An excellent well written and thought provoking read. Thank you :-)
The sad truth regarding what is "Natural" though, is that humans instinctively polarise the world into "Them and Us". Poly vs Monogamous, Meat eater vs Veggie, Straight vs "Not Straight".
It's deeply ingrained tribal behaviour. In most cases these days, putting people on the other side of a hypothetical line is just a way of allowing the discriminator look down on the "Thems" and feel smug about being an "Us" [*]. But in viewing "Them" as inferior it opens the door to other more sinister behaviours. Deriding and dismissing "Them" leads to dehumanising "Them", when you see "Them" as less than human its easier to take away their rights their property, their lives.
But as you mention, we are also creatures of thought and logic and it is essential that we remember to use that logic and thought to keep such divisive impulses in check.
Sorry for ranting off at a tangent, but this is a pet subject of mine, labels create division where we should be building empathy and inclusion. So reading your post about no such thing as Poly/Mono makes me want to give you a huge hug, then put you on a pedestal and point at you shouting "This is how we should be thinking" at passers by! :-)
You rock very much!
[*] I was going to make a snide remark about "See Daily Mail readers for more on this subject" but that in itself is creating another "Them and Us" situation, see how easy it is to create divisions.
no subject
The sad truth regarding what is "Natural" though, is that humans instinctively polarise the world into "Them and Us". Poly vs Monogamous, Meat eater vs Veggie, Straight vs "Not Straight".
It's deeply ingrained tribal behaviour. In most cases these days, putting people on the other side of a hypothetical line is just a way of allowing the discriminator look down on the "Thems" and feel smug about being an "Us" [*]. But in viewing "Them" as inferior it opens the door to other more sinister behaviours. Deriding and dismissing "Them" leads to dehumanising "Them", when you see "Them" as less than human its easier to take away their rights their property, their lives.
But as you mention, we are also creatures of thought and logic and it is essential that we remember to use that logic and thought to keep such divisive impulses in check.
Sorry for ranting off at a tangent, but this is a pet subject of mine, labels create division where we should be building empathy and inclusion. So reading your post about no such thing as Poly/Mono makes me want to give you a huge hug, then put you on a pedestal and point at you shouting "This is how we should be thinking" at passers by! :-)
You rock very much!
[*] I was going to make a snide remark about "See Daily Mail readers for more on this subject" but that in itself is creating another "Them and Us" situation, see how easy it is to create divisions.