Homo Consumericus

The Nature and Nurture of Consumption

Dr. Gad Saad is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) and author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. See full bio

January 2, 2009, Evolutionary Psychology

Comments on "There Will be Universal Peace on Earth When Martians Attack Us."

There Will be Universal Peace on Earth When Martians Attack Us.

By Gad Saad, Ph.D. on January 2, 2009 in Homo Consumericus

There are many causes for war including economic, political, ideological, and religious motives. Perhaps of greatest importance from a psychological perspective, humans’ innate proclivity to engage in coalitional thinking (us versus them) makes it particularly easy to succumb to the temptation of war. Contrary to the myth of the Noble Savage, humans do not have an innate disposition for peaceful coexistence. Read More

On the necessity to hire mascots (or Martians) to embody evil

Submitted by Vahe Kassardjian on January 2, 2009 - 7:32am.

Thanks for this great posting. It definitely describes the world I know.

My follow up question is as follows: What if the "Us vs Them" polarity is not between groups of humans but causes. For example, would people unite to fight a common cause against ecological threats? Or should those threats be embodied by mascots (or Martians) for people to collaborate on a common cause?

Cheers,
Vahe

Peace On Earth

Submitted by Rashin D'Angelo on January 2, 2009 - 8:40am.

Thank you for the post. In my opinion, peace can never be attained with war. We have so many wars going on...war on drugs...war on terrorism...war in families....war within ourselves. Peace can only begin with each individual letting go of personal judgments against ourselves and the "other". Barack Obama may not be able to create peace on earth, but perhaps he can inspire us all to look at ourselves in the mirror.

Rashin D'Angelo
www.twitter.com/rashin

Limits

Submitted by Paul Maurice Martin on January 5, 2009 - 6:46am.

I feel similarly. Glad/relieved that Obama was elected yet aware that corruption in government and big business runs so deep that he's likely to be very limited in what he can accomplish.

in that case....

Submitted by YG on January 7, 2009 - 1:43pm.

CROP CIRCLES FOR PEACE!!!!!!!!!!

;)

Thanks for the insightful article. That's a great thing to stay mindful of, coalitional thinking. All the ways we speak and think that divide the human race into fragments...

I know Obama is not a superhero, but I do believe that a little inspiration goes a long way, a positive feedback loop, snowball effect, whatever you want to call it.

I'd rather look silly for being overly-idealistic in my activism than be awarded for indifference and inaction. Though, I appreciate doses of realism whenever I can get them.

World peace is an abstract concept in itself, and we can't even keep murders from happening within our own families let alone between countries, but that doesn't discourage me any from trying to promote compassion and understanding.

Good news: rapes and robberies were both down 4% in my city from 2007-2008 and there were 10-15 less murders!!! Ahhh, progress....

Much love,
YG