{"id":26283,"date":"2025-11-17T17:37:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=26283"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:40:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T21:40:39","slug":"six-seven-and-human-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/11\/17\/six-seven-and-human-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Seven and Human Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>What does &#8220;six seven&#8221; say about human nature? Brain rot, or something else?<\/li>\n<li>Morality: what should we wish upon people who despise us?<\/li>\n<li>Short pieces about cattle, single mothers, Obergefell, Trump&#8217;s lying about the economy, Christian nationalism, and Trump&#8217;s itch to start a war with Venezuela<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>What does this say about human nature?<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/691649c07f3d4216fa27eed8\/2:2\/w_1920,c_limit\/OpenQuestions_Brainrot_final-2.png\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The New Yorker, Joshua Rothman, 14 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/open-questions\/is-six-seven-really-brain-rot\">Is \u201cSix Seven\u201d Really Brain Rot?<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The viral phrase is easy to dismiss, but its ubiquity suggests something crucial about human nature.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been hearing about this &#8220;six seven&#8221; phase for some weeks now. Popular, apparently, precisely because it&#8217;s meaningless. Using it means you&#8217;re one of the cool kids. But to the essay:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Recently, my wife was texting with a friend who lives in Singapore. The news from the other side of the world turned out to be that kids there had discovered \u201csix seven.\u201d On Halloween, our friend reported, a boy with a handmade \u201csix seven\u201d jersey had earned applause as he made his way through her neighborhood\u2014a place that\u2019s a long way from Sixty-seventh Street in Philadelphia, which the rapper Skrilla may have been referencing in his song \u201cDoot Doot (6 7),\u201d which came out last December. Since then, kids of all ages have been inexplicably entertaining themselves by saying \u201csix seven\u201d at every opportunity, ideally with a lilt on the \u201cseven\u201d and a little wiggly hand motion. My son Peter tells me that kids have been saying it so much in his second-grade classroom\u2014not just during math instruction but throughout the day\u2014that it\u2019s been banned. (He\u2019s under the impression, certainly erroneous, that \u201csix seven\u201d has been prohibited at every school on Long Island.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is \u2018six seven,\u2019 anyway?\u201d I asked him, not long ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s brain rot,\u201d he said, confidently.<\/p>\n<p>I followed up: \u201cWhat\u2019s brain rot?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s random stuff from the internet that fills up your brain,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Then with some background about the origin of the phrase. And noting that it&#8217;s not used online, only used in person.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The senselessness of \u201csix seven\u201d contributes to the impression of brain rot. \u201cIt\u2019s absurd and random,\u201d the actress Elizabeth Olsen said recently, on \u201cLate Night with Seth Meyers.\u201d This is certainly true\u2014and yet linguists, anthropologists, and sociologists have long known that much of what we say is meaningless. In 1923, in a seminal essay titled \u201cThe Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages,\u201d the anthropologist Bronis\u0142aw Malinowski observed that, whenever people get together, they talk about a whole lot of nothing. \u201cAs much among savage tribes as in a European drawing-room,\u201d he wrote, social life involves a lot of conversation in which meaning \u201cis almost completely irrelevant\u201d: \u201cInquiries about health, comments on weather, affirmations of some supremely obvious state of things\u2014all such are exchanged, not in order to inform,\u201d and \u201ccertainly not in order to express any thought,\u201d but just to create \u201cties of union.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I&#8217;ve noted this before. What is it people need to talk about so incessantly? &#8220;Ties of union&#8221;? Hmm&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Could meaninglessness itself be a message? In a recent <a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/07\/style\/gen-z-six-seven-meme-gen-alpha-absurdity.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/07\/style\/gen-z-six-seven-meme-gen-alpha-absurdity.html\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;}\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">exploration<\/a> of \u201csix seven\u201d in the <em>Times<\/em>, the style reporter Callie Holtermann argues that the phrase might be seen as \u201ca kind of gleeful obfuscation, an effort to be unknowable by a generation that has, virtually since birth, been relentlessly on display.\u201d A writer tells Holtermann that \u201csix seven\u201d is meant \u201cto frustrate the olds\u201d\u2014it\u2019s a way of saying, \u201cLet us exist in our own space.\u201d These ideas sound plausible, but might be too centered on the concerns of adults. When a busload of elementary schoolers shouts \u201csix seven!\u201d between the sixth and seventh stops, are they really trying to say something to the bus driver? \u201cThere is in all human beings the well-known tendency to congregate, to be together, to enjoy each other\u2019s company,\u201d Malinowski writes. Childhood and adolescence are socially challenging. Maybe kids love \u201csix seven\u201d because it makes togetherness easy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Togetherness easy, hmm..<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In \u201c<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0691123896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0691123896\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;}\" data-aps-asin=\"0691123896\" data-aps-asc-tag=\"\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\" data-aps-status=\"read\">Interaction Ritual Chains<\/a>\u201d (don\u2019t judge a book by its title!), Collins lays out a holistic theory of human nature, centered on rituals, into which \u201csix seven\u201d fits nicely. A ritual, Collins explains, \u201cis a mechanism of mutually focussed emotion and attention producing a momentarily shared reality.\u201d There are big-time rituals, like communion, and small-time ones, like shaking hands, or dapping up, or standing at the front of a conference room and clearing your throat. These acts\u2014which often involve a physical component\u2014help make gatherings of people cohere. Rituals are \u201ceverywhere,\u201d Collins writes, because social life is ultimately \u201ca string of situations\u201d which must be inaugurated, conducted, and concluded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rituals! Now we&#8217;re getting somewhere.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Rituals do more than lend structure to our days, Collins argues; they also create \u201cemotional energy,\u201d which is something we crave. We want to feel alive, valued, connected, \u201ccharged up.\u201d On Sundays, in church, we experience something special when we\u2019re all together, praying; we have \u201cfeelings of confidence, enthusiasm, and desire for action.\u201d We can\u2019t stay in church forever, but its rituals attach their emotion to \u201ccognitive symbols,\u201d which we might later use to extend the good vibes. Church ends; you go home; ordinary life resumes. But, later, you see the steeple above the treetops, and you feel a surge of energy flowing from your fellows and God. \u201cWhat holds society together?\u201d Collins asks. The answer is \u201cgroups of people assembled in particular places who feel solidarity with each other\u201d\u2014and who then find ways of sustaining that solidarity across space and time, using symbols and rituals that help them feel it even when they\u2019re not together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Religion! Not nonsensical &#8220;brain rot&#8221; exactly, neither &#8220;six seven&#8221; nor religion, but both ways of binding, if only superficially, with others.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>A moral quandary. The solution, it seems to me, is to wish on others only what you would have them wish upon you.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onlys.ky\/content\/images\/size\/w2640\/2025\/11\/Make_America_Great_Again_hats_-54857890371-.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>OnlySky, Tom Krattenmaker, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlys.ky\/should-we-want-the-best-for-maga-voters\/\">Should we want the best for MAGA voters?<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;What are our moral obligations toward people who despise us?&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>While chatting with a fellow attendee at a humanist meeting a few years ago, I said something that sparked quick disagreement. Some of my friends were serious Christians, I pointed out, and I had no wish to see them deconvert.<\/p>\n<p>Their faith was important to them, I explained. They practiced it in ways that made them better and happier people. After investing so much in it, losing it would be devastating for them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want the best for them,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>My conversation partner wasn\u2019t having it. Surely, he said, belief in a non-existent God could not be in their best interest. If I wanted the best for them, wouldn\u2019t I want them to know the truth?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Then addressing Charlie Kirk, his wife&#8217;s forgiveness of the murderer, and Trump&#8217;s disagreement, that he hates his opponents and doesn&#8217;t want what best for them.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s a cold slap to hear the president speak of me and my ilk with such contempt. Yet can it be said that we want the best for <em>him, <\/em>and his supporters? And if so, what does it even mean to want the best for one\u2019s adversaries?<\/p>\n<p>Good answers will go a long way toward determining the future of democracy in this country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The essay goes on. The problem is dealing with what different people think is &#8220;best&#8221; for them, and for other people. Believers want skeptics to accept Jesus; rationalists want believers to understand the world as it actually is, and how their beliefs are myths and repeated-retold stories.<\/p>\n<p>The writer concludes by advising: stay in touch.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On a personal level, if we interact, stay in touch, and listen to the legitimate parts of our rivals\u2019 stories and concerns, we might even influence them in the long run, as they influence us (gasp!) in our understanding of who they are and where they are coming from with political and cultural stances.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t mean we excuse a Nazi tattoo or a Confederate flag, or nod in assent to incoherent conspiracy theories about climate change being a hoax and Democrats stealing the 2020 election. If we \u201cwant the best for them,\u201d we want them to be free of toxic falsehoods.<\/p>\n<p>And if we want democracy to have a chance in the decades ahead, we need to understand that no one can be scorned and abandoned. What do we think \u201cdeplorables\u201d do when they\u2019re forsaken and normal politics fail them? Quietly acquiesce and crawl under rocks?<\/p>\n<p>A quarter-millennium of American history says they do not\u2014and what they do instead might not be the best for any of us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In my case, I&#8217;ve already been cut off by a relative who did not want me to challenge him about his MAGA-inspired conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<p>So what would I want for MAGA voters? Not what is &#8220;best&#8221; for them. But something like: I want for you the understanding that stories, no matter how old, are the products of generations of oral retelling and print translations and re-translations and so are almost certainly not literally true; but what is true is best derived from observing the world through systematic investigation and repeated corrections via evidence.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a neutral strategy. Say that back to me, and I&#8217;m fine.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s briefly noted items.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ScottBessent2025FoxNews-660x330.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>JMG, 16 Nov 2025<\/strong>, and reported elsewhere: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/11\/bessent-migrants-brought-diseased-cattle-to-us\/\">Bessent: Migrants Brought \u201cDiseased Cattle\u201d To US<\/a> &#8212; &#8212; The craziest claim today. Migrants are *bringing cattle* across the border?? Pics or it didn&#8217;t happen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Boing Boing, Jennifer Sandlin, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/boingboing.net\/2025\/11\/17\/arizona-pastor-says-single-mother-whores-arent-worthy-of-church-help.html\">Arizona pastor says &#8220;single mother whores&#8221; aren&#8217;t worthy of church help<\/a><br \/>\n<blockquote><p>Welp, Phoenix, Arizona-based far-right &#8220;Christian&#8221; pastor Steven Anderson is at it again, spreading the kind and generous word of the Lord. That&#8217;s pure sarcasm, in case you wondered, because, in fact, he&#8217;s been out here doing what he does best \u2014 spewing venom and hatred for anyone he deems unworthy of Christ&#8217;s love. His list of the damned is long, but this week he&#8217;s highlighting everyone&#8217;s favorite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essence.com\/lifestyle\/black-single-mothers\/\">scapegoat<\/a>, &#8220;&#8216;single mother&#8217; whores.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8212; &#8212; As with ICE, you have to wonder what kind of people are drawn to these kinds of jobs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>JMG, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/11\/staver-scotus-insulted-god-obergefell-will-still-fall\/\">Staver: SCOTUS Insulted God, Obergefell Will Still Fall<\/a> &#8212; &#8212; Religious people always presume that what insults them &#8212; in my take, based on primitive human nature &#8212; also insults God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Is Trump stupid or does he think we are stupid?<\/li>\n<li><strong>PolitiFact, 14 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2025\/nov\/14\/donald-trump\/walmart-thanksgiving-grocery-prices-inflation\/\">President Donald Trump misleads about Walmart Thanksgiving dinner price comparison<\/a> &#8212; &#8212; Because compared to last year the Walmart packages are smaller.<\/li>\n<li>On the same note: <strong>The Bulwark, Will Saletan, 16 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebulwark.com\/p\/trump-tells-voters-dont-believe-your-lying-wallets\">Trump Tells Voters: Don\u2019t Believe Your Lying Wallets<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;From elections to the economy, he keeps denying reality.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>And <strong>Robert Reich, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/robertreich.substack.com\/p\/trumps-truly-shtty-economy\">Trump\u2019s Truly Sh*tty Economy<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;And 10 things Democrats should pledge to do about it when they\u2019re back in power&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>JMG, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/11\/kennedy-center-to-host-birth-of-christ-celebration\/\">Kennedy Center To Host \u201cBirth Of Christ Celebration\u201d<\/a> &#8212; &#8212; Christian nationalism, enabled by the current administration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Right Wing Watch, Kyle Mantyla, 14 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefor.org\/rightwingwatch\/lance-wallnau-wants-deportation-carve-out-conservative-republican-hispanics\">Lance Wallnau Wants A Deportation &#8216;Carve Out&#8217; For Conservative Republican Hispanics<\/a> &#8212; &#8212; Tribalism. Our tribe counts, the others do not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The New Republic, 17 Nov 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/post\/203328\/ok-with-me-trump-considers-bombing-mexico\">\u201cIt\u2019s OK With Me\u201d: Trump Considers Bombing Mexico<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Donald Trump says he might take his bombings in the Caribbean Sea to the &#8216;land corridor&#8217; next.&#8221; &#8212; &#8212; From Mr. I-Wanna-Nobel-Peace-Prize.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does &#8220;six seven&#8221; say about human nature? Brain rot, or something else? Morality: what should we wish upon people who despise us? Short pieces about cattle, single mothers, Obergefell, Trump&#8217;s lying about the economy, Christian nationalism, and Trump&#8217;s itch &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/11\/17\/six-seven-and-human-nature\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-nature","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26283"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26476,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26283\/revisions\/26476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}