Venus vs. Mars

 

Venus	Mars
Cooperation	Competition
Similarity	Difference
Complexity	Simplicity
Generalisation	Specification
The group	The individual
Conformity	Rebellion
Chaos	Order
Imprecision	Precision
Art and Religion	Science and Technology
Emotion	Thought
Friends talk to each other	Friends do things together
Style	Substance
Multitasking	One thing at a time
Subterfuge, intrigue	Conflict, confrontation
Hide, private	Show, public
Gather and save	Hunt and eat
Progress (change)	Conserve (stability)
Dependence	Autonomy
Body	Mind
MacOS	Windows

I'm sure most readers will have a preference for one column (or parts thereof) above the other. You need both, of course, (I even apply this to MacOS and Windows, albeit on different computers) and in most cases, one cannot exist (or could not have existed) without the other.

Since first writing this entry, I happened to read a book by Erich Fromm called The Forgotten Language, in which he discusses, among many other things, a theory by Bachofen, about the differences between patriarchal and matriarchal societies, which I will need to integrate into the above some day.

Short versus long term

I think a lot about the short vs. the long term. Long term consciousness is probably the most importance difference between us and other animals. Of course (to paraphrase Darwin), it is a difference of degree, not essence, but still, the difference is quite striking: we are capable of thinking in terms of geological time, while most other members of the animal kingdom with similar life-spans probably don't get further than the concept of seasons. 

Apparently, newly born babies start with no concept of time whatsoever, but as they grow, they learn to handle ever-increasing time spans. My eldest - now eight - has no trouble imagining things happening years from now, including having children of her own. And human  society as a whole has shown a similar sort of development: collectively, we become more conscious of the long term with every new generation. The acceptance of the theory of evolution is just one of many examples, as are the idea that we might want to preserve our cultural history, and our current concern with climate change: all indicate that collectively, we are thinking in ever-longer time spans.  

Emotions are a bit different. Emotional development also passes through phases in individual humans and in society as a whole, but as compared to the above-mentioned examples of commonplace long-term thinking, emotions are short-term. They can be useful as short-term aids to survival (think fight-or-flight responses), but they can also get in the way of our long-term collective interests. Which is why we tend to see emotions as something to keep in check. 

Seen in Darwinian terms, we could see this process as the competition between two different systems designed to do the same thing (processing stimuli and formulating a response). And according to Darwin, the winner will be the more adaptable of the two. So kudos to the nervous system with its rapid-fire electrical signals, and a booby prize to hormones. (Sad, but logical.)