I drove up to Moody, Texas for the annual Scott family reunion. It was held at Mother Neff State Park, where many of the charming park facilities were built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. We’ve had the reunion at several different places over the years, but it always seems to be somewhere in the rural Texas interior. It was nice to see family on such a nice day. Eventually, however, I was overwhelmed by the worst allergy attack I’ve ever had. It just so happens that the park is covered in massive pecan trees and I’m allergic to both pecan pollen and grass pollen. I also forgot my allergy medicine at home, which was dumb. I checked the allergy forecast later and pecan and grass were high. I hope this doesn’t last too much longer.
Sometimes I look at the people around me, and I realize we’re just monkeys wearing clothes. So much of our daily lives revolve around the same things as our presumed primate ancestors. Dominance, competition, hierarchy, sociability, and grooming. We are social animals, and the social element permeates all things. Why do musicians or actors perform? For the love of music or drama? Maybe, but mostly for the love of performance. The desire to be paid attention to. If it was for love of music they would play and listen only for themselves. We live in a social world. Most of our activities engage our social activities: blogging, reading books about fictional others, watching others on television, eating with others. Society has a life of its own and imposes its own order outside the individual. For proof of this, observe how difficult it is to violate fundamental social taboos. Try showing up to work naked, for example. We cannot be true individuals and remain in society. All social groups have their own rules. It’s just a question of which group to belong to.