Adam Jones Journal

This section is a collection of essays - loosely related to the system we live in.

We know that there really is such a thing as "the system". It's hard to define what the word really means, but we can see it in operation. Or we can feel it in our guts when it is operating on us.

Whenever you run into a situation which is grossly unfair - and the rules won't let you do anything to fix that unfairness, you can be pretty sure that you have just encountered "the system".

Years ago, the phrase "working within the system" became a kind of cliche. The phrase was used by people who recognized that standing on the outside and yelling didn't accomplish anything. The theory was that you should work "within the system", get into a position of power and later on you would be able to change things for the better.

Some people tried that approach. Over the years, they never really accomplished anything, but after a while they forgot the original goal and had a nice life.

Others tried the same approach and after twenty or so years they became bitter and cynical. They reached a conclusion: We are powerless to control our world - and since we are powerless, no one is really responsible for anything. Blame it on the "system" - it's not our fault.

You can argue for or against either of these views. It doesn't matter because we are still working with that vague, unformed non-definition of the word "system".

Some of these essays are gripes about the way things work. Others describe some things about human behavior that might be important. Some are challenges to conventional wisdom, and a few are just Smart Alec rants.

If we can't precisely define the "system", maybe we can sneak up on a definition

There are some very simple rules that describe parts of human behavior - as simple as some of the rules that scientists are beginning to discover in other species.

Most of the human race wants to believe that human beings are special, and that the way we behave is completely different from the social behavior of animals.

If you point out some similarities, they will tell you why you are wrong: People use language and are presumed to be rational. Our behavior is learned rather than instinctive. We have something called free will. We have a soul. We make moral choices. God made us in his own image and put us in charge.

Scientists have always been trained to avoid anthromorphizing animal behavior. Watching an animal and trying to describe it's behavior in terms of human values and emotions can lead to some really stupid errors.

Unfortunately, a scientist can also look at a chimpanzee mother with a dead baby and deny that there could be any similarity between the animal's grief and human grief. He might even deny the possibility that an animal can feel anything like a human emotion.

In the last few years, that has been changing. Experimenters have found that the great apes recognize themselves in a mirror, know that they are looking at their own reflection, and have a lot of very human attributes - such as recognizing when they have been screwed and objecting noisily. If two apes do the same task and one gets a grape and the other a slice of cucumber, the one who gets the less desirable treat lets the experimenter know about it.

Starting with insects and throughout the evolutionary chain, both bugs and animals do some very complicated things based on some very simple rules. Ants behave like little tiny robots.

And it's true: we are not ants, and we are not programmed robots. But we are capable of acting just as blindly and just as mechanically when we fail to pay attention to what we are doing and why we do it.

So how is Wall Street like a termite mound? First you have to know a little about termites and a little about stock analysis and corporate management. Then you have to have a slightly warped sense of humor.

Then you have to wonder if it is really a joke and whether there might be some real similarities.

It's all a question of rules. There are a lot of rules that describe human nature. There are people who understand some of the rules. There are some people who use those rules.

And if they are really good at what they do, you buy the tooth-paste they want you to buy, and you vote for the candidate they want you to vote for.

And you are convinced that it was your own idea.