Reproduction Culture

[Rhett]

Has anyone heard the term 'Reproduction Culture' before?

I haven't come across the term before. To me it neatly encapsulates animal and human culture, the values, the driving forces, involved in society's unfolding. Although modern western culture is testing the limits of it.

The term encapsulates the drives towards sex, relationship formation, materialism, child-rearing, power seeking, lying, politics, aversion to truth, etc, and even art is commonly reflecting and informing on these things.

The ego, delusion, is of course central to reproduction culture.

[Carl G]

modern western culture is testing the limits of it.

Why that? How about eastern culture and Indian subcontinental culture. Lot of reproduction going on there. In fact, if you count industrial reproduction (manufacturing), China is now the reproductive center of the planet.

[windhawk]

"Reproduction culture," sums up a certain scientifically centered worldview that seeks to express animate life forms as exclusively propelled towards, well... reproduction. IMHO, this topic neatly encapsulates the fact that much of what passes for science when viewed philosophically is really more akin to pseudo-science then a rational inquiry into the nature of the physical world. Add the idea of consciousness to this and they really get wacky as in, "if you can't measure it, it doesn't exist."

Once the "social scientists" are tossed in ("Culture"), a pretty funny parade of misfits, misanthropes and hard-case head-cases ensues. And people wonder why the Buddha laughs???

Any bright scientist who has bothered to examine the philosophy of science knows this, and will admit it willingly. The problem of course is that it's possible to take an 8-12 year journey down the academic path towards becoming a "scientist" without ever having to take an introductory course in the metaphysics of science.

Why an otherwise intelligent person would devote their life towards a discipline without examining the pertinent cannon mystifies me.

They're sheep is why, and now There is a "reproductive culture!"

[Ryan Rudolph]

Reprodution culture isn't the right way to put it, we are biological organisms that are programmed to replicate our genes in the same way that a plant is programmed to seed every spring.

Nature must replicate to continue, and sexual recombination is actually quite a feat for nature when you think about it. It allows genetic variety to happen much quicker compared to asexual reproduction, which relies more heavily on chance mutations for change (very slow). Sexual reproduction is different because the genes of both parents are mixed, which creates variety much easier.

However, yes. Nature is blind. Human nature is blind. It has no foresight. Only immediate self-interest. Immediate survival. We are moving into a period where the collective is becoming increasingly aware of the problems that are present, and so new solutions are necessary. Solutions that we may or may not be able to brought about....

One might say that values of family, community ties regardless of intelligence, materialistic competition are all the things that man buys into for the sake of sexual reproduction. Every cell in the body wants to replicate and continue on, and so it is programmed to achieve this end at all costs. In a way, sexual desire is merely an expression of this deep hunger of the cells.

[Rhett]

My apologies for taking so long to respond.

modern western culture is testing the limits of it.

Why that? How about eastern culture and Indian subcontinental culture. Lot of reproduction going on there. In fact, if you count industrial reproduction (manufacturing), China is now the reproductive center of the planet.

I was actually pointing out that modern culture is testing the other limit, that of not reproducing much. People at the forefront of modern culture are in my view less disposed towards reproduction culture than most if not all cultures in the past, although they are yet to rise to wisdom.

[Rhett]

"Reproduction culture," sums up a certain scientifically centered worldview that seeks to express animate life forms as exclusively propelled towards, well... reproduction. IMHO, this topic neatly encapsulates the fact that much of what passes for science when viewed philosophically is really more akin to pseudo-science then a rational inquiry into the nature of the physical world. Add the idea of consciousness to this and they really get wacky as in, "if you can't measure it, it doesn't exist."

Once the "social scientists" are tossed in ("Culture"), a pretty funny parade of misfits, misanthropes and hard-case head-cases ensues. And people wonder why the Buddha laughs???

Any bright scientist who has bothered to examine the philosophy of science knows this, and will admit it willingly. The problem of course is that it's possible to take an 8-12 year journey down the academic path towards becoming a "scientist" without ever having to take an introductory course in the metaphysics of science.

Why an otherwise intelligent person would devote their life towards a discipline without examining the pertinent cannon mystifies me.

They're sheep is why, and now There is a "reproductive culture!"

Hi windhawk. I don't offer the term "reproduction culture" as a pinnacle understanding. It's a perspective with significant worth, that has a place below understanding of Ultimate Truth.

Understanding that society is focused on reproduction, and in the current state of affairs, the reproduction of delusion rather than the reproduction of wisdom, is important knowledge that can help people steer a course towards wisdom and counter those that may try to stop them.

What is your view of Ultimate truth?

[Rhett]

Reprodution culture isn't the right way to put it, we are biological organisms that are programmed to replicate our genes in the same way that a plant is programmed to seed every spring.

In saying that you are missing that cultures are just as much programmed towards reproduction. And cultures are also programmed to thwart behaviours that threaten reproduction, such as the pursuit of wisdom.

One might say that values of family, community ties regardless of intelligence, materialistic competition are all the things that man buys into for the sake of sexual reproduction. Every cell in the body wants to replicate and continue on, and so it is programmed to achieve this end at all costs. In a way, sexual desire is merely an expression of this deep hunger of the cells.

I like that term "at all costs". People aim to reproduce, and forfeit ever so much in that quest, such as truth, consciousness and rationality.

As for sexual desire, what most interests the philosopher is the way it manifests, in terms of the belief that it will reduce suffering, and the actuality that it dumbs down the mind, reducing it to an animal state.

[Blair]

And cultures are also programmed to thwart behaviours that threaten reproduction, such as the pursuit of wisdom.

Not quite. Cultures have only one side, by nature. It thrives on its own machina. The anti reproduction exists only as an unseen enemy. The end of life, support etc. Until such time as these humans can see this mechanism, they don't stand a chance.

[Rhett]

And cultures are also programmed to thwart behaviours that threaten reproduction, such as the pursuit of wisdom.

Not quite. Cultures have only one side, by nature. It thrives on its own machina. The anti reproduction exists only as an unseen enemy. The end of life, support etc. Until such time as these humans can see this mechanism, they don't stand a chance.

Well, i can say from personal experience that cultures do act against potential and existing threats to reproduction. All the billboards with sexy looking women on them, employers favouring married versus unmarried men, i have been intending to write a book but the culture i am in has basically made that impossible in their presence, etc.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

Has anyone heard the term 'Reproduction Culture' before?

I haven't come across the term before. To me it neatly encapsulates animal and human culture, the values, the driving forces, involved in society's unfolding. Although modern western culture is testing the limits of it.

The term encapsulates the drives towards sex, relationship formation, materialism, child-rearing, power seeking, lying, politics, aversion to truth, etc, and even art is commonly reflecting and informing on these things.

The ego, delusion, is of course central to reproduction culture.

It's a term and idea one could find in some of the works of Jean Baudrillard. He would describe reproduction as the replication of the image, the ideal as to replace the Real altogether by the sheer overwhelming volume of the replicas. Like a map completely covering the territory, like the finger becoming the night sky. Not that the Real has really disappeared, it would be mainly ignored, reduced to something absolutely uninteresting and unexciting by a mind only dealing with copies. So now it's believed we've created something, as the U2 song goes: "even better than the real thing".

Whence the characteristic hysteria of our time: the hysteria of production and reproduction of the real. The other production, that of goods and commodities, that of the grand age of political economy, no longer makes any sense of its own, and has not for some time. What society seeks through production, and overproduction, is the restoration of the real which escapes it.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Rhett,

In saying that you are missing that cultures are just as much programmed towards reproduction. And cultures are also programmed to thwart behaviours that threaten reproduction, such as the pursuit of wisdom.

I don't like using the word culture because it is such a large scale concept that doesn't point to anything in particular. People can blame culture very easily, but not understand their own daily motivations. Let us not forget that culture is merely the result of every human being acting to achieve what they want, and what they want is a matter of desire, a matter of opinion. Culture is basically the result of collective psychological forces working agaisnt each other, and supporting each other, so why not just focus on the psychology? and avoid blanketing a vast amount of human behavior with the term culture?

[Diebert van Rhijn]

...and avoid blanketing a vast amount of human behavior with the term culture?

But that's exactly what culture would mean: the sum of a particular and likely vast amount of human behavior in some context of time or location. So "modern Western culture" would stand for a vast amount of human behavior associated with the modern era and having an European origin.

Culture without specific context would point to the basic exchange of signs and symbols, differentiated from the exchange of genes or material. The reproduction aspect here would be the multiplication of signs or symbols, somehow trying making the pattern last by replication, education, communication or repetition.

[Rhett]

Rhett,

In saying that you are missing that cultures are just as much programmed towards reproduction. And cultures are also programmed to thwart behaviours that threaten reproduction, such as the pursuit of wisdom.

I don't like using the word culture because it is such a large scale concept that doesn't point to anything in particular. People can blame culture very easily, but not understand their own daily motivations. Let us not forget that culture is merely the result of every human being acting to achieve what they want, and what they want is a matter of desire, a matter of opinion. Culture is basically the result of collective psychological forces working agaisnt each other, and supporting each other, so why not just focus on the psychology? and avoid blanketing a vast amount of human behavior with the term culture?

Culture is the normative behaviour of a group of people. If the norm is to have babies, be ignorant, arrogant, malicious towards others, place materialism above integrity, etc, then that is the culture. Although people plot against each other, even at those very moments they are likely exhibiting similar values and characteristics, that define them as a culture.

Say if 35% of billboards in a given population zone depict scenes that favour reproduction, and no other category garners more than say 7%. That would constitute one argument towards that culture being disposed towards reproduction.