[Aaron]

Is human nature the Uber-Complex rats nest of ideas & relationships it appears to be, or is there some simpler way to categorize human nature which is valid & useful?

I postulate that in spite of the specific details of a given relationship between people, all of them fall into 1 or more of 3 simple categories.

Rivals - Competitors for Mates & Resources
Mates - Sexual Partners
Resources - Friends, Family & Acquaintances.

Furthermore, I speculate that this is exactly how we unconsciously think of one another in our own minds. This simple idea can be applied to speculate on how people & groups of people will interact, based on relative size of each 3 categories.

For example, as a percentage of everyone you know, how would you break down your relationships into these 3 categories?

What percent of the total would each of the 3 encompass?

20% 2% 78%

?

And what are the implications of changing the percentages?

Are you a 20|2|78 or a 5|1|94 ?

Or god forbid a 1|98|1 ? (The polyamorous kinda freak me out)

Are there cultural differences between groups which "weight" the percentages? (Some cultures tend to have different priorities?)

Are there broad generalizations we could make for geographical regions? (America is typically a 10|1|89?)

And what are the implied results in a diminished energy scenario?

Won't these divisions pretty much dictate how individuals & groups choose to interact while making choices about managing energy resources?

Will Peak Oil eventually force most people to become 95|4|1's?

[dinopello]

An particular relationship (between individuals or groups) always includes some elements of each of these categories. If reduction in resource availability causes some sort of relocalization, the granularity of relationships may shift. Smaller organizational entities (commune, villages, towns) with cohesion and common interests may form and then these groups will be rivals/resources (probably not mates) with the other groups. Meanwhile, at an individual level I don't think much will change.

Now, if you believe in the Mad Max or A Boy and His Dog (great flick) scenario then the granularity of these relationships is very fine - every man for himself and a high percentage (100%) of rivals, and as in the Boy and his Dog, the mates are really just resources to be used.

I think I'm closest to a 1|4|95

[PolestaR]

I hope its 33/34/33 post collapse.

[cynicalheretic]

I am for 0|100|0

[holmes]

1/20/79

[MacG]

I got this gut feeling that you missed a category. I look at people around me and try to fit them in one of your categories, but fail most of the time. What about:

D: Chaff. Useless eaters.

Then we would have something like 1/3/10/86

What possible use could I have for them? Hmm... Food?

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MacG', 'I') got this gut feeling that you missed a category. I look at people around me and try to fit them in one of your categories, but fail most of the time. What about:

D: Chaff. Useless eaters.

Then we would have something like 1/3/10/86

What possible use could I have for them? Hmm... Food?

[gg3]

I would say: Rivals, Partners, Allies, and possibly Chaff.

Partners do not necessarily have to be sexual. This category can include close friends and family and close professional colleagues, etc. People with whom you share significant memes, as well as people with whom you share DNA or bodily fluids.

Limiting the category to sexual, is a preconception that ignores the importance of memes. (And franky a psychobiological bias of males by virtue of the fact that most of them are obsessed with sex due to hormonal factors.)

[east2west]

I dont know, I think the 3 categories are enough.

[MacG]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MacG', 'I') got this gut feeling that you missed a category. I look at people around me and try to fit them in one of your categories, but fail most of the time. What about:

D: Chaff. Useless eaters.

Then we would have something like 1/3/10/86

What possible use could I have for them? Hmm... Food?

[JustinFrankl]

This flies in the face of typical Us & Them thinking, though I tend to see the world in four categories, Friend, Ally, Adversary, Enemy.

My possible sexual mates may fall into any of the first three categories (though if I use sex as a weapon, the fourth category as well). My rivals fall into the last three categories, though occasionally there is friendly rivalry. And through some enlightened self-interest, any one of the four can be a resource, yet without some planning, any one of the four can also be a liability.

Maybe rivals, mates, and resources are all fungible commodities.

[Aaron]

What's the diff between friends & allies?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'W')hat's the diff between friends & allies?

[Ayame]

What happened to prey?

Rivals, mates, allies, prey.

Prey: anything you can kill and use for nourishment.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayame', 'W')hat happened to prey?

Rivals, mates, allies, prey.

Prey: anything you can kill and use for nourishment.

[Narz]

I think a happy life would consist of 0 / 10 / 90.

Where even rivals are resources because there (by design) is enough for everyone. Humans probably lived like this for most of history (or prehistory if you like) with only occasional warfare unless you were living near some assholes like the Aztecs or Europeans.

[Ayame]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '
')Where even rivals are resources because there (by design) is enough for everyone. Humans probably lived like this for most of history (or prehistory if you like) with only occasional warfare unless you were living near some assholes like the Aztecs or Europeans.

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MacG', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MacG', 'I') got this gut feeling that you missed a category. I look at people around me and try to fit them in one of your categories, but fail most of the time. What about:

D: Chaff. Useless eaters.

Then we would have something like 1/3/10/86

What possible use could I have for them? Hmm... Food?

[JustinFrankl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'W')hat's the diff between friends & allies?

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut to maybe over-simplify, a friend will help you move, an ally will help you move for a favor in return, an adversary will protest your presence in the neighborhood, and an enemy will burn down your new house.