Kilting as cultural politico-economic subversion?

[Bugbear]

I, of course, view these as the extended phenotypes* of the Scottish kilt meme and it's alleles within the world of human culture. I could go on, but won't...

* Richard Dawkins, The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (New York: Oxford University Press, Revised ed., 1999).

[bigdad1]

[QUOTE=Bugbear;902387]I, of course, view these as the *extended phenotypes of the Scottish kilt meme and it's alleles within the world of human culture. I could go on, but won't...

I'm afraid you have already "gone on."

[Vegan Scot]

I, of course, view these as the *extended phenotypes of the Scottish kilt meme and it's alleles within the world of human culture. I could go on, but won't...

*
Dawkins, Richard. The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene. 1982. Revised eddition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.


__________________
I'm a larval curmudgeon.

Some day, I will achieve the freedom of cantankerously cynical pessimism,
Or be eaten by birds in the attempt.

Points for citing Dawkins.
Additional points for continuing to have the best forum signature.

[bdkilted]

Bigdad1; I agree with you. There is an element of heritage, and of course a way to stand out in the crowd and I look GOOD in a kilt; however, Thomas your statements sound more anarchist. Of course that is what deconstructionist are... so, each their own, but try not to bring western civilization down on our heads.

[artificer]

Perhaps this is a good time to offer up Occam's Razor for consideration. I just like kilts.

Ah, but I already (jest-fully) sited Our Dear Occam in my post, (That, and it lets your breath. ) ie, it's just nice to wear a kilt and give the boys and airing.

[Bugbear]

Points for citing Dawkins.
Additional points for continuing to have the best forum signature.

Thanks Thomas.

Ya, I decided to cut a bunch of stuff out of my post, but be assured that what I would have posted was well cited and used credible sources.

[cormacmacguardhe]

Being at heart somewhat anarchistic, that has something to do with my kilt wearing. I do also have cultural and heritage connections. I do live in an area where there are some others who go kilted, this may be the reason that I get few if any negative comments.

[MacBean]

If kilt-wearing is often really an attribute of men's desire for individuation and differentiation from other men, then why are they associated with joining in clans, and why are the commercial purveyors of Highland Wear so successful?

I am thinking perhaps we are seeking to belong more than we are seeking anarchistic apartness, so that kilt wearing is a symptom of a dysfunctional modern society where community has been broken.

But we are never really apart from our communities and their endeavors, we just feel that way, just as we are always individual and also united. Well anyway, I understand what I'm saying... but Bugbear, you nearly lost me! Cultural alleles? Nicely put, almost a sutram. We have here the birth of a philosophy of kilting, and Bigdad cuts through the b.s. and eats the mango.

[Bugbear]

If kilt-wearing is often really an attribute of men's desire for individuation and differentiation from other men, then why are they associated with joining in clans, and why are the commercial purveyors of Highland Wear so successful?

I am thinking perhaps we are seeking to belong more than we are seeking anarchistic apartness, so that kilt wearing is a symptom of a dysfunctional modern society where community has been broken.

But we are never really apart from our communities and their endeavors, we just feel that way, just as we are always individual and also united. Well anyway, I understand what I'm saying... but Bugbear, you nearly lost me! Cultural alleles? Nicely put, almost a sutram. We have here the birth of a philosophy of kilting, and Bigdad cuts through the b.s. and eats the mango.

Actually, Alex Pentland, at the MIT Human Dynamics Laboratory, is doing some research showing that people communicate through body language and other ways, outside of conscious awareness, to form types of decision making networks, and other groups of sorts; I'm citing his book which is rather mind blowing.1

I've stated several times on the forum that the world a person perceives is the one that person's brain is simulating, and the other books I cite cover that assertion: Blackmore, Crick, Ratey, and especially Ramachandran.2

The University of Leeds article discusses the complex, unconscious processing a person's brain can perform during intuition or "gut feelings."3

So if you put all these together, that is where I am coming from in any discussion of human culture; especially that we are perceiving and experiencing a world that is like a simulation across a network of brains; we influence and effect each other's perception of the world. Somehow, that is where your sense of self exists. We tend to go about our lives without always distinguishing between the world in our heads, and the outside world.

I tried to whittle it down to the very bare bones; I hope it still makes sense.

*****
1. Alex Sandy Pentland, and TRACY HEIBECK, Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008).

2. Susan Blackmore, Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1st Touchstone ed., 1995); V. S. Ramachandran, and Sandra Blakeslee, Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind (New York: HarperCollins, 1998); John J. Ratey, A User's Guide To The Brain: Perception, Attention, And The Four Theaters Of The Brain (New York: Pantheon Books/Random House, 2001).

3. University of Leeds, "Go With Your Gut -- Intuition Is More Than Just A Hunch, Says New Research" ScienceDaily (March 6, 2008), http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0305144210.htm (accessed September 15, 2009).

[jrmiller]

At our recent Irish Festival men (and women) were buying kilts from three different kilt vendors as fast as they could get measured. I have never seen so many kilts walking around except at battle of the bands!

Makes ya wonder when the general populace that bought those kilts will start wearing them around town instead of festivals. Bet it's coming soon. Once that happens, we are going to have to find something else to stand out from the crowd with.... or not.

I sometimes enjoy the distinctiveness of wearing a kilt out and about where no one else has one. However, I gotta say that I just plain like them, that's my best "reason" among all of the potential reasons. Perhaps a kilt aficionado!