Dragon Ball and human psychology

[SuperForteX]

So in the interest of explaining the nature of my signature, which has come under some scrutiny from DaizEX staff in recent times, I felt like I had to push forward this topic. I had intended to post this eventually, but when I felt that we [you, and I] were ready for it.

Basically: Dragon Ball, A study of religious beliefs, human nature, and war.

As long as people have existed, they've killed each other. Regrettable, but true. Historians and Scholars have often said that "the history of the world is the history of war."

What does this possibly have to do with Dragon Ball? Simple. The debating that plagues this fandom! Kid Buu VS. Super Buu. SSj1 VS. SSJ2 [Gohan VS. Dabura]. I had once posted wondering if Kid Buu VS. Super Buu was a special case scenario. I had wondered what made it so different that it always turned to 'violence'. After all, in terms of an Internet discussion, where you typically don't have physical access to one another, can't turning to name calling and personal insults be considered a form of violence? I think it can.

VegettoEX said it brilliantly. "People come in with preconceptions, and anyone who hints at the slight possibility [of that not being right] is [a target of further violence.]"

Could Dragon Ball hold mysterious properties that basically breaks down fundamental human psychology? And could studying Dragon Ball and its effects on fans lead to the discovery of the 'hate' gene that drives violence and war and intolerance among the human population?

I think it's possible that Akira Toriyama touched upon something... practically magical. Here in Dragon Ball, you can see the human nature coming out on the pages. Not in what the story contains, but in the fans' reactions to the story!

Look at some examples. Religion VS. Science. / Kid Buu VS. Super Buu.

Well, in this sense, Kid Buu supporters are like devout religious fanatics. Thinking Kid Buu is the strongest is sort of an older, less mature idea. They have simple faith in that Kid Buu is the strongest. Like many religious practitioners, they were 'raised' to think that way. Maybe not the most approriate simile in this case, but valid in the sense that "some of the fans who watched Dragon Ball as youths, believed Kid Buu was the strongest then, and are as thus unable to accept anything else being possible." Hence, "raised" to believe this.

Super Buu supporters are more like the modern scientific movement. They argue that creationalism is impossible, and have all kinds of scientific evidence to back it up. In this sense, the Super Buu camp realizes that if you closely analylze all the statements of the series, you arrive to the inevitable conclusion that Super Buu must have been stronger than Kid Buu, and they have the "math" to "prove" it.

Now look at the actual world stage. Human beings, people, civilization, we just have fundamental differences in the way we think and the things we believe in. There are always going to be creationalists and evolutionists that hate each other.

We see this happen in terms of the Dragon Ball fandom with our own eyes, each and every time a Kid Buu VS. Super Buu thread breaks down to name-calling and personal attacks.

We are witnessing actual war take place.

Other facets, like "Was Gohan SSj1 or SSj2 VS. Dabura?" can be equated to other fundamental differences. It depends on the way you look at things. Like Liberal VS. Conservative. Fundamental differences in which the two opposing sides find it impossible to compromise, and are destined to argue, debate, and fight about it for eternity.

So if you forced Dragon Ball on every person in the world, and then collected all of the opinions they generated about "who's stronger than who" or "which form Gohan was in", could you actually map out that unknown part of the human genome, but then studying the certain different belief-groups and testing their genese?

Could Dragon Ball hold the secret key to unlocking the final evolution of humans as shutting down the so-called hate-gene and ending all violence and war in the world? I think it's possible, and the results would be obvious, and it would really work--but no one is ever going to try, because no one would think to look here, at a manga/anime, as solving all the problems humanity is plagued with.

I just find it really curious that some people feel so strongly about various ideas in Dragon Ball that they will become offended, they'll fight and argue and bicker over it--it's just like a religious belief! They have nothing to back them up but faith, but that faith is so strong it leads them to viciously attack those who don't believe.

So, next time you see a Super Buu VS. Kid Buu debate on any board, or any debate really about Dragon Ball, in which some person is calling someone else "a moronic idiot" or saying "Are you dense!?" or "Get it through your thick skull"... if it looks like a DB debate is a little too personal, in other words, then take a much, much closer look at it, and you'll see that mysterious force at work, which drives our civilization perpetually down a path of bloodshed and violence. And you'll see the key to discovering it, the hatred gene.

Akira Toriyama... maybe the most illusive visionary and prophet of our time. It's possible to end War itself and achieve world peace, by studying Dragon Ball objectively.

Because I firmly believe he designed this system that would cause the fundamental clashes between various belief-groups of fans. And it's the subtle contradictions he created that unlocks every corner of the subconscious human psyche'. And that's pretty darn impressive.

[Kaboom]

Akira Toriyama... maybe the most illusive visionary and profit of our time. It's possible to end War itself and achieve world peace, by studying Dragon Ball objectively.

The man writes poop jokes for a living.

[SuperForteX]

Akira Toriyama... maybe the most illusive visionary and prophet of our time. It's possible to end War itself and achieve world peace, by studying Dragon Ball objectively.

The man writes poop jokes for a living.

Ok, so maybe he stumbled upon the magic, then. I guess it's also possible it was accidental.

[Great Saiyaman I]

I think we can all agree Freeza's and Boo's racial genocide will make us better beings.

Also, hate gene?

[SuperForteX]

I think we can all agree Freeza's and Boo's racial genocide will make us better beings.

No, the point is to STOP the violence. And the only way to do that, is to stop the cause of that. And the only way to determine the cause of that, is to unlock the hidden secrets of the human psyche, and the mysterious ... code... in our souls, that causes us to fundamentally disagree and take up arms against those who don't agree with us.

So when Kid Buu VS. Super Buu turns ugly, you're seeing this code activate, and you're seeing people quite litteraly go to war with eachother. A war of words.

Also, hate gene?

Well, Dr. Raichi described it as Grudge Power, or something like that. A single source of all hatred and grudges. He was able to use this Grudge Power to ressurect the Grudge Ghosts like Freeza, Slug, Turles, and Coola, to challange the Saiyans.

I think something like Grudge Power actually exists in real life, it's something we can isolate and cure, possibly by studying Dragon Ball.

[Great Saiyaman I]

I guess it would make sense that studying a fictional work would cure a fake, fictional disease.

[SuperForteX]

Sigh... I knew they weren't ready yet.

[Great Saiyaman I]

Sigh... I knew they weren't ready yet.

No, no, I just think we need further research on this. For example,.Dragon Boxes make people happy. I believe this is because of our happy genes being emotionally triggered by box sets. If we can find a way to replicate this feeling and shove it into our genes, we would be happy forever. Maybe then we could destroy the sad and angry genes.

[Makaioshin]

Because I firmly believe he designed this system that would cause the fundamental clashes between various belief-groups of fans. And it's the subtle contradictions he created that unlocks every corner of the subconscious human psyche'. And that's pretty darn impressive.

I doubt a cartoonist who was writing a kung fu/wuxia themed story to entertain children thought that one day man-children would be arguing over a pointless aspect of his story.

[SuperForteX]

Are you guys intentionally belittling me?

[Rocketman]

the mysterious ... code... in our souls, that causes us to fundamentally disagree and take up arms against those who don't agree with us.

It's called 'scarcity'. Humans are hardwired to fight because there are not enough resources for everybody. So we (and animals) ally with those like us (family, tribe, herd, etc) to fight those not like us and prevent them from seizing stuff we need.

Human sentience and civilization means we think of new things, but we still approach them with the same blueprint that three billion years of life on Earth forged before humanity created entertainment.

[Eddie]

I smell something. Bull shit.

Dragon Ball is not the key to the final level of human evolution. It's a children's comic written by a pervert with a talent for poop jokes.

[CatouttaHell]

Wait so going by what you're saying, can I now claim religious persecution if someone belittles me for believing Chibi Boo >>> Shin Boo?

[TripleRach]

Are you guys intentionally belittling me?

I could ask the same thing about you belittling everyone else. I mean, if you're gonna say things like:

Sigh... I knew they weren't ready yet.

You're implying the rest of the forum is not as enlightened and open-minded as you are.

But I'll ask that everyone be civil and respectful. Don't talk down to or insult other forum members.

[SuperForteX]

Wait so going by what you're saying, can I now claim religious persecution if someone belittles me for believing Chibi Boo >>> Shin Boo?

Yes, in the sense that believing that Kid Buu > Super Buu is a 'religious' or spiritual belief, you most certainly can.

[SuperForteX]

the mysterious ... code... in our souls, that causes us to fundamentally disagree and take up arms against those who don't agree with us.

It's called 'scarcity'. Humans are hardwired to fight because there are not enough resources for everybody. So we (and animals) ally with those like us (family, tribe, herd, etc) to fight those not like us and prevent them from seizing stuff we need.

Human sentience and civilization means we think of new things, but we still approach them with the same blueprint that three billion years of life on Earth forged before humanity created entertainment.

Thank you for taking my topic seriously, and offering this insight. What I'm saying is that by studying the way people interprate various debatable subject matter in Dragon Ball, that we can identify where it's hardwired into our brains/genes, by running a PKG scan / or spinal tap to someone while they're debating about Kid Buu VS. Super BUu.

The part of them that gets agitated when the other side disagrees should point the direction.

[Kendamu]

1) The Internet brings out everyone's inner douchebag.

2) Your "hate gene" thing isn't too far off.

Read this for more info.

And...

3) Check out other online forums. You'll see the same sort of activity (or worse) if you just take out "Kid Boo" and "Super Boo" and replace them with other things that community cares about. So, while Toriyama may have touched on some sort of magic, so did pretty much every other comic creator ever if you use Internet forums as your basis.

More research is needed. You weren't ready for this just yet.

BTW: I really was hoping that this thread would be about human need for friendship, exploration, self-improvement, competition, and oversized meals.

[Great Saiyaman I]

I'd like to apologize for making fun of you earlier. It was immature of me and I should've reacted in a way that didn't belittle you.

[I'd like to add that the same amount of anger achieved in these fights is achieved by many other things, not just arguing over fictional works. People argue over with the same intensity for thousands of various reasons, whether if small things have been building up over the day, if someone else just brought up one thing that initially the two people weren't angry about but got so hotly debated that they end up enraged at each other (like your point about the Boo debate), or maybe they've had losses recently and their way of coping with that is vehemently, angrily debating their point of view and trying to force it on others. The point is, debates just as heated can and will spring up anywhere from nearly anything.

[SuperForteX]

1) The Internet brings out everyone's inner douchebag.

2) Your "hate gene" thing isn't too far off.

Read this for more info.

And...

3) Check out other online forums. You'll see the same sort of activity (or worse) if you just take out "Kid Boo" and "Super Boo" and replace them with other things that community cares about. So, while Toriyama may have touched on some sort of magic, so did pretty much every other comic creator ever if you use Internet forums as your basis.

More research is needed. You weren't ready for this just yet.

BTW: I really was hoping that this thread would be about human need for friendship, exploration, self-improvement, competition, and oversized meals.

Hm, I concur with pretty much everything you just said. That link is also very interesting... wow. But, I posted this because I believed it was true, so... hm, maybe I should become a philosopher. I'd have to learn how to reach my inner zen though and abandon my emotions that led me to nearly getting banned and making several people very wary of my presence here.

Anyway, I concur that I wasn't ready to present this case now. As it stands, I'm left looking a little silly. But that's ok by me.

[Kendamu]

Do some research. Come back with your next draft, and we can go from there.