Sup Forums Autists Don't Understand Social Dynamics

>What is a pecking order?

Much light in recent years has been thrown on the problem of individual differences by observations made on various sorts of animals. It is a common observation, for instance, around any barnyard that certain individuals for no apparent reason, assume priority and take precedence over other members of the same species. In a dairy herd, for example, coming from the pasture to the barnyard, a certain cow always goes through the gate first, and the others follow after in their proper order. Or, between two cows, it is observed that one will hook the other without the second one fighting back. If a strange cow is introduced into the herd there may be a bit of fighting until she establishes her proper rank, but after that rank is once established it remains fixed.

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Decades ago a German biologist has made extensive studies of similar relations among chickens. He found that in a given flock of chickens there existed a fixed system of what he called 'peck-rights'--which chicken pecked which. He found, for instance, that between A and B, say, A would peck B, but B would not peck A. Hence, A was said to have a 'peck-right' over B. This man studied the peck-rights between every pair of chickens in a given group, and he found the system, though complicated, to be quite rigid. Sometimes the peck-right system would form a closed chain. That is, A would peck B, B would peck C, C would peck D, and D would peck A.

According to press reports released then, a series of similar experiments had been made at the University of Wisconsin, using apes. According to this report, pairs of strange apes of like sexes were placed in a cage together and allowed to remain there until they established a state of mutual tolerance. It was found in each case that there was no such thing as equality between the two members of the pair. There might be quarrelling in the earlier stages, but once equilibrium was established, one of them always assumed priority over the other thereafter; one was definitely No. 1, and the other was No. 2. No. 2 in one pair might be No. 1 in another pair, but in any given pair there was nothing that corresponded to the concept of equality.

One sees identically this same type of thing among any group of children on a playground, or among any group of workmen of the same rank on a job. Certain individuals dominate, and the others take orders. These dominant ones need not be, and frequently are not, large in stature, but they dominate just as effectively as if they were.

I was fine with Ricks having a pecking order; they clearly had it in the original council. What I'm not fine is that this genius whose entire shtick is that "I'm so smart I can do anything I want. Whenever I encounter something I don't want to do, I just work around it" do jobs that they ALL could build a robot to do in half a second. It's lazy as fuck and doesn't get to the root of social hierarchy as much as just create a surface recreation of modern developed society. It was all just a ham-fisted commentary on social inequality in America.

I'm thinking the Citadel was formed with good intentions: an alliance and think-tank/workshop of Ricks from all over the Central Finite Curve. But some Ricks are more asshole-ish than others, and more evil and ruthless and ambitious. What's more pleasing to such egos than to see their peers reduced to a lower class? To know that you're a unique Rick, a better Rick than others. Of course, we see that in such a mindest, they've developed a culture where they believe they can interfere with other Ricks outside of the Citadel, like Prime Rick, and seem to control access to portal gun to prevent Ricks from leaving.

In the Declaration of Independence there occurs the familiar line: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...' This concept is philosophic in origin and, as we have seen, has no basis in biologic fact. Upon biologic fact, theories of democracy go to pieces.

The greatest stability in a social organization would be obtained where the individuals were placed as nearly as possible with respect to other individuals in accordance with 'peck-rights,' or priority relationship which they would assume naturally. Conversely, the most unstable form of social organization would be one in which these 'peck-rights' were most flagrantly violated. Examples of this latter type of instability are to be found in the case of the army during the late World War, and in many business organizations at the present time.

In the case of the army, several million men were hastily put under arms, so that there was little opportunity in advance, had any provision to do so been made, to choose the officers on the basis of spontaneous natural priority. Instead, following the well known West Point tradition of catering to the 'right people,' and to what is 'socially correct,' the officers were picked largely on the basis of the social prestige of their families, their college training, and other superficial considerations, but with little or no regard for their ability to command the respect of the men under them. Their positions consequently were maintained largely by military police power, and many an officer fared badly once the protection of that police power was relinquished. This accounts for the reputed high fatality of officers at the front from bullets in the back, and for the scores of others who took a proper beating upon the discharge of the men serving under them.

The same thing is true of business organisations. The weapon of control in this case is the police power of the state and the club of economic insecurity which is held suspended over the heads of the workmen. There are few business organisations today whose administrative staffs, selected largely upon the basis of favoritism to relatives, and upon pecuniary considerations, are not to a great extent inverted with regard to the question of natural priority. In such organisations this state of inversion is maintained under the protection of the police power of the state, and by means of the weapon of economic insecurity which the relatively incompetent staffs are enabled to wield over the heads of the workmen. Were these artificial controls removed, it need hardly be added, these functional incompetents would find their existences extremely unsafe until they gravitated back to the level where they properly belonged.

A very great amount of confusion exists as a result of mistaking social position for ability. For example, there are few of the 'Park Avenue' crowd, most of whom have inherited money but have never done anything in their lives in evidence of superior intelligence or functional capacity, who do not adopt an attitude of extreme condescension towards such people as farmers, members of the skilled trades, and other such people whose functions are the most vital (and require among the highest degrees of intelligence) of any that exist at the present time. Likewise, the professors of a university view with considerable condescension the activities of the skilled mechanics in the university machine shops, little realising that it takes a considerably higher order of intelligence, both as regards training and in every-day performance thereafter, to be a master mechanic, than it does to become and remain the 'learned' Professor So-and-So.

>the 'learned' Professor So-and-So.
No better example of this particular type of intellectual insolence need be sought than that afforded by Professor Ortega Y. Gasset in his book, Revolt of the Masses. In this book the writer is decrying the rise of the masses and uses the illustration of an African savage who has learned to drive an automobile and to use aspirin. What the professor does not appear to realise is the irony of his own situation, namely, that in the world of action his own position is practically identical to that of the savage he is describing--one of complete functional incompetence. Professor Ortega y Gasset was a Jesuit Professor of Philosophy at the University of Madrid, and, as such, so far as is publicly known, has never done anything of more importance in his entire life, than to read books, talk, and write more books.

And now in a world where every blogger, facebook soapboaxer and overly opinionated suburban white person feels they can change the world with a tweet, a new phenomena has been born: the Social Justice Warrior. Who sit around all day and bitch and moan about how everyone and everything is "racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/misogynist/fatphobic/ableist/bigoted/oppressive/problematic." in order to bring true "progress" to society

Poasting in a troll thread.

Is the joke that this thread is reposted from reddit or something?

They've almost been genocided by a rogue Rick. Their society implicitly has heavy monitoring and restrictions on what they can use. Robots could be hacked into improv MURDER-BOTS.

It's a wacky comedy cartoon. They go with whatever they believe will get a chuckle out of the audience. Do you people have no idea how television works?

They would have to treat everyone aboard as a potential criminal and regulate all contraband.

Weapons are the foremost goal and desire of many Ricks, whether it's the discovery or theft of heavily restricted designs, schematics and blueprints--such as ultra-portable nuclear devices or the dreaded planet-purging pathogens used to devastate a world's biosphere or habitat's biomes, the acquisition of megaseeds, the Truth Tortoise, Isotope 322, etc., or the pursuit of alien designs of terrible power.

Murderous legions of repurposed factory machines after a Rick has a breakdown or becomes a subversive element is too big a risk.

It is a simple matter to stand on the sidelines and criticise a gang of workmen for their lack of enthusiasm and apparent indolence, but if one places himself on the job as a member of the gang and under the same circumstances, it is observed that he soon acts in essentially the same manner as the others do. An excellent example comes in the case of what was known as an 'extra gang' on the Union Pacific Railroad. This gang consisted of about 80 men, and was under the direction of a tough Swede by the name of John Swanson. Under Swanson's leadership this was an efficient and well organised body of men with an excellent esprit de corps. After making a record in laying four complete railroad switches in one day, Swanson would take a look around at the men and remark, 'Well, boys, we didn't do much today, but we sure will give it hell tomorrow, won't we?'

Finally Swanson left the gang for a two-week vacation. During his absence the acting boss was an old-time section foreman, who had not done anything in years more vigorous than to sit on the railroad embankment and watch the Mexicans dig weeds. The section foreman spent the two weeks sitting on a flat car smoking a pipe, and as long as the men made the slightest pretense at work he appeared to be quite contented. Within one week this highly efficient gang of workmen was almost completely demoralised. They were becoming disgruntled with the job, and were volubly wishing that John Swanson would hurry back.

(cont.)

The significant thing here is that we are dealing with identically the same men in both cases. An outside observer, watching this gang perform under the leadership of John Swanson, would have described it as a fine gang of workmen. Another observer, describing the gang under the direction of the section foreman, would have described it as being composed of a completely shiftless lot, and here, again, both would have been correct. An ordinary cross section of workmen react to competent leadership by becoming a competent crew, while the same ordinary cross section of individuals under incompetent leadership tend towards a state of complete demoralisation.

In other words, when any large number of individual human beings under the same set of environmental circumstances tend to behave in a certain specific manner, it is safe to say that any other similar cross section of human beings under the same circumstances would respond in a like manner.

Regardless of what occupation a man may pursue, the chances are highly in favour of his being obliged to pursue that occupation in approximately the same manner as it is pursued by others. One may not like it, but if he happens to follow any one of these professions he will soon find out that if he does not indulge in the same practices common to that profession, he will soon be seeking employment elsewhere. Members of a profession are merely ordinary human beings who are obliged to operate under a set of controls which are peculiar to the particular profession considered; any other human being under the same controls is likely to behave in a similar manner.

Can I borrow some the time you used to write all this shit out?

How many votes dis this get?

Yes, we are all slaves to social institutions.
Is there a point you are slowly rambling towards?

Where's the tl;dr version?

He's trying to say it makes sense that Rick would allow himself to be put on factory duty.
This patently untrue. That factory job could be automated in half a second, no social pressure can make you carry your load on foot when there's free to use wheelbarrows nearby.

Thank you for the knowledge OP.
If this is from a book, may I know the name?
Either way I applaud the stance you present.

Something I haven't seen mentioned much in these threads is how much of Rick's "success" comes from taking advantage of others. He's constantly stealing shit. A huge percentage of his adventures seen or alluded to has to do with him taking advantage of someone or taking something.

"We hearby proclaim that wheelbarrow use is immoral, illegal and carries an immediate death penalty!"
Why would they do this? To show they are in charge, as dipshits with just a small amount of power over someone have done for all of time. And in almost every version of himself, Rick is kind of an asshole.
Also, why are you getting hung up on a small detail like this? In an infinite universe with infinite Ricks there isn't one version that would keep his intellect but still do a dumb job? Is your imagination that limited?

this is the most reddit shit i've ever seen and i'm an active redditor

>i'm an active redditor
you've single-handedly out-reddited this thread by saying that

It has been said multiple times that the protagonist Rick is the Rickest Rick of the mall and that he is also one of the few who don't want to work with the Citadel.

The other Ricks more or less bow down to the boss Ricks because all of them are on roughly the same level, no one has a clear upper hand except those with the most resources and then an all-out war would likely destroy everyone. Also, the benefits of the Citadel (protection from respective governments) seem to outweigh the downsides, even if those downsides are depression and rigid social order.

The Rickest Rick simply can't accept having a boss and that apparently makes him completely unique in the R&M multiverse.

The Citadel is a pyramid scheme.

But you're modelling that assumption of their behavior off Main Character Rick, who by his very definition is the RENEGADE Rick.

Do you not watch the show very often?

>Making broad statements off of anecdotes
No

Doofus Rick is smart as fuck but not wise and could end up in that situation. In a place with infinite Ricks many could end up there and there's Ricks that would take pleasure in controlling and perpetuating the suffering of other versions of himself.

I think you got the point across succinctly.

/thrd

I want to hear about this.

>i'm an active redditor

Then I'd suggest fucking off back there.

It's ok OP but
>comparing people to animals
is pretty retarded

But what if, now hear me out here, what if *blurp* the show is retarded in its own right, and this is a way to cancel out the dumb with an equally stupid interpretation.

>Doofus Rick isn't wise
Nah his issue seems more he's a bit of a pussy.

It's actually extremely coherent and justified.
Newsflash : we're animals.

The fate of Simple Rick certainly fits that description.

yes

>In other words, when any large number of individual human beings under the same set of environmental circumstances tend to behave in a certain specific manner, it is safe to say that any other similar cross section of human beings under the same circumstances would respond in a like manner.
...no?

Exactly. Maybe. I dunno. Could be. Depending. It's all hersay. OP doesn't know what he's talking about. Maybe.

>...no?
Right.

That wall of text doesn't change the act that is lazy fucking writing. It's not believable that someone like Rick would be subservient enough to stay in the Citadel for more than a day. You'd think there would be more exceptions than the main Rick, but Reddit so loves their "unique Mary Sue".

The thing about a lot of these shitty books written in the early 1900s and earlier is they're just these broads suppositions based on these baseless speculations of his and stories he "totally heard" happened to a friend of a friend of a friend. That's why you should be skeptical of any field where the ideas haven't changed in a hundred years. A lot of it is based on made up bullshit, not experiment yielded empirical evidence.

Anyway OP the autism is people not realizing the Citadel is the way it is for comedy and social comedy purposes, not because it's a logically workshopped example of what such a society would actually be like.

Notice that the level of technology in the Citadel isn't that much more advanced. Considering how many of the Ricks are super scientists, you'd think they'd be disembodied brains living in a Dyson sphere or something. But the bottom line is you can't make a funny episode about that. It's not relatable.

>It's not believable that someone like Rick would be subservient enough to stay in the Citadel for more than a day.
You are right, but people on the net crave in-show justification.

>you'd think they'd be disembodied brains living in a Dyson sphere or something.

here's the actual answer which also happens IRL: economics.

they haven't got enough actual work for all the ricks. they probably never have. but they do have enough to pay them with. they could tell that rick to shove off and he probably would, but if they did he wouldn't be there when someone crashes the citadel and kills half the people on it and they suddenly do need more ricks. or maybe they don't need him to do the job he is doing, but for some specific situation that may happen they will need a specific rick's skillset and would prefer him to be available should that ever happen. and look, here's a factory with an opening for someone to pull a lever every few seconds and here's a rick that's already being paid but has nothing to do. and if you didn't keep him busy he'd probably be off getting drunk half the time and not show up when he's actually needed.

alternatively they just find less competent ricks somewhere and throw portal guns at them.

(cont.)

When the Ricks returned to repair the citadel, their home looks very different from just months before. The disruption of industry and shipping means that megaseeds no longer travel from farms to the citadel. People know that the canned goods they have hoarded will not last long. Water and sewage system remained still broken down. Sewage build-up in the utility tunnels added to the threat of plague and famine in Morty Town. Stray Mortys had fled the settlement, those that could, first in cars, then on foot. Troops of Mortygees plunger nearby habitats and still active portal arrays for food and fuel, then move on. Mortys that have gotten 'too big for their breeches' had to be put down, along with any rogue Ricks that resisted. Some managed to but not everyone could leave. Those with different priorities demanded that they stay in the city to rebuild. They follow a grim economy: New edicts were issued to outlaw technologies with easily exploitable security measures that would threaten citadel safety. Portal gun technology was both monitored and heavily regulated, with isolation creating a commodity and labour based economy. (AIs cannot be trusted for certain jobs, they can be subverted by unscrupulous people with specialised knowledge. Of course, there are some jobs that cannot be trusted to them either.)

Within the citadel, Ricks labour to build a strong haven for their Rick overlords and rebuild their amenities to which they had been accustomed to--this is where we are in-story when the episode begins. Their society having been rebuild, but with a lot of the chronic backstabbing societal baggage. You get that with one to three people. It only takes one person with a self-defeating attitude on a self-destructive downward spiral.

>Living as disembodied brains
There are many things which we consider valuable for their own sake, such as sex, dancing, food and drink, sport, etc. These are things which would be lost with a life spent as a disembodied brain. youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9SEv7zwHw

>people not realizing the Citadel is the way it is for comedy and social comedy purposes, not because it's a logically workshopped example of what such a society would actually be like.

Or people do realize this and just find it to be very funny or well executed

4chinz is the citadel.

Knowing how to do something is different from having the means to do it.