[MD] Regarding The Fundamental Nature of The Intellectual Level

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Marsha]
I'm not sure if purchasing an organic apple is really 
deliberate.  Sophisticated?  Yes.  Deliberate.  I don't think 
so.  Most of what we do on a social level is automatic.

[Arlo]
I disagree. When I form the intent to purchase an organic apple, 
decide the best strategy for enacting this purchase, and then put 
this plan into effect, I am acting in a very deliberate way. It is 
not automatic, it requires me to think, to plan, to make decisions 
(which store, when, etc), plan for contingencies (what if they are 
out of apples but have organic pears?). And, this happens within a 
broader context of deliberations, what am I eating and when, etc.

I'd say that both social and intellectual activity is deliberate (in 
terms of human activity). The difference is in the object of 
activity. Don't get me wrong, when people first started asking "what 
is blueness?" it set them on a vastly more complex (higher evolved 
level) than "simply" the social negotiations required to use "blue" 
to point to particular experiences with certain objects.

Consider that if we think of social activity as "automatic", what 
does this say about the period in human evolution pre-dating the 
intellectual level? Were all humans automatons until intellect 
appears on the scene? Or did social activity "automate" once we 
started thinking intellectually? If so, why? Better, how?

Instead I'd argue that in certain cultures, certain social and 
intellectual patterns become very reified and thus appear to be 
"automatic". But this appearance of automation masks the very real 
agency social and intellectual levels afford, regardless of whether 
that agency is non-conformative or used to reify static patterns.

But we may end up agreeing to disagree on this, and that's okay.

As for your "cougar" daughter, this is another one of those strange 
patriarchal areas. What would you say the male equivalent would be? 
We have MILFs all over the place, but do we have any DILFs? We know 
that "Stacey's Mom" has got it going on, but what about Stacey's dad? 
Does he? On the other hand, I've been told by some women I know that 
the terms are actually empowering because they force people to 
recognize that women (not just teen girls) are sexual beings, that 
they validate the sexual identity of older women. Thoughts?