Citizens Prerogative

Episode discussion topics

• Morality is natural and ethics are human! Branding need not apply. We are ethical animals even without religion.
  
• Greed is not good when one is fully indulged, like many other addictive substances. It's a motivational thread that strings together the worse versions of many systems we've built.
  
• We gain so much more through building with cooperation on common ground: food, water, housing, electricity, and healthcare. All good ways to love thy neighbor.
  
• Naturally, our amygdala (our old, almond-sized brain) can perceive danger in the unfamiliar or undesirable. This makes sense because humans are the most dangerous animals on Earth; especially when they're in groups. This is true regardless of the game board you play on, leafy bush or concrete maze.
• Featuring the most bush you've ever heard in one episode! Plus a better relationship with meat. Thanks, RWJ!

Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.

More info

• The President of the United States is not a religious position, is not ordained a prophet, and does not otherwise embody any of the gods.
• We are hardwired for certain innate sociological survival instincts and behaviors. They are literally bred into us over successive generations of humans surviving in a human-made world.
• Learn more about "Groupthink in Action: Individual Differences Disappear in 50-Person Groups," a Neuroscience News and Research article that makes a compelling case for how we each operate differently in predictable ways when operating in groups; right down to the size that makes the difference. Again there are both beneficial and malfeasant ways this knowledge can be used for us all.
• Regarding child behavior, the quote below is from a NIH scholarly article titled, "Early Development of Prosocial Behavior: Current Perspectives."
• "It is now clear... [from] a growing number of studies, infants between 12 and 24 months of age have been shown to help, comfort, share, and cooperate with others. The mystery is how such young children can generate these relatively complex, other-oriented behaviors and what could account for their emergence in this period."

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