Social Animals

Well, it's been a busy few weeks (by my standards). It's definitely been making me feel refreshed and upbeat (although it's not doing the same for my bank balance) but now I've had a chance to p[ause and take stock, I'm left feeling rather hopeless and apathetic. The start of a new year, a new decade has left me feeling a tad down shall we say. Partly about the complete waste of the last year and also about the fact that this year is shaping up to bring more of the same or perhaps be even more of a waste. I'm not where I want to be and certainly not where I thought I'd be by this point. There just seems to be so much in the way at the moment that I'm inclined not to bother trying anymore, although I know that would be the worst thing to do. Apathy never helped anyone acheive great things (or even minor acomplishments come to that). This year I really need to knuckle down, get focused and get on with things that will help me towards my goals (whatever the hell they are) but I'll get round to that eventually! Anyway, due to family issues it seems my unemployment may actually have occurred at just the right time to be useful so I suppose that counts for something.

I didn't really intend this to be about me doing nothing. What I wanted to write about was friendship and to look at the social nature of humans. I'm not entirely sure why, but this has been in my thoughts of late.
We certainly aren't the only species that relies on and actively seeks the company of its own kind. In fact a great many species do, seeking to be surrounded by others and all the interaction involved be it positive or negative. On the surface this could simply be viewed as a grouping formed out of neccesity. For many prey species a group provides safety; more eyes and ears to watch out for danger, more individuals to fight back and less chance of being targeted from among the group. Predators may group to improve their chances of bringing down prey and to defend themselves from rivals and for foraging animals, a larger group means protection as well as more hands to gather food. On a deeper level, there would seem to be a much stronger reason for some of these groupings- almost a craving for company.
Where animals live in social groups they have a clear social order that is maintained by strict rules. All the animals within the group learn these rules from a young age. They are crucial for the family to work and flouting the rules can result in aggression, violence, rejection and even death for a group member who chooses to do so. All the individuals know their place and society is reletively harmoneous. Why is it that humans can't seem to maintain or accept any real social order and harmony? With humans everything is so complex and diverse. People can't and don't learn all the rules of socially acceptable behaviour while young- there are too many and they are too fluid. The consequences for flounting group rules are not a matter of life and death as they are for other species and they can often appear non-existant. The way that people gather and group in such huge numbers lends them an almost insect-like quality. The swarming, invading, attacking and hoarding qualities are all shared. The main difference being that humans lack the order and organisation which these huge insect colonies use to function effectively as a community.
Friendship for its own sake is a concept that appears to be uniquely human. Within other species there is little choice over the members present within a group. Animals do not need to seek out those who share their specific interests or have characteristics in common as their similarities occur naturally within their daily lives. Why do humans have their ideal of finding one partner for life? Although there is evidence of faithful pairings within the animal kingdom, this is usually only for the duration of one breeding season. Come the next season, animals tend to find a new partner. So why is it that a person can feel so intensely drawn to another over such a long time, sometimes a whole lifetime? What is it about humans that makes them so unique?

I'm in the sort of mood where I could ramble for days but I think I'll leave this there for now!