[MD] Neoconservatism

[Steve Peterson]

Hi SA,

You said:
>One question I have with Steve is 'unconscious
> copying of behavior".  This would put dance on the
> intellectual level.  What of copying of behavior
> that
> is not truly copying, but is original?  Is that, at
> first, intellectual behavior that could turn social
> level?  What of realization?  We are copying
> somebody's behavior,  and then realize we are doing
> this?  At first I guess it is social level, then
> this
> realization is intellectual level?

Steve:

It sounds like you understand my view.

I generally think of dancing as a social pattern, and
I think of ways of dancing as perpetuated primarily
through unconscious copying.

Consciously trying to invent a new dance move or
sequence is intellectual activity. Obviously there is
a biological aspect to dance since dance moves are
executed within the constraints of biological patterns
which are constrained by inorganic patterns. 

Lower level patterns are always involved in higher
level patterns. Biological patterns may be thought of
as waves in a soup of inorganic patterns. Social
patterns may be thought of as waves in a soup of
biological patterns and so on.

Based on that idea of lower levels being included in
higher ones, some people place patterns on the level
that is the highest one involved for a something like
an individual or dance, but here I think that dance is
primarily social rather than intellectual even though
intellect may be involved (especially for professional
dancers or choreographers who imagine even have some
system for reading and writing dance).

I find it useful to pull appart different aspects
different aspects of a consept like an individual or
dance to see what is going on.

If I think about the occasions where my own toes get a
twinkling it's hard to distinguish where to draw the
line as to what part of my behavior is participating
in social patterns and what is participating in
intellectual patterns. 

If I'm thinking "maybe if I do a little of this it
might be cool," I'm thinking a little and am therfore
engaged in intellectual behavior. Of course if I'm
thinking stuff like that or thinking at all I'm
probably not dancing very well.

As personalities we are as unaware of the social
patterns we participate in as a fish is unaware of the
water it swims in. Our personalities (i.e. our social
patterns) themselves are developed through unconscious
copying of behavior. Our intellectual selves have some
hope of glimpsing our social patterns but just as our
dancing is constrained by our biological patterns, our
thinking is constrained by our social patterns.

Regards,
Steve






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