Survivor and Human Nature
Is the human race really as combative as the media portrays? The American television show 'Survivor' was the hit of the summer. Millions watched as the survivors spear-fished for food and competed against each other for souvenirs of the life that they left behind. The cut-throat strategy of back-stabbing and alliances showed us the dark underbelly of human nature. We like to believe that humans are caring and altruistic. Does the behavior of the Survivors prove us wrong?
| The lies, alliances, and strategies seen on Survivor resemble the behavior of nations whose interests conflict with one another. |
Human nature is complex. The lies, alliances, and strategies seen on Survivor resemble the behavior of nations whose interests conflict with one another. Temporary alliances are formed and later broken based on the needs of the day.
But we don't always treat each other that way. Social psychologists have studied altruism and we know that it really does exist. Why didn't we see much altruism on Survivor? The rules of the game discourage it.
Scientists who have studied the human personality have seen it from different points-of-view. One way to describe the human personality (developed by Jay Chambers, Ph.D.) sees it as having three dimensions - the Combative, Competitive, and Personal. The combative dimension comes into play when we simply want to win. It's us against the world. Competitive activities are those where we are trying to excel and do our best. The Personal dimension looks at our relationships as either close and personal or more business-like and impersonal.
The rules of Survivor place it squarely in the Combative dimension. It's everyone for him or herself, and the winner gets a million dollars. Not only that, but the rules require you to kick somebody out of the game every week.
Why do we watch? Most of us are curious about how other people live and interact. We use others as a barometer to calibrate our own lives. Survivor gave us the opportunity to see unrehearsed moments in the lives of others. We were the voyeurs and they were the exhibitionists. While Richard going naked on his birthday is probably the supreme example of this, all of the cast agreed to allow millions of Americans to peep into their lives for a summer.
What does Survivor tell us about human nature? Probably not much. History is replete with lies, alliances, and strategies. It has already taught us the lessons that we might learn from Survivor. Have we really learned them?
- www.human-nature.com - Discussions about human nature
- Survivor - the official CBS site
- SurvivorBlows.com- an information and discussion forum for the show.
- SurvivorSucks.com - If they hate the show that much why do they watch?
- Altruism The Quest for an altruistic Society
- Selfish Animals - Scientists Debunk the Idea of Animal Altruism
- Altruism - Why Utilitarianism supports Altruism
- PETA Protests Survivor Rat Roast
- Another Opinion from the Christian Humor Guide (who didn't watch)
- What do you think? Share your opinion on the Forum
- Disagree? Submit a rebuttal