Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA09478 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 26 May 2000 01:45:10 +0100 From: "havelock" <havelock@tig.com.au> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Shaving Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 10:44:08 +1000 Message-ID: <LNBBJFJFCJFOIJDOGJMAGEJEEPAA.havelock@tig.com.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 In-Reply-To: <392D2D63.6B8B96A@mediaone.net> Importance: Normal Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
more on the hair....
>
> > >In medieval europe the beards of
> > >vassals were grasped by lords as a sign of domination...not pacifism.
> >
> > Pacifism is often an acceptance of domination, at least for the moment.
>
> Pacifists, however, must live in a society where they are in the minority.
> During WWII they were considered cowardly. A beard is a a
> statement which said
> "Don't think I am cowardly" - and hence, a "correction" if you will of the
> peception that they are cowardly by projecting an image of power.
It's probably a little more complex that that. I don't think the beard was
worn to make a 'I'm not a coward statement' it was probably to seperate them
from the social herd. It would have acted as a passive symbol of
differentiation. Also wearing a beard in an non-hirsute society would have
moved the individual closer to being percieved as 'western', therefore
suspect ( quite courageous)
I would like to think that pacificts are not a minority in any society.
Sure the herd will follow the leader in any culture. As a species while we
have a capacity for war we are 'generally' benign.
Wars are started by individuals not peoples that is the nature of a
hierachical society. It would be more acurate to say that there is a
minortiy of people that are willing to publically display these views,
sometimes at threat to themselves
>
> Frankly, however, it's a personal expression that I feel a little
> queasy about
> analyzing too much on a personal level. I think it would be more
> fruitful to
> look at social trends in different societies.
>
aren't social trends identified by enumerating 'personal expression' - isn't
this a memetic list? you know any meme is copied by imitation...
>
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