Theory & Practice

 

by Zvi Baranoff

You and I and others that are "political" are inclined to see theory as important and have theories as to why things are and how they should be. This is all well and good but...much that happens just won't fit neatly in the boxes we construct.

I haven't written much directly about this, but I do often think about it. I use the mental shorthand of referring to "sex and drugs and rock & roll" but it is more than that.

Of course, some thinkers have addressed some of the matters such as racism and sexism and antisemitism. This is part of what I am considering, but not all of it.

There are factors that motivate individuals that are unseen, perhaps unknowable and sometimes irrational. We can "study" history and draw conclusions but the hidden motivators are left out.

Of course, I am not the first one to note these but historians, politicians and activists generally ignore those matters because they don't fit our theories.

Classic examples go back to ancient mythologies describing the arbitrary action of gods as well as old literature/sagas. Think David in the Bible or Trojan War as we understand it through the Iliad & the Odyssey. While we can write all of that stuff off as fictional, it is representative of some of the underlying irrational motivations of our species.

Religion has been a big motivator. Some speciation has been made about ergot poison being a factor in religious revelations. Leftists can choose to write off religion as an opiate… Well…

So, things like jealousy, lust, superstition, substance abuse and also far subtler (perhaps) factors like intestinal bacteria, being left-handed, allergies all factor in. 

Maybe the need to pee… How does a full bladder effect one's decisions? A lumpy mattress and a bad night's sleep?

General Grant was an alcoholic. Al Capone suffered from syphilis. What else contributed to decisions large and small that may have been made at key turning points in history?

So - I am not sure how to work allergies and intestinal bacteria into a unified theory, but our understanding of human behavior is way short if we don't factor in the unseen and often irrational things that make us dance or jump or whatever else we do.