A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
Below is a famous clip during the 1988 presidential election between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. Forget political parties, forget where you fall on the issues, and just watch the clip in terms of social dominance.
Is this the behavior of an alpha male? Alternatively, is it the behavior of a man who has the potential to be an alpha male when the situation calls for it?
It's painful to watch.
Can you imagine that? Being a man, and having another man ask you to imagine your wife getting raped? And to do it in an attempt to force you -- yes, force you -- into a lose-lose set of possible answers? And to do so in a very public setting (i.e., the entire nation)? When all your status is on the line? This is as primal as it gets, folks.
After I watched this clip last night, I couldn't fall asleep. I was too worked up from imagining myself in the same situation. I probably would have lost it.
Commentators have said that Dukakis didn't show enough emotion. Well, duh. But it's not just any emotion, it's the right emotion -- and the right behaviors too.
Here's what an alpha (i.e., dominant) response would have looked like.
Step 1: Acknowledge the challenge. If you pretend that you haven't been challenged, but everyone else knows you have been, then not responding is a sign of submission and admission of defeat. Therefore, you must acknowledge the challenge: clenched jaw, red face, flared nostrils, hands clenched or gripping the podium, leaning forward, gaze locked directly on the questioner. Create a moment of silence -- to allow fear to build and to give the challenger time to reconsider his challenge before the situation turns violent. Grow larger in stature, puff out your chest, stand taller.
Step 2: Growl. Be loud, bellow, growl. In a presidential debate, this would mean raising your voice and saying something to the effect of "How dare you ask a question like that. Shame on you." Use a deeper voice than you would normally use. Point directly at the questioner. Gesture forcefully. Given this context, the questioner would probably be apologizing by now. Physically, this would entail his voice getting softer and higher, and he would probably hold up his hands, palms open (both exposing his underbelly and unclenching his fists) in an instinctive attempt to indicate submission and that he didn't actually want to fight. However, given the highly public nature of this challenge, no alpha male who cares about his reputation could leave it at that, because reputation deters potential challengers.
Step 3: Assert dominance. Given that it was a presidential debate, and a certain amount of decorum and restraint is required, it would have been too alpha to go physically assault the questioner -- though in times past (or even today), a question like that will easily earn you a shiner. Men fight over far less. After verbally putting the questioner in his place -- just to be clear, that place being lower on the hierarchy -- I would have said that I expect to receivemy wifeexpects to receive a hand-written apology from the head of CNN by the end of the following day. (The reporter asking the question isn't actually all that high status...much more effective to use the situation to assert dominance over his boss.) Said forcefully enough with enough emotion to indicate that I wasn't bluffing, and my wife would have received a hand-written apology before the debate was over. At that point, I could have either continued the debate, or simply stated "This debate is over" and just walked off the stage (possibly a bit much).
No matter what Kitty Dukakis believes on the issues, can you imagine how she felt at that moment? The running joke was, for a second there, even Kitty Dukakis was undecided.
And understandably so. Forget the exact wording of the question, that's not the point. The question summoned the emotions of an intruder breaking into your home and attempting to rape your wife. And are you the type of man who will risk his life to save your wife from a terrible fate? Or will your heroics end at picking up the telephone and calling for help from other men who aren't afraid of using violence? The intellectual aspects don't matter, the emotional ones do.
Pushovers aren't good leaders. Michael Dukakis dropped from 49% to 42% in the polls that night.
This post is a little grim. Don't ask me how I ended up on the Wikipedia entry for "Last meal". The last meal is an ancient custom of granting a final meal to a condemned man. Some states now put limits on last meal requests, but nearly all still arrange for a meal of the inmate's choosing. You will see that inmates take very different approaches to the last meal. Read enough of these, and a few groups emerge. Could there even be a paleo meal or two?
Note that these are the requested last meals -- not all were fulfilled, or exactly so.
Sugar Fiends (These are just painful to read. I can almost feel the insulin shock.)
Dobie Gillis Williams: Twelve candy bars and some ice cream.
Robert Alton Harris: A 21-piece bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, two large Domino's pizzas (no anchovies), ice cream, a bag of jelly beans, a six-pack of Pepsi, and a pack of Camel cigarettes.
Timothy McVeigh: Two pints of mint chocolate-chip ice cream.
William Bonin: Two pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three servings of chocolate ice cream, and fifteen cans of Coca-Cola.
Abstainers (I wouldn't exactly call this intermittent fasting.)
Adolf Eichmann declined a special meal, preferring a bottle of Carmel, a dry red Israeli wine. He drank about half of it.
Ángel Nieves Díaz declined a special meal. He was served the regular prison meal for that day, but declined that as well.
James Edward Smith requested a lump of dirt, which was denied. He settled for a small cup of yogurt.
Victor Feguer requested a single olive with the pit still in.
Standard Fares (I can't say that I'd choose prison fare, but there is a stoicism to it.)
Aileen Wuornos declined a special meal, but had a hamburger and other snack food from the prison's canteen. Later, she drank a cup of coffee.
Desmond Keith Carter declined a special meal, but had two cheeseburgers, a steak sub, and two Cokes from the prison canteen, for which he paid $4.20 from his prison account.
Michael Bruce Ross (of Connecticut) declined a special meal, but dined on the regular prison meal of the day: turkey à la king with rice, mixed vegetables, white bread, fruit, and a beverage.
Greater Causes (Eating "Justice" and "Jesus" sound equally unappetizing to me.)
Odell Barnes: "Justice, Equality, World Peace."
Joan of Arc: Holy Communion (Jesus).
The Vegetarian (who is, as you'll see, the most self-righteous of the bunch)
Philip Workman: He declined a special meal for himself, but he asked for a large vegetarian pizza to be given to a homeless person in Nashville, Tennessee. This request was denied by the prison, but carried out by others across the country.
Paleo (could it be?)
Charles Frederick Peace: A hearty breakfast of eggs and a huge amount of (very salty) bacon.
Gordon Fawcett Hambly, who suffered from indigestion, a lobster salad.
Charles Peace lived in 19th century Britain, when meat was much more of a luxury -- so I'm not inclined he typically ate paleo. Hambly, on the other hand, clearly had IBS or some other digestive disorder -- just like some paleo folks I know. He seems to have known what upset his stomach. I'd love to see profiles of people throughout history who arrived at paleo by accident, with no scientific background, no evolutionary perspective -- simply through trial and error.
What would your last meal be? Would you splurge? Put your answers in the comments.
Step 3: Assert dominance. 
