Re: violence...

Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Fri, 24 Sep 1999 00:24:07 -0700 (PDT)

On Fri, 24 Sep 1999, Michael S. Lorrey wrote:

> From my experience it has little to do with being hungry. Its a matter
> of working the brain in its natural environment, giving it a complex
> problem of tracking and stalking another creature that has been evolved
> to avoid your best efforts. Making the kill at that point may or may not
> be necessary.

It is interesting, for me to notice my own tendency to translate a hunter/gatherer mindset from animals to the opposite sex. I have little interest in tracking or killing a wild animal (perhaps because I have little experience with whether or not they are a challenge). However, "stalking" a woman is an interesting challenge. I know women who have similar perspectives with regard to men. For me, making the "kill" has definite "responsibility" consequences, so you have to consider carefully *exactly* what you want as proof of a successful hunt.

> I'm sure the exercise, the totally immersed environment might have a
> contributing factor, as its a much higher bandwidth input than any
> simulator game, but the hunt is the real fun.

By this argument, you must then accept that is is not the reality of the hunting/violence per se, but the *perception* of that experience that you desire.

> As Lazarus Long said, "I've had the most fun when I wasn't sure
> where my next meal was coming from."

Clearly, lack of fullfillment of basic needs sharpens the experience. Generally speaking the average human in Western cultures in this day and age lives in an environment of very "dull" expriences. Hunting is perhaps an expression of the desire to recapture the vividness of the reality that we evolved in.

Robert