And Now, Another Religion... Baseball!
What one wild night in 1974 tells us about human group dynamics
One problem with talking about the uses and abuses of religion, with respect to worldly violence, is that it can distract us from considering our deeper human nature.
We are a group species, with all the weaknesses and strengths that this implies, but our nearest genetic kin—both the chimpanzees and the bonobos—also teach us that location plays a huge role in shaping our behaviour within a group. Chimpanzees are more violent and independent, which makes sense due to their denser forest habitats: everyone up his own tree when danger arrives! Meanwhile, bonobos are more likely to use social grooming and sex to stabilize group dynamics—and why not, when being more plains-dwelling means that they benefit from acting together against threats?
So what about we humans?
How does environment coax better or worse behaviours from our species?
That’s the question we’re going to be exploring below the fold, for paid subscribers, through a story from 50 years ago that might be well known to baseball enthusiasts… but maybe not in the way that I’m going to be telling it.
Because, yes, there was a staggering brawl on June 4, 1974, which spilled out during a game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland Stadium.
But just as with the religious question we reflected on yesterday, it is very easy to pluck an anecdote from the annals of human history simply to revel in our brutality.
A more interesting question is why the violence broke out then, and not on other nights. Yes, humans have always had the ability to make our chimpanzee cousins proud—but in what social environments does it become easier for us to act otherwise?
Let’s see what the story of “Ten-Cent Beer Night” might have to say.
For those who won’t be joining us below the fold, may your own outings be a lot more peaceful this weekend. Watch your noggins, too, while following the latest stressors on the news—and try to keep in mind that all of what we’re witnessing, in the way of worldly violence, has a powerful environmental dimension, too.
(Relatedly, I regret to inform you that I have some heavy themes lined up for Monday and Tuesday, so consider yourselves warned. Would that our world were kinder.)
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