[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Samw

To me, territoriality is about survival of the individual. On the other hand, greed is the desire to obtain more than is necessary to survive. This requires a level of intelligence only exhibited by humans (I think). We don't need a BMW, but many people want 1. We don't need a (insert some expensive designer clothing maker) designer jacket but many people want it. We don't need those diamond rings, etc, etc. On the other hand, Predatory animals generally don't kill more than they need to survive.

Well, allow me to explain a bit:

Territoriality, as a behavior can be described as a passive (marking), or active (driving other competitors out) behavior to sustain control of an area or resource. It's the process by which an individual helps protect its survival by controlling competition for resources. Looking at it this way, it's not hard to make a leap of logic and to extend behaviors such as hoarding food and driving competitors out to wanting more then one needs at any given time.

You have to seperate greed from vanity. The two are completely different and juxtaposing them is a mistake. To me, vanity is a consequential behavior resulting from the need to attract mates (Read: sexual instinct). My thinking there is that just as the bowerbird with the largest bower or the peacock with the most extensive tail attracts the most females, humans with the nicest BMW, prettiest attire, largest bank account, etc, attract the most mates. But because we are able to reason, we are able to extend this behavior into a social ritual that transcends sexual instinct and forms its own unique attribute: ambition. Hope that helps.