More Is Better - A Pet Theory

Pimp's last post got me thinking about why some ideas get taken to extremes. He also got me wondering about the Girls Gone Wild stuff, and what prompts that kind of behavior.

Now, not being omniscient, any and all theories I have are subject to a bias of my experiences, and a lack there-of. That being said, my best guess is that somebody will always figure more is better. If moderation of alcohol is good, then abstinence must be better. Or, if moderation of alcohol is good, then total immersion must be better. If my parents were too harsh, then I should be far too lenient. What kids need today is a good ass-whipping. The solution imagined is often more of the same. As I've heard people say, "if violence doesn't solve the situation, then you aren't hitting hard enough." It's rare to hear someone suggest balance.

And why is balance so often neglected as a solution? Because it requires more of us. We have to make constant judgment calls, rather than make a single decision and apply it to every situation. Balance requires us to analyze every situation individually. And what if we're not good at doing that? Well, rather than admit it and try to learn how, we often simply yell louder, hit harder, drink more, or become stricter.

Now, as for the Girls Gone Wild stuff, I actually don't know. I do know that I've known plenty of girls who would do things at 20 that they wouldn't do at 25 or older. I don't know if it's an age + culture thing, and I never will - I'm a dude. I do know that every woman that I've known personally who had 'relations' with another woman at one point has also been promiscuous with men. And, they have had abusive or neglectful childhoods, usually heavily the fault of the father. I guess what I'm stumbling towards here is that often the joy and wild abandon you see on the late night commercials might come more from an attempt to salve a sorrow than anything else.

Or maybe I'm way off. I don't know.