen, the sequence of events, seen on a neuronal or brain-cell level, is enormously complex, indeed. We are not able, at the present time, to analyse even such a simple act in terms of neuronal events, but, by generalising our concepts, we are able to get a "feeling" for the complexity of these events in terms of cellular mechanisms.

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Chapter 3

Content

The voluntary act; an analysis.
Familiarity and the act of recognition.
The analysis of a problem.
Influences on the evaluation of sense impressions.

Let us look, a little more in detail, at the example of a voluntary act, e.g., when I pick-up a pen with the intention to write. First of all, there are a variety of factors that make me decide, "will", or initiate this complex of muscular actions bringing my arm and hand from a resting position to a grasping movement towards the pen on my desk. The initiation of this movement is triggered by a desire, or, a mental image, to use this pen for the purpose of "writing something". As a result, a wave of electrical impulses travels over the peripheral nervous system to a large number of synergistic and antagonistic muscles. This results in a smooth contraction of some muscles and an equally smooth relaxation of others, and, eventually, my hand is opening and closing around the pen in a grasping movement. The number of neuronal impulses involved is truly staggering and unimaginable, even in such a simple act, and, we can safely state, that we will always have to resort to summarising concepts, whenever we want to describe the physiology of a simple behavioural act.

What is under the control of my will, is the initiating act, but, even during the execution of this act, I may modify or abort the act of picking-up a pen at any time. The muscular coordination itself is beyond my awareness, and, fortunately, after having learned, subconsciously, to coordinate muscles in childhood, I may not have to exert any voluntary control over these mechanisms. Yet, when we close our eyes, we suddenly realise, how important our vision is in guiding the movements of picking-up a pen, and, we realise the immense quantity of subconscious information that is flowing from all our senses and is being integrated into the smooth execution of most routine tasks.

I would like to single-out this visual aspect for a moment, because it is obvious, how important the faculty of vision is for our routine behaviour. Vision is, not only, important in the act of locating the position of an object, but, it is even more important for the recognition of an object, or event, as something we know. This act of recognition gives us this all-important sense of familiarity, which is so important for our sense of direction and the effortless execution of all our routine behavioural adjustments.

The recognition of my pen as "my pen" is, obviously, learned, and we see, clearly, that nearly all forms of familiarity have to be learned. We note, that language symbols can only be attached to an item of observation, (and, later, to more abstract notions and ideas), if we are able to recognise these items as familiar objects, events, sensations and ideas. The ability to recognise and identify an object or an event develops as a result of the nearly continuous contacts we have with our natural and social environments from the time of birth.

While the "recognition" of the nipple is innate, almost all our subsequent acts of recognition, later in life, are learned. The shape and content of these acts of recognition are, therefore, to a large extent, culturally determined, even, if the potential for learning to recognise something was given by our biological heritage.

The mechanism of recognition lies at the root of all our routine tasks and common response-patterns. If we would suddenly fail to recognise our environment as familiar, our behaviour patterns would be thoroughly disturbed, and, we would, suddenly, be completely at a loss. We would be confused, and our behaviour would be totally inadequate. It would certainly be considered as "strange" by our social surroundings.

Recognition and the sense of familiarity are vitally important mental mechanisms, before we can even begin to respond. We all are aware of the stress and energy required, if we have to shape, carefully, a course of action with our conscious will. This is necessary, whenever we are not completely guided by the mechanisms of familiarity and recognition. As a matter of fact, we may safely state, that we have to analyse a non-familiar stituation, or a "problem", in terms of components we recognise as familiar, or, as potentially solvable. Then, by working away at the problem, step by step, along paths of partial familiarity, we try to formulate, slowly, and, often, through a process of trial and error, our responses in answer to the overall problem. A problem is, in essence, a situation of non-familiarity; an entity, whose solution or response is not recognised immediately or in its entirety.

The act of recognising an object or a situation as "familiar", and the subsequent ease with which we can proceed to formulate our behavioural responses, is mirrored by the recognition of the meaning of human behaviour. It is obvious, that we are, here, on a far more difficult terrain, since the variability and essential unpredictability of human behaviour makes it much more difficult to obtain an accurate sense of familiarity.

We are never entirely sure about the response of any human being, including, even, a close relative or friend. We notice, how close the interplay is between success and failure. Sometimes, we recognise and predict behavioural reactions correctly. At other times, we are surprised by some aspects of the behavioural complex, we thought, we were familiar with. This measure of uncertainty is the main reason for the kaleidoscopic range of changes taking place in human attitudes and perceptions.

Therefore, we learn to recognise as "familiar", not only, the surroundings of our home, our youth, or our present existence, but, we also learn to recognise meaning, or, the beneficial or potentially harmful aspects of the behaviour of our social environment. We have outlined, on previous occasions, how often the features of a certain circumstance or situation represent potentially conflicting components of benefit and harm. We learn to analyse, constantly, and, we learn to evaluate, mostly subconsciously, the numerous aspects of a situation in which we find ourselves, and, we learn to evaluate, or balance, the contradictory aspects into a final "feeling" for a particular situation.

We will not go into the complexities of such an evaluation at this time, but, let us consider our environment to be one large field of possible interactions, where certain situations, circumstances or events are evaluated by us as predominantly beneficial, compatible or positive, while other situations evoke a feeling of aversion, disgust, danger or fear, because they have been judged to be predominantly harmful or negative.

Yet, with such a simple classification, we run into difficulties. A dangerous situation may still have many attractive features, while a potentially beneficial situation may be unattractive because of a feeling of boredom or dullness. We choose, rarely, if ever, only those behavioural responses that seem to secure us the "easiest" or most favourable set of circumstances, especially, when we are young, healthy and vigorous.

The reasons for such a complicating factor reflect our need for a challenge. As a result, our subconscious evaluation of the situation is guided by the need to experience a challenge. The need to experience some form of challenge stems from the flow of our elan vital, which forms a large reservoir of surplus energies, especiallly, when we are young and healthy. Another reason for not always choosing the most beneficial, or least harmful course of actions, results from the existence of somewhat stifled ideas and belief structures that may have lost their precise relevance, and, therefore, they do not always guide us into making the most appropriate behavioural responses.

Whatever we may, eventually, choose to do, or not to do, depends on, how we "see" or interpret our environment. It depends on, how we evaluate the meaning of our incoming sense impressions, and, what sort of priorities we have formulated as our objectives. However, if we lack the ability to rely upon an unquestioned recognition of a familiar situation and a routine response, we would never be able to behave appropriately, since we can concentrate the focus of our attention only on a few aspects at the time. It takes time, as well as a great deal of effort, when we have to face a situation of unfamiliarity and formulate a behavioural response by analysing a situation, carefully, and building-up a response "from the ground up".

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Chapter 4

Content

Primitive behaviour patterns.
The need to modify behaviour as a prerequisite for social adaptation.
Genetic instructions for mating behaviour.
A review of the development of the human infant.
The crux of having been brought-up well.
Accepting limitations in the fulfilment of desires and instinctive drives.

While the human infant has a few basic reflexes to survive the difficult transition from intra-uterine to extra-uterine existence, the human adult has a very large variety of behavioural choices at his disposal, on which his dominance in the world of intelligent life rests. However, we assume this large adult potential to be present in the biologial heritage of the human infant. There must, indeed, be a large potential for various behavioural responses, which may come to the fore during the period of adolescence and maturity, but are not possible, as yet, at the time of birth.

The biologial heritage, or the genetic "anlage", forms a fundamental framework of behaviour patterns, which can be modified, later, by learned or acquired responses. No lifeform, not even the human being, creates responses that are totally new or completely independent from a biological heritage or potential.

As we have discussed on previous occasions, most of the larger and complex animals rely, to a large extent, on learned modifications of their genetically shaped responses, in order to adapt, most precisely and advantageously, to a particular set of circumstances. Without a significant, inborn organisation of a large variety of behaviour patterns, the human being would be seriously hampered in its ability to cope with many different situations. For example, the long learning period of the vulnerable infant is only possible, because nature has sharpened into the behaviour patterns of its human parents a behaviour of care and concern, which is sufficiently stable to allow its offspring to reach maturity.

These inborn responses of parental care and concern have been inherited as genetically organised reaction-patterns, and, they are executed with varying degrees of flexibility and modification, according to the prevailing circumstances. This flexibility of genetically given, behavioural outlines, is necessary, in order to make the behavioural response adequate and precisely adapted to what is required. These modified response-patterns are acquired through learning and imitation, and become super-imposed on the basic response-patterns. These modified responses of genetically engraved behaviour-patterns form the basis for the experience of "emotions".

Let us look at a few examples of secondarily modified behavioural responses. If the cry of the human infant is not modified by subsequent inhibitory learning, it is manifested as a "temper-tantrum" in the older child, or, as a wild and cruel rage in the intemperate adult. Obviously, such behaviour patterns can not persist in their primitive form for any length of time, since social organisation would become impossible, if these behaviour patterns would not have been inhibited and significantly modified.

These reaction-patterns become, therefore, modified or adapted, and, they become an instrument for the expression of a more "finely tuned" emotional response. For example, the reaction of fear manifests itself as a "panic", when seen in its most primitive form, but, it becomes modified, in many ways, into a more appropriate form of behaviour. Frequently, a super-imposed modification of a primitive response-pattern, means, a certain degree of inhibition. The primary drive of sexuality undergoes marked modifications in nearly every society by the super-imposition of learned or secondarily adopted responses, which have always a socially beneficial effect, because they represent, in essence, a regulatory function.

Let us summarise, first, the basic response-patterns of human behaviour, before we attempt to trace the complex modifications that take place during growth, social integration and the living conditions of maturity. As we have seen, we can classify the response-patterns of living organisms into the two broad categories of "positive" and "negative" stimuli. Some of these stimuli are reflected in the behaviour of hunting, or the search of food. These response-patterns are elicited by positive or beneficial environmental stimuli, but, there may also be negative response-patterns to potentially harmful and dangerous stimuli, resulting in a fight or a flight. In the helpless human infant, these patterns are not visible, as yet, because the infant depends, so completely, on parental care and ready-made food-supplies for its survival. The aggression of the adult animal organism, such as the victorious killing of a prey or adversay, or, the reactions of the flight, or the fight, in the face of danger, are only visible in the infant as a content falling-asleep or a demanding cry.

It is interesting to note, that the common patterns of sexual reproduction in the animal world are somewhat isolated from these positive and negative, aggressive or defensive behaviour patterns, which are concerned with the existence and viability of the individual.

Sexual reproduction requires, at least temporarily, a behaviour of mating, which has no immediate existential significance for the individual. The desire to mate has to be sharpened, therefore, artificially, into the behavioural repertoir of the individual members of a species. The forces of natural selection accomplish this by favouring those genes in the gene-pool, which provide a strong actualisation of such mating behaviour, whenever the circumstances are favourable. This, in turn, favours the reproduction and continuation of the gene-pool, which is, after all, the objective of the mechanisms of viability.

For the individual animal, mating behaviour has no immediate existential benefits. The behavioural repertoir of an individual has to incorporate, therefore, a strong urge or desire to do so. Mating has to become a very pleasurable activity that can be released, under suitable circumstances, by the innate recognition of a sexual object, the mate. We will later trace the importance of the sexual drive in human behaviour, but it is obvious, that the sexual drive is, in essence, a genetically inherited and biologically organised form of behaviour, even, if all aspects of sexually oriented behaviour are under the influence of cultural regulators, and, most aspects of reproductive behaviour are under voluntary control as well.

The biologically organised behaviour patterns of aggression, defensiveness and sexual behaviour are the three cornerstones for the emotional differentiation of the human being. The subsequent behavioural modifications that take place through super-imposed inhibitions, as well as the problems of contradictory and ambiguous stimuli, are the reasons for the enormous diversity of emotional experiences and shades of meaning to which the human being is exposed.

Let us trace the human infant through its development, and, we may get a "feel" for the development of the human personality. Aggressive instincts or behaviour patterns are not immediately apparent, since the newborn infant has only one undifferentiated response to the need for food, or any form of distress; nl., the cry. Quickly, it "learns" to demand food, or, it demands to be cuddled, after it experiences a close correlation between its crying and the beneficial response of being given the breast, or, being picked-up. From an early age, then, the infant learns from sensible parents that there are limitations to the degree of satisfaction it receives from its crying. If parents are over-anxious, (often caused by guilt feelings, when the task of looking after the infant has been left to paid help), this necessary modification or inhibition of the unbridled instinct to demand satisfaction has not been developed properly, and, this leads to difficulties with behavioural adaptations later in life.

We can summarise, quite accurately, that the crux of having been brought-up well, rests upon a judicious balance between receiving gratification, satisfaction, protection, encouragement, attention, love, etc., and, learning about the existence of limitations or outright denials to some of these demands for satisfaction.

An infant is like a sponge, soaking-up gratification as much as it can get, but, if a child learns, from an early age, that there are limitations to the degree of satisfaction it can obtain, (and, if it learns, that these limitations arise out of a need to share the sources or resources of satisfaction with others), we have the basis for an appropriate level of behavioural fine-tuning, which is likely to lead to a successful adaptation of the individual to its social environment.

By learning to accept limitations on personal satisfactions and requirements, the child also learns, that such a behaviour of acceptance earns a certain degree of praise from the social environment. The acceptance of limits on personal satisfaction is compensated for by a feeling of approval from other members in the social environment, and, we have, here, an important emotional trade-off on which social relationships and ethical attitudes depend.

This insight is a crucial and most valuable experience for the growing individual, because the youngster learns to accept a limit on the desire for satisfaction in exchange for an attitude of acceptance by its social environment.

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Chapter 5

Content

Opportunism; a legitimate behavioural guide?
The origins of responsibility and concern.
Lack of protection during the formative years.
The recognition of "the norm" in behaviour.
The interplay of emotional behaviour patterns in an environment of trust and familiarity.
More complex considerations in the development of the personality.
The accidents of personal history.
Mechanisms of friendship.

However, to state the development of a child as formulated at the end of the previous chapter, leaves us with the feeling, that it merely leads to a smooth opportunism; a totally utilitarian approach, that makes cleverly use of opportunities given by social circumstances, but, it does not take into account any development of the sense of responsibility. About this remarkable attitude of "responsibility" we will have to say a great deal more, but, for the moment, we should look at the early stages of the personality development, where a growing child learns, slowly, to modify its basic physiological responses in accordance with the ever-changing circumstances.

By courting acceptance and approval from others, rather than concentrating on the fulfilment of every egocentric desire, the sense of gratification shifts, somewhat, from a purely egocentric orientation to the socially satisfying experience of reducing stress and tensions between people. While it is true, that an individual will seek, as often, to reduce inter-human stress by dominating or persuading his human environment to yield, it is necessary to learn to yield oneself, and, it is necessary to learn to control the dominating drive of the egocentric will in order to gain a more elusive objective.

This elusive goal of social acceptance and harmony may come to the fore through the realisation, that a persuasive attitude of yielding individualistic demands can lead to a gain in viability by receiving cooperation, as well as the attitudes of trust and respect. These attitudes flow, so often, from sharing a source of satisfaction. This sounds somewhat vague and generalised, and it is, deliberately so, because we are not concerned, at the present time, with detailed psychological mechanisms of the developing individual, but, we are emphasising the need for socially acceptable modifications of the primary, biologically determined behaviour patterns of the growing and unfolding personality.

While a limit on personal gratifications is necessary for a balanced development of the personality, we see, at the same time, that a lack of sufficient protection, encouragement or stimulation during the period of early childhood, will fortify a negative attitude of mistrust into a behaviour of compulsive defensiveness. This is a strongly negative behavioural orientation, leading to a rigid attitude of defensive posturing, which causes, in turn, a continuous feeling of suspicion and suppresses the normal drive to explore the environment, as well as the ability to trust others. For such an individual, all incoming sense impressions will evoke a strong sense of danger or threat. All incoming sense impressions have a generally negative quality, and, consequently, the desire to explore, together with the sense of confidence that is so necessary to explore successfully, will be lacking.

The individual retreats into its small corner of the social environment, minimising contacts with the outside world, while searching for security by avoiding contacts and new, potentially stressful and dangerous situations. Such an unfortunate individual has a strong tendency to seek happiness in a world of its own imaginations or "fantasies". The inability of such a deprived individual to participate in the give and take of its social environment, coupled with the strangeness of its isolated existence, becomes, inevitably, a focal point of communal incomprehension and attitudes of hostility, since this type of behaviour is not recognised by the more freely interacting individuals as "the norm"; as the familiar type of behaviour that can be trusted and relied upon.

Here, we come back, once again, on the mechanisms of recognition, and, we see, how the more freely associating individuals in the family or the small grouping, create, by their attitudes of give and take, a sense of familiarity with each other`s personalities. They are involved, almost continuously, in a subconscious flux of attitudes, now dominating and cajoling, a little later, submissive and persuasive, without retreating into a defensive reaction-pattern as the result of a wounded sensitivity.

The maturing members of such a group, (first in the security of a small circle of relatives and friends, and later, within the much larger society as a whole), form the backbone of a nucleus of social strength. These people absorb in their attitudes and actions, (and, to some extent in their conscious beliefs as well), the cultural code of the social environment, and, each one of them forms, subconsciously, a picture of the behavioural complex that is accepted as normal and beneficial. The recognition of a condition of "normality" in the behaviour patterns of the other members of the group, creates a feeling of "belonging together", and allows for a reasonable degree of trust and openness towards those, who are recognised as "familiar" and "normal".

However, a strong sense of mutual recognition by a core of people, who begin to behave as a dynamic nucleus for social activities within a larger social environment, leads to a rather narrow and rigid concept or mental image of "the norm", or, what is considered to be "normal behaviour". From this instinctive or "naturally grown" frame of reference, it is an easy step to define, not only, the range of normality, but the entire range of judgements about "good and evil", as well as the criteria of acceptability and rejection; the division between "we" and "they". The range of attitudes and behavioural responses in a particular social grouping is still quite large, however, especially, in the more complex societies, but, if we analyse the larger societies as a series of more or less connected sub-groupings, we see these same mechanisms operate wherever we look.

Mutual trust and the inevitable clash of interests reach their most open expression in the family-circle, and, nowhere in life will the child experience a higher degree of protection, affection and care than in the healthy relationships between parents, guardians or relatives and their off-spring. Nowhere will youngsters learn better, or, at an earlier age, the normal and healthy interactions with other human beings, than in the daily contacts, rivalries and friendships taking place between the members of a closely-knit social grouping. Even so, the causes and effects of these relationships are not simple or transparent, because we are, often, surprised, how a seemingly disastrous childhood may still lead to a remarkable development of individual merits and social acceptance, later in life, and, similarly, we see, that many people with a bland and happy childhood grow into dull and unimaginative personalities.

Obviously, the significance of the interactions in human relationships are far more complex than we have stated so far, and, in addition to the basic mechanisms of contact between parents, children, siblings and close relatives, we undergo a complex and often unsettling series of experiences in the much larger social environment of schools and universities, or, the place of work.

All we can really say, at this time, is the following. It seems fair to conclude, that the development of the human personality is based on a very large and broad-ranging genetic potential that is only partially, and, often, haphazardly, unfolded by the confluence of cultural guidelines and the accidental happenings and chance-contacts of an individual`s personal history. The numerous behavioural choices we have to make during childhood and adolescence, (each with their own irreversible chain of events that follow), reveal the enormous potential for diversity in human existence, and, the difference between success and failure, (whatever the definition may be), seems, so often, to depend on rather trivial and haphazard events. Yet, rather than giving-up, in despair, any attempt to understand human development, we will try to outline broad and persistent trends that may shed a light on our nature and behaviour patterns.

I like to go back, for a moment, to the developments that take place in our attitudes during early inter-human contacts. We have seen, that a familiarity with the behaviour patterns of our close relatives, parents and members of our own age-group, will lead to an increased level of confidence in dealing with them. We have seen, how we allow ourselves a more open expression of feelings, sentiments and attitudes in such a setting of behavioural familiarity. This promotes a generalised feeling of mutual trust, even, if we do not always exhibit feelings of sympathy, respect or love towards each other. Even the quickly flowing postures of dominance or petulance, opportunism or deceptive amicability, play a role in these contacts, but, characteristically, the underlying emotional ground-tone of "belonging together" remains intact, even, if we fight once in a while.

An attitude of trust indicates an openness of the personality, where we accept the possibility of disappointment or injury. We trust, that we will not be hurt seriously by our friends, and, we will refrain, in turn, from injuring our friends to any significant extent. This is a subconscious pact of trust, based on a subconscious communication of feelings and attitudes, rather than an explicit understanding in verbalised concepts. Within a closely-knit group of friends, we assume a remarkable flexibility of various hierarchical positions or roles, from dominance to submissiveness, according to the prevailing circumstances, and, we also form, through a variety of exploratory activities, a shared atmosphere of confidence, where we act as a sounding-board for each other`s ideas and plans.

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Chapter 6

Content

Friendship; hierarchical structuring in a group of friends.
Mutual recognition and familiarity of behaviour as a basis for social cohesion.
Parallels with animal societies.
Parental concern as the biological basis for attitudes of responsibility.
Education and natural birth control.

In a relationship of friendship, we behave with our friends as one unified organism. We share our judgements, fears, hopes and expectations, and, we do not come to significant behavioural decisions without consulting the others. In such a state of interdependence, we see, that there is always a tendency towards a sub-division of tasks, or, a specialisation in functions. We will, voluntarily, but mostly subconsciously, relinquish to each other those fields of endeavour, where we recognise each other`s skills and superiority, and, in the natural growth of such a behavioural unit of socially integrated friends, we see mirrored the many possibilities and short-comings of the mechanisms of social integration.

The difficulty with friendship as a basis for mutual interdependence is the strong influence of sympathies and antipathies on the relationships and functions of a group of friends. This means, that the group is governed, primarily, by emotional mechanisms. A group of friends is always small enough for the natural, subconscious processes of familiarity and recognition of each other`s behaviour patterns, to function as a cornerstone for the mechanisms of cohesion. In a fairly large group of friends, we see the same tendency to a division in leaders and followers come to the fore, which takes place, also, in the larger social groupings.

Because the behavioural regulators of friendship depend, so much, on emotional recognition and resonance, we see all the problems with natural leadership come to the fore in the larger groups of friends as well. However, a playful atmosphere leaves a group of friends the choice, whether or not they want to belong together, and, the flexibility of forming and breaking bonds of friendships is part of the behaviour of a maturing individual. However, the groupings and relationships in society are far less playful or voluntary in nature, and, the mechanisms in the larger society reflect, far more seriously, the struggle for existence within a framework of natural and social force-fields.

In the large group of friends, mutual identification or recognition of each other becomes more difficult. There are more conflict situations, as tensions and suspicions grow. It becomes clear, from looking at the psycho-dynamics of a large group of friends, why a group of socially integrated human beings has to be limited in size. The reason for a limit in the size of a viable group of socially integrated individuals, is related to the limitations of the faculties of recognition. It becomes very difficult for the members to recognise and identify each other as "friendly", or, at least, as predictable, as soon as the grouping has become "too large".

The recognition of another individual`s behaviour results in a sense of familiarity and predictability, and, it becomes the key for any form of social integration. Animals, living together in herds, also form small sub-groupings of members that stay together, and, the members of such a sub-grouping suppress hostile reactions towards each other because of the function of recognition and familiarity. If the members of the same herd, (but from different sub-groupings), are brought together, artificially, in a small, confined space, members, who do not recognise each other, will often fight savagely, until a new hierarchical order has established itself.

There are many examples in the animal world, where mutual recognition between the members of the same species leads to a suppression of hostilities. Tensions between individuals are not completely removed, but, a deadly conflict is often replaced by a grudging hierarchical order, where the members "recognise" each other`s place in the social hierarchy, after it has been established by a struggle for dominance; the test-fight.

Man is not any different, and, we see the same mechanisms take place in the human society, where a member of a social grouping learns whom he can trust, whom he can dominate, and, whom he has to fear. Yet, these hierarchical mechanisms still describe, only, an opportunistic attitude. Sure, individual goal-patterns are drastically, and, perhaps, even, permanently modified, compared to the primary, instinctive behaviour patterns that are not socially integrated, but, we still have not accounted for feelings of responsibility, affection, love, charity, concern, or, whatever names man has given to these experiences, which have so many shades of meaning and so many different degrees of emphasis.

The basic mechanisms for the feelings of mutual care and concern go back to the strong mutual identification that takes place between people who know each other well, but the potential for such a behaviour has been given as a biological or genetic "anlage", and, it is reflected in the almost innate attitude of responsibility we see in the behaviour of behaviourally flexible parents towards their offspring. Certainly, we have to acknowledge, that the human being can undermine, dangerously, (as a result of his flexible behaviour patterns), even such a basic and organically engraved, instinctive drive as "parental responsibility".

Just as the persistence of a strong sexual drive is necessary for the continuation of the gene-pool, animals with a large number of flexible and learned behaviour patterns in their repertoir, need to exhibit a persistent and careful parenthood towards their vulnerable young. We may assume, that nature`s experiment with flexible behaviour patterns, or "intelligence", would not have been possible without a sharpening of the genetic imprint of the attitudes of parental responsibility. If parental responsibility is, primarily, a biologically determined behaviour pattern, we must not be surprised to learn, that parenthood has powerful emotional satisfactions; at least, parenthood is emotionally satisfying, when we see the mechanisms of parenthood at work in a state of natural maturity.

The burdens of parenthood are long-lasting, and, in the human species, they usually last in excess of a period of fifteen years. This prolonged period of responsibility, (which has been accentuated by the need to acquire specialised skills and knowledge in order to make a living in a complex and modern social environment), is certainly felt as a burden by many parents, in particular, when an affluent and successful society returns, as always, to a glorification of egocentric drives. Then, a feeling of incomprehension and irrelevance becomes associated with the biological need to sacrifice for the sake of the young, because, in an affluent society, egocentric attitudes and an individualistic expression of wants and desires are a direct result of the freedom that comes with luxury and affluence. As the attitudes of responsibility become a "lost skill", there is, inevitably, a resurgence of the desire to lessen the burdens of parental care, and, so far as we can see, this seems to be the only natural inclination towards excercising of a measure of birth control.

How wrong and insulting must it seem to the lesser developed, but, perhaps, more vigorous nations of the world, which have not yet lost the skill to be good parents, to be told by the wealthy and decadent societies to curtail their off-spring! How suspicious must these nations be about the motives of the wealthy elite, when it advocates and implements the curbing of off-spring in the poorer segments of humanity! Why not allow all societies in the world to develop a similar degree of affluence and education? The burdens of responsibility, together with the common desire to lessen these responsibilities, will curb the number of births naturally.

Certainly, on many occasions, the main reason for a desire to limit the number of children is not the decadent feeling that bearing and rearing children is too much of a burden, but, it is based on a genuine concern, that a large off-spring will prevent the parents from giving their children the specialised, lengthy and, often, costly education their yougsters need, in order to become successful members of an affluent society.

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Chapter 7

Content

Severe deprivation of parental care.
The stunted development of the unfolding personality.
Laboratory experiments with monkeys.
Genetic encoding of the potential of a function.
The cultural influences on the form and content of a behavioural possibility.

After this aside, we come back to the idea, that we have a biological basis for an attitude of responsibility in the chores of parenthood. This sense of responsibility is already being developed during childhood, when youngsters are forming their personalities and learn to care, at least to some extent, for their younger brothers and sisters. We will have to trace the link between parental attitudes of responsibility and the intuitive mechanisms of friendship. The satisfactions arising from a durable friendship are a powerful and important stimulus for the maturation processes of a personality, but, as we will see, an indulgence in feelings of cosy friendship and comfortable relationships, has its own price to pay.

We have defined the attitude of parental care and concern for the newborn offspring, as a trait that has been genetically encoded into every behaviourally flexible species, because these capabilities are a prerequisite for survival. However, these behavioural traits need a proper set of environmental circumstances in order to come to the fore, and, they require, therefore, a proper set of conditions and satisfying relationships during the unfolding of the personality in childhood and adolescence.

If an infant is growing-up with a severe lack of adequate parental care, (a situation that would be incompatibe with survival in a natural environment), the child is likely to show severe personality defects later in life. These defects may be so severe, that the adolescent is unable to form adequate social contacts with other members of the species, if kept alive in one way or another. This, in turn, leads to an inability to care for its own offspring, if, once again, mating is accomplished under somewhat artificial or unusual circumstances, because a severe personality defect interferes, also, with a normal sexual responsiveness, especially, in the prospective mate, and, therefore, mating would not easily be allowed or accomplished, unless artificially stimulated or tolerated. It is clear, that we are dealing, here, with theoretical extremes, because in a natural social environment, such a severely damaged personality would have no chance to survive.

Nevertheless, the laboratory experiments that have been carried-out with maternal deprivation in monkeys and apes, (quite cruel and drastic experiments), have been helpful in making us aware of the importance of the early childhood environment, as well as the sort of stimuli that are necessary for the development of a normal personality, with an adequate ability to engage in social contacts. In a natural environment, a lack of maternal care would be quickly fatal for a newborn infant, while a lack of social responsiveness would be quickly fatal for the defective youngster, because he or she will be abandoned or cast-out from the group.

The predatory and environmental pressures upon a group of animals, living together in a social organisation, ensure the gradual preponderance of those traits in the communal gene-pool, which lead to the most viable adaptation to external and internal pressures. For this reason, the overall viability of the gene-pool of a group may be more dramatically improved by refinements of the internal relationships between parents and offspring, or, by the mechanisms of interdependence, interaction and cooperation, than by a purely individual ability to survive and fight off a challenge or challenger.

We may, therefore, recapitulate these ideas as follows. Under the pressures of the environment, (including predatory pressures), the viability of a group is enhanced by cooperation, interdependence and a superior attitude of care for the younger generations, in particular, for those animal species`, where flexibility of behaviour has been obtained at the price of a long and vulnerable period of growth and maturation.

The seeds for attitudes of friendship, emotions of mutual affection, as well as the suppression of feelings of hostility, have, undoubtedly, a genetic "anlage", but, as always, these genetic traits are only potentials, or possibilities of behaviour, and, the actual expression of the behavioural response depends, largely, on the early experiences and cultural inheritance received by the younger generations.

The fact, that, even the most basic behavioural responses of the human being can be distorted by deficiencies in the learning period, or a poor quality of early sensory experiences, does not mean, that these responses are completely determined by the content of these early experiences and sensations. Just as the expression of the genetic blue-print of an organism depends on suitable environmental circumstances in order to construct the actual physical entity of a multi-cellular organism, so can the behavioural traits, (which are present as an "anlage" in our genetic make-up), manifest themselves, only, when a suitable set of circumstances and learning possibilities are available to the growing youngsters.

If we enclose, as a theoretical example, a limb of a newborn child into a rigid cast at the time of birth, the growth and function of this limb will be completely stunted and it becomes a shriveled, useless appendage, yet, the possibility for this limb to become a normal, full-grown and healthy part of the body, has been encoded in the genetic instructions of the organism, but its actualisation or realisation has been frustrated by external circumstances.

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Chapter 8

Content

A review of emotional functions.
Egocentric judgements in the scale of positive-negative stimuli.
Varying degrees of bonding with other people.
The shift to a multi-centric judgement pattern.
Mutual concern as the basis for successful interhuman bonding.
Degrees of interdependence within a bond.

Let us go back, once again, to the classification of emotional responses. We have seen, that the individual responds, primarily, in a positive, aggressive or exuberant manner, whenever the judgement of a certain situation inspires confidence or is considered to be beneficial. On the other hand, there is a wide range of responses resulting from a negative or defensive evaluation, and these responses range from a defense or a fight, to a flight, or, perhaps, a desperate last stance.

These emotions are all, primarily, egocentric in nature, and, they consider the "ego", the individual, as the center of its judgements. However, in the development of interdependent response-patterns, we introduce a whole new element of behavioural possibilities. We can, therefore, classify behavioural attitudes of interdependence, also, into categories of benefit or harm. A positive judgment means, that contacts are judged as beneficial, but, a negative judgement will surely come to the fore, as soon as we experience that a situation of interdependence is not to our advantage, and, that we are being exploited.

If interdependence manifests itself as a strong dominance over others, our response-patterns receive little input from any consideration of concern for the dominated individuals, and, we may, then, classify such a form of interdependence, primarily, as parasitic or egocentric in nature. Similarly, when we submit, entirely out of necessity, to the whims of the dominating personality in order to secure our existence, the attitudes of the submissive individual are, also, egocentrically oriented, because, at any time, if there is a chance, there will be an effort to abolish this position of subjugation; either by a flight into freedom, or, by a challenge, or, even, an attempt to kill the dominating tyrant.

Interdependence in a setting of friendship calls for a situation, where there is no strong dominance or submission by either party, even, if there are inequalities in different fields of experience or expertise, leading to voluntary and intuitive task-divisions and fluid shifts in leadership functions. The crux of a relationship of friendship is an attitude of mutual concern, where the significance of incoming sense impressions is not judged, solely, on their significance for the receiving individual, but, these sensory data are judged on their importance for the group as a whole; for me and my friends. Similarly, behavioural responses, together with their possible effects, are judged, not only, on their significance for me alone, but also, on their significance for my friends.

In this way, we see, that two or more individuals, bound in friendship, start to behave as a unit, where the afferent and efferent impulses are now beginning to center on the value of the group, rather than on the value of one member only. This shift of the egocentric judgement function of the personality to a dual, or, even, multi-centric unit of concern, is the cornerstone for our efforts to explain the possibilities for, and the mechanisms of, natural ethical behaviour.

Such multi-lateral or bilateral attitudes of care and concern, reflecting a multi-centric judgement and behaviour pattern, are fragile possibilities of existence, since it is always possible for a conflict of interest to surface between those who are bound in friendship. We see this happen in the behaviour of envy and jealousy, or, disloyalty and treachery.

The decision to form a multi-centric unit of friends is primarily intuitive. It is essentially beyond the decision-making sphere of the free will, and, the strongest bonds of friendship occur, when growing individuals begin to share their experiences and actions to an ever larger extent. Then, the participating personalities mature and ripen as a set of complementary capabilities, and, the result is, often, a remarkably joyous relationship between friends, who feel, rightly, that they have been endowed with capabilities that surpass those of the single individual.

Consequently, if such a bond is broken by the death of one of the partners of a friendship, the loss may be disastrous for the surviving member, since he or she has grown-up with an almost complete reliance and dependence upon some aspects in the personality and behaviour of his or her friend. In a successful unit of mutual friendship, we see a strong flux and a remarkably free exchange of emotions between the two members of such a partnership, or, between the members of a small but tightly interwoven grouping. As a rule, the emotions fluctuate together, in unison, and, in some remarkably perfect friendships the multi-individual unit seems, indeed, to behave as a single personality.

It is important to realise, that such a remarkable commitment to another human being, (together with a significant shift from an egocentric to a dual or multi-centric focus of judgement), is, not only, a real possibility for each one of us, but, nearly everyone of us has experienced a sense of joy and confidence, when associating with a group of friends, even, if the degree of permanence or harmony was far from perfect. Later in life, our experiences and disillusions tend to inhibit our willingness and ability to form strong bonds of friendship; a development we will discuss, in detail, later on.

In a bond of friendship, we can classify all behaviour patterns that recognise, clearly, the mutual benefits of such a relationship, as feelings of affection, love, concern, etc., while an emotion in the opposite direction is felt as envy, jealousy, suspicion, disloyalty, etc. By considering these two major classifications in the mechanisms of emotional force-fields, I think, that we can build a reasonably comprehensive picture of the unfolding and maturing human personality. On the one hand, there is the balance, or scale, of our positive-negative, individual experiences, ranging from confidence and exuberance, to defensiveness and anxiety, and, on the other hand, we see a range of emotions binding us to our friends or relatives. These are the positive attitudes of concern, love, affection, sympathy. The negative range of emotions in this scale or balance between an egocentric and altruistic orientation is represented by feelings that tend to drive our attitudes into a more egocentric, isolationistic direction, such as disappointment, jealousy, etc.

Obviously, it is possible for a situation of conflict to come to the fore between these two behavioural scales, because feelings or attitudes of confidence, arrogance or aggression have a tendency to become a strongly dominating force in the relationships with our friends. Sometimes, these attitudes may be perceived as "persuasive" by our friends. Our attitudes would, then, be justified in the evaluation and judgement of our friends, and, our friends will adopt an attitude of "sympathetic submission". However, the exuberant expansionism of our attitudes may give rise to a resistance in those, who feel, that we are less concerned with their particular ideas, wishes and aspirations, and, they will, inevitably, feel neglected, exploited and dominated, at least, to some extent. A slight feeling of disappointment may, eventually, lead to a feeling of bitterness, antipathy, or, even, hatred, in particular, when latent feelings of jealousy or envy are enhanced by our confidence and success, or, our boisterous and aggressive attitudes.

The interplay between confidence and anxiety in our individual existence, as well as the interplay between affection and disappointment in our mutual bonds, are the keys to understanding human behaviour. The entire field of conflict, success and failure, frustration and confidence, as well as the feelings of inhibition, affection and jealousy are linked together in these mechanisms.

Let us recapitulate, once more, the conceptual key to our understanding of man`s behaviour. The first key is the "sliding scale" from victory, confidence, aggression and exuberance, through a zone of more or less emotional neutrality, to the side of defensiveness, anxiety, or, even, panic. The second key is the sliding scale of emotions that tend to increase a bond of affection or sympathy between people, such as open-ness, concern, sympathy or love, and, those emotions and experiences, which tend to fragment this bond; jealousy, bitterness, mistrust, disappointment, hatred, etc.

The crucial attitude underlying any bond of affection between human beings, is the attitude of trust. Trust means, in essence, a reliance upon each other`s attitudes. An attitude of reliance, or trust, indicates the presence of a belief that no advantage will be taken from an attitude of openness. This trust in someone`s behavioural responses leaves the individual relatively vulnerable, and, in true bonds of friendship, this trust and vulnerability is always reciprocated.

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Chapter 9

Content

The motivation behind an act of "placing trust".
Subconscious acts; the behaviour of trust as a legacy from a totally dependent infancy and early childhood.
The mature adult, and the voluntary choice of committing an act of trust, based on deeply held convictions.

If we ask ourselves, why we would ever want to engage in such an act of trust; what motives us to take such a risky attitude of reliance, which makes us vulnerable, we come to a difficult point, because the answer is far from clear. In the term "motivation", we imply a judgement of significance; an involvement with a particular goal-pattern that has been judged, consciously or subconsciously, to be of importance to us, and, we imply, therefore, a judgement with an egocentric orientation. There can be little doubt, that an attitude of trust incurs a certain risk, because an individual incorporates an essentially incalculable element into his own system of judgement and choice; namely, someone else`s psychological or behavioural reactions.

Why, then, are we inclined to do this? What is our egocentric benefit? Before we try to answer this question, let us elaborate, for a moment, our concepts about motivations, moods and emotions. A goal, or objective, is the verbalisable aspect of the purpose of our actions, while the motivation represents a search for the sometimes hidden, personal significance of this goal. The emotion is a subjective feeling, or sensation, which we experience, at least, to some extent, whenever we perform an act, or receive a sense impression, with a great personal significance, and, in the words "emotional response", I like to see a behavioural act that is being carried-out in a situation of personal significance. This behavioural act is shaped and directed, largely, by our pre-formed, more primitive and inherited response patterns, rather than our rational faculties.

Our previous question about the reasons, why we would risk an attitude of trust, seems to imply, that the formation of bonds of friendship and the necessary act of trusting someone, or, the adoption of an attitude of trust towards other people, are a deliberate choice, where we carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of such a choice. While such a deliberate and calculated act plays a significant role in the interactions of adults, (especially, in the larger societies, where most adults barely know each other), the attitudes of deep friendship and the almost reckless abandonment youngsters show in their acts of trust and reliance, are far from a deliberate, or, even, a conscious choice.

I believe, therefore, that we have to look for our answers to the atmosphere and attitudes that exist, whenever a child has been born into a particular social environment. As we have discussed before, the existence of an infant is, initially, one of complete helplessness and reliance upon the care and protection from its parents. During this period, the infant only receives, but, eventually, it also learns how to "give"; I mean, that the infant begins to give evidence for the ability to form feelings of affection for its parents and guardians.

We have also traced, how a child is gradually weaned from a complete reliance on this sphere of parental care and protection. It has to get used to a situation of partial reliance, and, we see, how the child learns to take-over the functions that are necessary to sustain its own existence. The world of the child differentiates slowly, and changes imperceptibly, from a total reliance on its surroundings, to one of increasing reliance on its own capabilities. However, this process takes place within a context of continuous contacts with parents, siblings and friends.

It is, therefore, logical to see the ability of a child to form strong friendships as a partial persistence of this essentially "blind trust" in its immediate social environment, which was, indeed, complete during infancy and early childhood. While the process of growing-up and being weaned from parental care sharpens the individual`s ability to fend for itself, during this process some nuclei of trust and reliance remain in the form of trustful relationships with other people.

Now, we can appreciate the trauma of a child that has been deprived from normal parental care, and survives, somehow, by accident or experimental design. The coldness of the environment and the absence of any personal contacts, stimulation, fondling, or body contacts and emotional interactions with others, leaves the infant totally isolated psychologically, and, any residual feelings of trust and confidence wither-away, quickly.

As we have mentioned before, in a natural setting, such a development is, fortunately, not compatible with life, since absence of parental care means certain death. Experimental or accidental survival, in spite of grossly deficient circumstances of caring stimuli and parental concern, strips the young child from all feelings of trust and confidence. The continuously frightening, cold and lonely existence, nips in the bud any genetic posibility for the formation of affectionate relationships with the members of its own species.

The emotional or behavioural possibility of placing trust has, then, been stunted in its growth, and, after the critical, early formative period of the personality development has passed, the possibility to develop bonds of trust has been lost irretrievably, or, at least, it has been so severely damaged, that a full restoration to normal emotional health is impossible.

Of course, these relationships and cause-effect mechanisms are all dependent upon the degree and severity of the initial defect in emotional maturation, and, a short period of defective environmental stimuli may well lead to remarkable regenerative efforts at a later stage in life, provided, that a certain potential is still there, and has been favourably activated.

We can safely state, that no personality develops to its maximum potential, since, rarely, are all factors operating at optimum levels, and, the competitive existence of siblings, as well as other competing members of the social environment, puts a certain restriction on the availability of emotional contacts, just as the food-supply for a community is seldom at optimum levels.

Actually, at the present time, we can not separate, with any degree of precision, the factors of environmental contacts and emotional stimuli from the physical aspects of development, whenever we try to determine the viability and the personality make-up of a youngster. We can only say, that a well-formed, healthy body, together with a varied emotional environment, seems to offer the best possible chances for the eventual inclusion of an individual into the productive processes of society, as well as the reproductive mechanisms of the species.

We may, therefore, see the possibility of forming trustful relationships in youth and adolescence as a result of developments that have left sufficient confidence, elan vital, or exploratory and adventurous energy to the individual, in order to encourage it to take some risks. The emotional and intellectual benefits of mutual interactions have been experienced to outweigh, in most instances, the disadvantages and risks involved in adopting an attitude of curiosity, trust and affection.

We will come back to this concept, when we consider the further developments, complications and possibilities for trustful interhuman contacts between adults. We will see, that this basis of trust is, indeed, very important, because it gives us the foundation for a system of naturally ethical behaviour-patterns, but this process alone is insufficient to explain ethical behaviour in the adult. In our further deliberations, we will see, why truly ethical behaviour is limited to the mature adult, and, why this behaviour outgrows the limitations of an emotionally based trust in human contacts. The mature adult accepts, often deliberately, the risk of trusting his fellow human beings on the basis of a deeply held conviction, and, not on the basis of an emotional response mechanism.

On previous occasions, we have alluded to the idea, that the development of rational, ethical behaviour patterns, as well as the implementation of such a rational and ethical conduct, together with all its consequences, will be the cornerstone for every worthwhile philosophy, as we consider the features that are necessary for a viable human community on a global scale.

However, before we tackle such an immense and ambitious task, let us try to formulate, first, a somewhat coherent picture about ourselves. We may never agree, entirely, about the essence of our existence, but then, a widely acceptable system of ethical behaviour may not have to depend, exclusively, upon such an agreement, and yet, there can be little doubt, that a persuasive intellectual image upon which we can construct our ethical behaviour-patterns, will be helpful in making such an ethical system more appealing to widely diverging groups of people.

Therefore, let us analyse and trace in the following studies, some of the aspects of human thought and behaviour, without trying to formulate, at this point, an exhaustive and systematic account of the human personality.

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Summary

1. Fields of human endeavour, relevant to the nature of man.
   The usefulness of specific disturbances in brain function to show normal mechanisms in the intact organism.
   Behaviour of mammals and primates.
   Dominance and the question of ethical behaviour.
   The genetic and cultural codes as co-determinants of man`s nature.
   
   
   
2. The need to re-evaluate.
   Images from biology and neurology.
   The importance of the function of recognition.
   Reflexes, seen as inborn "recognition" patterns.
   Changes in neurological function resulting from the processes of maturation.
   The helpless human infant.
   The formative years and the acquisition of skills.
   Feedback information for monitoring progress.
   
   
   
3. The voluntary act; an analysis.
   Familiarity and the act of recognition.
   The analysis of a problem.
   Influences on the evaluation of sense impressions.
   
   
   
4. Primitive behaviour patterns.
   The need to modify behaviour as a prerequisite for social adaptation.
   Genetic instructions for mating behaviour.
   A review of the development of the human infant.
   The crux of having been brought-up well.
   Accepting limitations in the fulfilment of desires and instinctive drives.
   
   
   
5. Opportunism; a legitimate behavioural guide?
   The origins of responsibility and concern.
   Lack of protection during the formative years.
   The recognition of "the norm" in behaviour.
   The interplay of emotional behaviour patterns in an environment of trust and familiarity.
   More complex considerations in the development of the personality.
   The accidents of personal history.
   Mechanisms of friendship.
   
   
   
6. Friendship; hierarchical structuring in a group of friends.
   Mutual recognition and familiarity of behaviour as a basis for social cohesion.
   Parallels with animal societies.
   Parental concern as the biological basis for attitudes of responsibility.
   Education and natural birth control.
   
   
   
7. Severe deprivation of parental care.
   The stunted development of the unfolding personality.
   Laboratory experiments with monkeys.
   Genetic encoding of the potential of a function.
   The cultural influences on the form and content of a behavioural possibility.
   
   
   
8. A review of emotional functions.
   Egocentric judgements in the scale of positive-negative stimuli.
   Varying degrees of bonding with other people.
   The shift to a multi-centric judgement pattern.
   Mutual concern as the basis for successful interhuman bonding.
   Degrees of interdependence within a bond.
   
   
   
9. The motivation behind an act of "placing trust".
   Subconscious acts; the behaviour of trust as a legacy from a totally dependent infancy and early childhood.
   The mature adult, and the voluntary choice of committing an act of trust, based on deeply held convictions.

   
   
   
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