"The danger of tribal ostracism"

There is a universal feline nature that, like human nature, "has its nasty, competitive element" (ask any member of the local small-mammal-and-bird community) side by side with the sublime (ask Sissy and Tuck). Above Tiny contemplates her ball collection in the early morning light.

"Pinker probably would have recognized the danger of tribal ostracism," wrote our excellent friend Carol Ward — quoted in an update to our previous post — in the comments of AVI's "Why Did Steven Pinker 'Lie'" yesterday, making the point — an ur-theme of this blog — that the best and brightest thinkers among us are not immune from the emotional imperative of tribal loyalty, even when it undermines the logic of their arguments. Googling "sisu pinker" to review our own related thoughts, we came upon "The darker view of human evolution is gaining clout," the title referencing a February 2007 column by NYT token conservative David Brooks, who wrote:

Most people today share what Thomas Sowell calls the Constrained Vision [blogged here the other day], what Pinker calls the Tragic Vision and what E.O. Wilson calls Existential Conservatism. This is based on the idea that there is a universal human nature; that it has nasty, competitive elements; that we don't understand much about it; and that the conventions and institutions that have evolved to keep us from slitting each other's throats are valuable and are altered at great peril.

"SuperBalls are better than mice — or birds, or squirrels — for Tiny 'cause they don't stop moving, no matter how much you bat them around, and for us 'cause we don't have to wrestle with the moral dilemma between a cat's and our own imperatives," we blogged a couple of years back. Above, closeup this morning reveals fine points of Tiny's batting technique.

"Gaining clout?" we blogged in mock horror. [Also, what's this about "we don't understand much about it"? We guess it depends upon what your definition of "we" is. The Founding Fathers knew a whole lot about "universal human nature" and designed the Constitution accordingly. -ed]:

We'd love to think so, but unless Mr. Brooks and his friends have been channeling this blog, we doubt it's gaining clout amongst the cognoscenti just yet. If it does, we may have to hang up our blogging gloves and find an honest job.

In light of the majority of our fellow citizens' recent bout of Hope-and-Change Hysteria, we'd say now more than ever that Brooks jumped the gun.

The Cat and the Ball as Tiny goes for the jugular.

Meanwhile, propelled by the google-facilitated drowning sensation of watching our blogging life flash before our eyes, we googled "sisu tragic view human nature" and came up with this particularly apt gem from our recent post "Gone from university life was the larger tragic sense":

Now the doctrine of "feeling good about oneself" — replacing on-the-ground experience and genuine achievement as measures of self-worth among the "educated" — has thoroughly infiltrated "our mainstream universities, promising free thought but in reality indoctrinating their students." Good to know there are still stalwart Americans like Sarah Palin in touch from Day One with our own human nature and nature "out there" keeping the homefires burning.

Speaking of Sarah Palin, here's another timely post that popped up from the archives:

"It's the educated reader who can be gulled."

'Guess we'd better not hang up those blogging gloves just yet.

Update: This just in: "Glenn Beck's 5pmET Fox News program premieres on Monday, and Politico's Michael Calderone reports his first guest [will be] Gov. Sarah Palin."

Update II: The lion lies down with the lamb at Modulator's Friday Ark.

Comments

[goomp]

Maybe it comes down to this; we should always look for the kind and enlightened side of human nature while being aware of and cautious of its nasty and dangerous components.

[Gayle Miller]

Tiny is clearly following HER catly imperative which is batting a SuperBall. Sam the Wonder Cat's imperative these days is sitting on my lap - endlessly.

I got one of those laser lights for him to chase. BIG waste of money. It attracts his attention for a nanosecond and then he's off to other pursuits - mostly sleeping on top of my toes or in my lap, or going out on the porch to patrol his territory which has once again changed due to the return of the fence around the back yard. A quick knock on the dining room sliders (apparently the kitty door is only for OUT when Mom is at home) and then he's back on my lap, telling me in no uncertain terms just how COLD it is out there! The thing about Sam, in fact the thing about most cats, is that they have a very clear vision of what their lives should be and they make the effort necessary to achieve that vision, and with any luck they are owners of compliant humans like us who see to it!

[Connecticut Yankee]

Is Tiny a southpaw or a switch-hitter? Either way, she definitely bats in the majors!

[retriever]

Although we adore our two felines (a Ginger American Shorthair, and a half Siamese) the more we observe them, the kinder and gentler even the most rabid PCers appear to us. At least the latter do not disembowel baby rabbits in full view of the dining room. Or rip the hearts out of or heads off of other small mammals and catch birds in mid-air. We forgive our cats because they are hunters by nature. And because the rest of the time they are positive angels in gorgeous form compared to the average PC moron currently trying to indoctrinate my two college age kids while I fork over 40K plus each a year for the privilege (don't get me started on how much I wish those liberal professors were tiny mice at the mercy of my cats!)