Chronicles of Narnia

[Doc]

I've read this thread for a while, and I think it's due time that I've responded.  Up until now I've tried to sympathize with your viewpoint.  You are angered and frustrated with the association of dreadlocks with an evil character in a movie.  And as someone who has dreadlocks, I do understand the frustration you feel about this association between dreadlocks and evil, especially since the movie will be viewed by millions of people.  And I can not stress enough that it is entirely in your right, Doc, to be frustrated and angered about this.  And although I personally do not share this frustration, I respect that it is in your right.

But after this last I felt the need to respond.  You ask who defines civilized and who defines feral?  In one sense, the difference is merely evolutionary.  Loosely speaking, the civilized are those people who band together and live as a community under a common rule system, and the feral are those that do not come together and live under a common rule system.  At this point there is no value assigned to either.  The value part comes down to a question of whether or not you believe it is human nature to be a social animal.  If you believe that they are, then the person who lives in a society is in a sense more human, and the feral person more of a beast.  If you believe the opposite, that human beings are not by nature a social animal, then too the values will be opposite (same goes for belief's that a "stronger person" lives a feral life and a "weaker person" a civilized life, and vice versa).

After this Doc, you point to the history of mankind.  Here you seem to answer your own question.  If mankind began with dreadlocks, then dreadlocks were first and foremost a sign of when we had feral natures.  Now, the human beings in the world live in societies, or civilizations.  And since we (more or less) chose to live as a society, we opt for the first value judgement: it is better to be civilized than feral.  And since, as you stated, dreadlocks are first associated with the feral, it is not surprising that civilization on the whole does not wear their hair in dreadlocks.  Now I personally am not saying this is right or wrong, but following logically this is the answer to your question.

Now, as for your examples about civilizations with dreadlocks, such as Egypt etc.  Pardon the generalization, but human history on the whole has become more "civilized" the longer it exists - by civilized I mean it in the sense that societies drop habits that are linked to a more feral existance.  It is similar to the evolution of the disgust of body odor.  The 'early' civilizations, Greece, Egypt, and Rome, had a whole lot of stinky people in them.  (Yes, the Romans were famous for their baths, but these acted more as social gathering places than washbasins).

I hope this clears things up, and this post does not come off as a flame.  The answer to the question you were asking was contained in your own text.  I just figured I'd help you out a bit.

When I have more time I'll try to respond to your point about "associative Xenophobia",

Cheers,

Munk
[right][snapback]96560[/snapback][/right]

:blink:

I was not aware I answered my self. Bother.

And I look forward to your reply, with interest.

Edit.

And on second thought... After thinking for a moment:

I am downright hermit-like. I dislike human beings in general. I dislike civilisation in general. I don't like being around people. I reject society as a whole after becoming entirely to disgusted by it.

Am I feral? "Civilised" people seem a good deal more barbaric than I am. For so called "civilised" society, I look around and see child molestations, violence, drugs, alcohol, and human trash and debris. I see animals. Well, no, that is insulting to animals. I see a collective of creatures that call themselves human and claim to be a civilised society, but are nothing of the sort.

I'd rather spend time with my goats than I would with people. Or my dogs. Or my chickens. Or the horses. The cow. The cats. Heck, even the trees and the kudzu is much better company than most human beings.

I have no answers. Only questions.