Social selection and the english mind

social selction and the english mind
The most striking thing about group selection theory, as opposed to individual selection, is the possibility that we internalise rules which benefit us as a group rather than as an individual - in plain english: if we contribute poorly to the group, we punish ourselves.
Evidence for this approach is surprisingly easy to come by - most notably people who are unsuccessful in relationships are prone to depression, which in turn enhances the likelihood that they will become socially isolated. This then sparks a positive feedbck loop; depressesing their immune system, creativity, sex drive and chances of becoming gainfully employed. A similar outcome results in 'learned helplessness' - Seligman's discovery that creatures unable to exert influence over their environments become depressed and listless. Peculiarly, the phenomenon is akin to 'thanatos', Freud's hypothesised 'death drive'. It's a very interesting thing, I think, this tendency which we have to 'self-destruct' if we aren't successful - and it links us in nature to a host of lower organisms (right down to the single cell level) that are inherently designed to evolve as a group - as a collective - rather than as individuals.
In summary, it seems we are not designed to survive as individuals, but to function as components in a group. Drugs such as Prozac subvert our existence at its most fundamental level, then: by tinkering with the internal mechanism designed to weed out failure and promote success.

According to Bloom, the healthy functioning of any networked group involves the optimal balance of 'conformity enforcers' (who ensure that adaptive traditions are followed) and 'diversity promoters' (who recklessly explore new avenues of behaviour or thought). But it strikes me that we are unlikely to fall into one or other category as individuals, and that depending on how we feel our propensity to 'stick or spin' shifts - so that groups that are on the up become more exploratory and groups under siege proportionally more conservative.
My own experience is that the more stressed I am, the less creative I become.
Just finished the proof of Julian Baggini's book 'A Journey into the English Mind'. Here are some statistics that I thought striking:

Percentage of women who feel happy with their bodies 2%
National daily paper readers 60-70%Local newspaper readers 80-84%
Percentage who disapprove of homosexuals in high office 39%
Percentage of 18-30 year old young women who have been victims of sexual assault after getting drunk: 36%
Average frequency of sex: once a week
Percentage who believe the national identity should be based on Christian values: 72%
His analysis of the English philosophy left me with two memorable points: our Puritanical Protestant past has left us with a binge and purge attitude towards earthly pleasures such as food and sex. And our sense of 'fair play' rests on conservative communitarianism - "giving and getting your due is what counts"; and this means that in practice the notion of universal rights is challenged.

It is a book which will engender a sense of despair in many liberals: in general the English scorn intellectualism, have an unhealthy relationship with food, drink and sex, think of rights in terms of club membership, prefer familiarity to adventure and commonly engage in courtship as ritualised rape, legitimised on both sides by alcohol abuse.