If I had to choose between living in a society governed primarily by passion and living in a society governed primarily by reason, I would much rather live in a society dictated by reason. As Dr. Johnson wrote in the fourth paragraph of the opening pages, “He that thinks reasonably must think morally.” Immorality, it seems, tends to stem from passion. To submit to Godwin's Law, Hitler was notoriously passionate in his decisions, showing more unjust anger than logic. It may be something that changes on a person to person basis, but passion arises from my logic, as I've always been a logical thinker and relied on logic above all else. I become passionate about a subject because, thanks to logic, I know my stance is the correct one. To be illogically passionate is to be unwaveringly destructive.
A commitment to individualism may lead to “social alienation,” in some senses, but social involvement in others. While one will no longer fit in with characters who share differing opinions, he or she will better and more comfortably fit in with those who agree with him or her. “Unscrupulous self-seeking” is debatable, and I would say those who subscribe to immoral self-seeking are likely to do so regardless of societal standards. Our society in the twenty-first century inevitably promotes individualism through greater communication abilities, especially those of the anonymous sort. People are free to vent their minds without fear of repercussions. I don't foresee any future problems with an individualistic society, so long as “the golden rule” still applies within that society's legal system.
“Elaborate hierarchical structures” exist today. Whether these structures are complex is merely an opinion that undoubtedly changes on a person to person basis. The most commonly acknowledged hierarchy in any modern society, given its influence over all the society's people, is the government. Some societies do not have elaborate governments, but many do; these elaborate structures undeniably exist. This can especially be seen in the American system of government, through its well-coordinated systems of separation of powers and checks and balances. Compared to a dictatorship's method of creating law, ask any American citizen how a bill becomes a law and see how many of those asked know the details of the process. The legal hierarchical system is both elaborate and complex.
I believe there are “fundamental aspects of personality” among humans “despite social differences.” These aspects may not be as specific as commonly believed - such as a woman's main task in life being childbearing and child-rearing, or a man's main task being 'bringing home the bacon.' However, evolutionarily and psychologically speaking, all people – excluding extremely rare statistical outliers – share the fundamental personality aspect of living a life that centrally revolves around sex. Their personality will likely then shift, generally for males, to match what is stereotypically required of a male in that society to attract a mate. If these “fundamental aspects of personality” did not exist, the current extensive field of sociology would not exist today. The benefits of these aspects are mankind's better ability to foresee and prevent any negative social outcomes – or “latent functions” - of a new system, while dangers would be one's ability to manipulate these outcomes to their corrupt advantage, e.g. through propaganda.
- Charles Stover, 21 August 2010