(April 2, 2019 at 5:41 pm)Belaqua Wrote:(April 2, 2019 at 5:26 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I'd say there's intrinsic good in all of our animal instincts-- if you consider genetic fitness a good. What there isn't, is a good evolutionary adaptation to the close-quarters city life where you have a million people living within a few miles of you.
This is the message in Freud's wisest book, Civilization and Its Discontents.
We are animals, with animal instincts. We are also social beings, who depend on civilization for safety, the means of self-fulfillment, etc.
These things will never be fully compatible. The mismatches require constant managing, and will never be settled. Maturity means better management.
Some people settle for being hypocrites to whatever degree. Others struggle endlessly.