Amalgamated Amalgamations

I have an odd love of harmonizing minor human interactions.

Here’s an example. Rather than thinking about how to get through an intersection first, it feels best to maximize throughput (an information systems term that should be self-explanatory.)

I know this sounds kind of goofy, but if everyone did it, shit would work a whole lot better, and we’d all get there faster.

The main point of interest for me, though, is why does this feel good?

Abstract Harmonization?

One explanation might be an inherited cognitive bias for harmonizing complexity.

It has been hypothesized that a variety of different phenomena — beauty, attractive mathematical and scientific theories, organizational structure — are examples of this.

Stated more precisely, a theory generates emotions based upon order-within-complexity: It feels good when many items come together in a simple manner.

This is not a new suggestion but can be seen in classic definitions of beauty.

Lorin Friesen in Theories Generate Emotions

Abstract harmonization doesn’t seem adequate. A different possible explanation is more interesting, as well.

Or Baked in Bias?

Traffic harmonization might be a tiny example of a part of our emotional makeup. A part that’s poorly expressed in English.

I get a similar buzz from other similar experiences: family DIY projects, Boy Scout Troop log and rope engineering feats back in my youth, solid play in coop board games, great team efforts at work, etc. (The main financial backer of our startup, Mountain Hardwear, said we executed with “near military precision” and, as a result, I experienced enough well-coordinated group effort to develop a whole theory of optimal organizational structure.)

We’re a prosocial, cooperative–and even altruistic species. For that to happen, there has to be an emotional component. Cooperative ‘tribal’ action has to somehow feel good.

Further evidence: when someone fails to play nicely in my mentally orchestrated scenario at an intersection, I’m unduly irritated.

Why? It’s not like I gave them a script.

I don’t think I’m alone in being irritated, and irritation can escalate dangerously. Road rage seems to be triggered when someone fails to play by the rager’s assumed rules for how a traffic interaction should play out.

Future Echos of the Past

My task is to complete the work of Neolithic shamanism
– Terence McKenna

I believe there’s another component in addition.

I believe there’s another component in addition.

Well before we were human, an ancestor species with a brain 2/3rds of ours used fire and stone tools. It’s pretty certain that a million years ago young hominids sat around poking the fire with a stick.

My brother, who ran a large in-home daycare business for decades, says you can keep any number of kids busy for any amount of time picking berries and eating them. Similarly, a favorite activity of mine is grilling oysters on the beach. It feels right in a particular way.

My wife, son, and I recently attended a wonderful lecture by Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged, Chair of the Anthropology Department at the California Academy of Sciences. Dr. Alemseged led the team that discovered Salem, the earliest human ancestor ever found, predating Leakey’s Lucy by 150k years.

Partway through his presentation, he discussed a key problem in human evolution: how do you get enough calories to feed our big brains? His solution, based on evidence from caves along the former coast of southern Africa, is shellfish. High-quality protein; easy to gather. Bingo!

Poking a fire with a stick, gathering and eating berries, being out in wild nature, grilling oysters and mussels on the beach — there’s something about all of them that echoes through our evolutionary past. At least if you’re me.

Harmonized collective action differentiates us as a species. Like picking berries, being in nature, and grilling oysters, it has a deep resonance.

Now, Is There a Word for That?

The issue is how to get more of this in our lives. It would help if we had a vocabulary that was up to the task. What are the words for how harmonized collective action feels?

Do we look for them in the vocabulary of team sports or the military, eg. esprit de corps?

Or in the interactions of musicians? There we have a range from those in symphony orchestras to members of jazz ensembles to jam bands or roadhouse rockers? Does each group generate its own vocabulary?

What about the connection between those roadhouse rockers and all the folks up and dancing?

When I have conversations about a vocabulary of connection, folks have suggested the Danish word hygge, but that doesn’t require a tribe or even a partner.

I’d like to thank James Ware for a better alternative: koselig, the Norwegian philosophy of thriving in winter. I think it might be a place to start exploring.

Ware cites the research and experience of Kari Leibowitz based on a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Tromsø, Norway.

It appears that far north, where things are coldest, Norwegians have figured out how to not just survive but thrive.

Quoting Mr. Ware –

Leibowitz explains that the koselig mindset is about making the best out of a bad situation, finding a way to “connect with the opportunities of this moment for greater reflection and deeper meaning and stronger relationships and social connection.

Leibowitz explains that the koselig mindset is about making the best out of a bad situation, finding a way to “connect with the opportunities of this moment for greater reflection and deeper meaning and stronger relationships and social connection.

In an article on her blog, That Scandinavian Feeling, Ingrid Opstad writes:

Koselig is in many ways Norway’s version of hygge because both concepts are all about feeling cozy and finding joy in the little things. Where I think koselig differs from hygge is that it is even more focused on the social aspect as well as a connection with nature and the outdoors.

With our dark and long winters, we feel the need to have something positive to look forward to and to keep us happy.

Koselig — The Norwegian Concept That Will Help You Through the Winter

In an article on her blog, That Scandinavian Feeling, Ingrid Opstad writes:

Perhaps my Scandihoovian heritage has shaped me. It could be all about having to hunker down in long houses for 6 months of winter with a bunch of other humans — always an irritating lot. If you can’t find ways to cultivate joy and connection, you’ve got a problem.

Granted, koselig isn’t full throttle group cooperation on a challenging project. Nonetheless, a word that names a positive emotional connection to community and locale based on small everyday events might be a good place to start.

Thanks for reading.

Related:

This is something I’m working on — the vocabulary and cultural dynamics of Us.