R U SOCIAL?
The following article was written by blindboy.
There's a strand of biological thought that believes the most significant advantage humans possessed as we took over the planet was not our intelligence but that, like ants, termites and bees, we are eusocial. We are not a perfect fit to the standard biological definition as we do not have a non-reproductive worker caste, (though with China's one child policy, low wages and poor conditions, we may get there yet!) but we do have division of labour, collective care of the young and we live in large groups.
If you are wondering what this has to do with surfing consider a typical day at a crowded location. There are fifty people in the water with relatively few previous social connections, no regulations, only a few poorly defined mores, no referees or umpires, an extremely limited resource and, in my observation, absolutely minimal levels of conflict. An occasional verbal exchange that very rarely becomes physical, and that is about it.
Despite the rhetoric then, and the very occasional serious incident, surfers are actually highly cooperative. But this does not mean that it is all sweetness, light and "After you Algernon." There are many levels of cooperation, consider that criminals often find themselves, reluctantly, cooperating with the police. Or that international cooperation has never meant an abandonment of national interests. In the same way then, cooperation in the surf has never meant an even distribution of the available waves. There will always be winners and losers.
If you don't like that, in Australia at least, the wilderness option is still open. It is not hard to find places to surf by yourself if you are prepared to travel a bit and accept sub-standard conditions. If you are prepared to travel a bit further and do a bit of searching you can probably, even now, find reasonable quality empty waves. In truth, however much the safety conscious might disapprove, there is something special about sitting on an empty ocean, watching the sea birds swoop, with no sign of humans or their handiwork visible. And for those who chronically complain about the crowd, it can be a humbling reminder of their personal limits, of just how easy it is to miss every wave of the set even when there is no-one else competing for it.
Yet surfing alone is probably not what most would prefer as an everyday experience. We are social, surfing with others is part of the experience. It soothes our anxieties and amuses us between waves. We may be distant from the insects but our species still swarms and clusters, we live in agglomerations that make solitude an ever rarer experience. So we surf in crowds, of varying density and intensity, and learn to cope.
And just as we time the sets and take careful line ups, we learn to observe the various networks and determine the local hierarchies. We dispassionately assess the skills of those around us and attempt to build our own networks and raise our own status and all this comes to us as naturally as breathing because this is the definition of being human, these are our greatest skills, this is what that outsized, energy hungry brain we carry around, evolved to do; to ride the swarm, to analyse the intentions of others, to determine relative status with millimetre accuracy, to forever be acutely aware of the social interactions around us.
The groups that surfers form are transitory, but this too is profoundly human, no other species forms and re-forms groups of ever changing composition: work, the BBQ, the footy, the surf! And in all these groups status matters. You want to be respected, you want to feel you have a chance of promotion, you like to think your mates value your opinions and you want to get your share of waves when you paddle out. Yet the transitory nature of these groups can mask deeper connections. The fact that you paddle out into a group of fifty surfers knowing no-one doesn't mean that is true for all the rest. The crowd hides the tribes.
The most common complaint in crowded locations is always the difficulty of getting a wave. Sadly, the usual solution is to get a longer, wider and thicker surf craft. Those who are more dedicated might train harder. Laps of the pool, the rowing machine and other forms of tedium. Yet, for many, these make little or no difference because their greatest problem is a lack of social connection. The tribes survive within the crowds and they don't belong.
One of the more amusing things about the 70s retro fashions are how they have completely missed the real vibe of the era. You can drive a kombi, ride a single fin, grow a beard and still completely miss the point. The 70s were tribal in way that no longer exists. Then the tribe was the crowd. You had to come from somewhere. It was a huge part of your identity and a kind of passport on your travels. It gave you instant status in other groups. Now they drift from beach to beach with no social contacts except those who shared their ride and suffer the consequences.
This kind of localism is not some weird cultural manifestation unique to surfing. This is deeply engrained human behaviour. Disapprove if you wish but it has no more impact than disapproving of volcanos. Human behaviour is only malleable within defined limits and the abolition of localism is as far outside those limits as a pure communitarian existence. So before you complain, consider the question, where do you belong?// blindboy
Comments
Stu you can add to the byline "where yet another aspect of human behaviour is transposed by Blindboy onto the surfing subculture and participants find they really aren't that special or unique after all."
These articles are enlightening but each time I read one feels like the time I learnt I shared 98% of my genes with monkeys.
I belong on the Road ! ( not in a Weird mad max way ) but sometimes the journey too waves can be just as enjoyable as the waves themselves .
The uncontrollable anxiety of whether you'll score , have you brought the right boards , will there be to many others there ........
can make a 3 hour drive seem like trip to the next beach ....... F*^& sometimes just driving nowhere gives a sense of adventure or a similar release that a surf can provide . but that probably explains my type .
Never had a local ........... grew up a fair way from the ocean , resided a fair few places .
Always felt more at home in the water as opposed to the carpark . a surf lineup can be a greta leveller .!
Southey, I've gathered from your posts that you indeed put the miles in. But you've never had a local? That would make you the exception in the surfing world I think.
I always found it slightly odd when people say they 'don't like localism' or some such sweeping statement about surfer behaviour. I guess part of it is that they're reacting against the very worst aspects of localism like entitlement and violence, but I'm sure there's also a part of them that doesn't want to identify with a group, however loose and abstract it is.
Yet as blindboy points out we can never escape that grouping, it's innate (unless your name is Southey). Being local is far more than the 'localism' we hear about in surfing magazines, you know, da boyz sitting out da back. Anyone who surfs a place more than a handful of times and begins to recognise faces in the lineup is experiencing localism. You've entered a pecking order; you're being assessed by others, you're assessing them. Tell me you don't do that!
But there's nothing inherently sinister about it. It's perfectly natural for a workable, functioning lineup, and, speaking from my experience, it's somehow comforting.
A couple of years ago I wrote a short piece called 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Blow-In' after I moved to my new home beach and the 'weight' of localism was removed. I was a wide-eyed blow-in and I kinda dug the role - felt like I had a fresh set of eyes and no reputation. It was great for a time but after just a few weeks the inexorable creep of localism began. I started to recognise people in the surf - "Morning Pete", "Nice waves Mick" - and before I was aware of it I was ensconced in a new local habitat. Well down the scale in the surfing sense - I don't really know 'da boyz' - but in a new local environment regardless. A new beehive of interconnectedness.
Is localism just another way of saying friendship/mateship?
No, but freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
Ah, locals and localism. The tension of where in the pecking order one sits today. The horror of being bumped.
I much prefer to tag along as the invitee of a local – best of all worlds. Just need to keep the spaces between visits long enough to preserve a vague recognition. Bad enough being a kneelo to begin with – contempt is already just one missed take-off away. Familiarity as well would be too much.
Was surfing a well-known ‘local’ secret spot with a mate in Adelaide when he was burned badly by a hot teen. Twice. Hmmm. Silence and black looks from my mate the first time, not so much the second. A very erudite spray, in fact.
Hottie replies: “Locals only. Faarrk orffâ€
My mate: “Never seen you here before. I’ve paid council rates since 1982. What’s your story?â€
Hottie: “What’s a rate?â€
Then. The Moment.
Hottie: “Fuckin’ crippleâ€, as my mate paddles past, heading out the back.
Hottie gets his first proper look at my mate. Sees the stump of his right leg, product of a genetic birth defect. Hottie turns white. Not another word uttered.
A huge wave count for my mate that day, if memory serves. Most days, in fact. He was a gold medallist at the Sydney Paralympics, after all.
True story.
Gold!
Rushy, your description seems to have perfectly summed up the visiting luminaries on the West Coast over the last week or so.
Great story Whaaaat.
I hope the little prick had a moment to reflect post surf.
His parents must be so proud.
Zen, he didn't seem the introspective type, really. Surprised he even realised how maladroit his comment was. Laughed so hard I wet meself.
Another good article. Interesting how hard it can be to be in the right spot when you are on your own if you aren't at your local. I actually prefer a couple of other bods around.
however surfing points like Noosa etc the pecking order quickly becomes clear and I do try to use that to my advantage [being 50 and not surfing everyday you got to use not just the break and conditions knowledge but also try to find your place in he pack.90% of the waves will get ridden by about 20% of the people in the lineup and they are'nt always the best 20% in the water
Southey wrote: "a surf lineup can be a great leveller .!"
I disagree with this Southey, and if I'm reading it correctly I think the author would too. Sure good surfers mostly get the sets, but plenty of times less skilled surfers get good waves because they know the crew and use it to their advantage.
The lineup is great for levelling status, a plumber can be treated as equally as a politician, but for who gets the good waves? There's a system at work.
Thanks for the comments people, great story whaaaat. It's always special to see someone dig themselves into a pit of absolute stupidity......unless of course it is your turn to be left holding the shovel!
Do your knuckles drag along the ground Derra? Most humans share 96% of genes with chimps not 98%. You're 2 percent up on us Clive.
It must be hard surfing in crowded places no matter the time of day or year. I would probably turn my back on it all if there was no escape from that constant hassle of paddling deeper or further out or pulling out the 10'0" just to get a wave.
I surfed through the 70s, owned a Kombi and rode a single fin. Friday night to Monday morning it was my home and I travelled to the far west and east coasts of Victoria chasing waves. The waves were mostly empty but a crowd might be 10 out and you were likely to know a few of the guys anyway and you got to know the others back at the car sharing a cuppa ... simple ben.
This is probably off topic but, mmmm, I wonder. I don't get the crowds now nor the attitude of most guys in the water. Its all about wave count and if your number is down you are somehow a lesser surfer and your fun factor meter is fixed on zero. Sure there is co-operation (reluctant) in the water like Stu's story discusses but I don't see the fun even among mates.
I'm lucky, I had the days of empty waves here and now I can escape locally to the country and to some special overseas places where its just like the old days still.
Buggered if any of that makes sense but there you go.
Keep surfing and smile more.
Stu ,
I would of thought it wasn't that unique . We are naturally nomadic by nature .
The only place i got close to being local was a small island which would only
have under a handful of living People that were ever born there . At the height
of Summer maybe maybe twenty residents that surfed , and less than a quarter
of that in winter . So 3/4 of the year apart from tourists you wouldn't be in the
water with others ( more than 3 ) .
There were a number of regular visitors , but they tended to rotate in frequency .
That was for 3 years where i would regularly surf 3-4 places , and occasionally
10 others .
But to my point , if your constantly mixing it up where you surf . Then your not
only reading the spot , the conditions , and maybe the " crew " , but you tend to
read the situations . And you can be pretty adapt at being the " likable Outsider "
.... Respect needs to be earned amongst strangers , character is a necessity .
And most importantly going when your in position . Even if that means that
others have "coaxed you " into the impossible position . Having a Dip without
being dangerous is another .
Top to bottom bells ,
you don't need to be a good surfer or a popular one to get waves . you just
need to have a different formula for different scenarios . just like riding
different Barrels . If its solid / heavy / shallow or tricky , then a lineup will
be the great leveler .
But what would i know , i'm just the " out of town kook/ amateur fisho /
traveller " . who patiently and quietly stroked into a few of the better waves
of any session . Smiles allround . ;-))
Southey I actually tried to include something about how some people can paddle out and fit in anywhere but just couldn't get it quite right so I edited it out. So I agree
This is a good point Southey: "if your constantly mixing it up where you surf. Then your not only reading the spot, the conditions, and maybe the " crew " , but you tend to read the situations."
But I don't agree that humans are naturally nomadic by nature. I recently reread 'Songlines' by Bruce Chatham and his premise is the same as yours, albeit restricted to Australian Aborigines, but how does this explain humans fighting over territory?
Land is second only to religion as the cause of war. Why would we fight if we're nomadic? The answer seems to be that we become attached to, and develop relationships, with land - same as with surfspots. And that seems natural to me.
Im trapped in a going nowhere relationship in a foreign country with a child and all I wanna do is get the fuck out of here, live on a desert island all by myself and surf until my nipples are worn off...
You think I am joking but seriously, I am not...
Does that make me a nomad by definition? I would rather be anywhere but here, on a beach with a beer in my hand, talk to noone and suck in the silence and majesty of the world... All I know is.....H.E.L.P...
and you cunts whinge about crowds and "R U SOCIAL?"....
you all do not have any idea how lucky you are to even see the big blue....
Sorry about your situation there 4kinkrail but I only have one set of lips.
thats ok blindboy...as I always say, a hole has no gender... wink wink pretty boy
aaarrrrggh .
But Stu . you forget that a surfers focus is not on land . Hence he shouldn't be trying to Possess it ....
When i say nomadic i probably mean the spirit of a Sailor . Although surf isn't much fun unless there is some sort of rocks or ground below the water to provide the shape ;-) .....
So theoretically only Indigenous People can claim rights to a Reef / lineup . As at some stage their ancestors may have camped/rooted/eaten/lived/hunted on the ground of which is now submerged that provides the waves shape .
Hell they may have been Pioneers in the " artiificial reef " biz , with their habit of " mounding up " crustacean shells into middens . Maybe they were just trying to form the perfect Peak ! ????
Anyway we digress ...
You can have your " turf " , its just a faster way of travel for myself to get to another Coastal intertidal fringe environment . So hanging in close to the coast , focussing mainly out to Sea . but occasionally checking the land for lineup positioning .
Meanwhile on another planet , peeps are duking it out in the Carpark like its Huntington OP pro in 84!???? . 4 kink rail . Hang in there mate . 7 year cycle of badluck should end soon .
Gidday Stunet. It's interesting that words, including 'nomad' were created to describe long observed behaviour of people. Unless, as suggested, that behaviour was never observed and the words and meanings were just conjured up, and fictitious.
There are several models proposed about how humans spread out over the earth. Or, is it no, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they didn't move vast distances across the globe, throughout areas with no previous connection, as their actual nature was to just stay put. They just mysteriously popped up everywhere. Little bangs.
People fight over anything that they perceive as a resource. Such as, or even media...say magazines, or electronic. Its that monkey mind/trapping/fist in the jar principle.
Gidday Blindboy. Conditioning plays a huge role in human behaviour. There's the likes of Camel? Or Wayne Lynch sailboarding and surfing alone up the NW WA coast? Or Jim Banks. I love surfing alone. But if I choose to surf where its crowded, getting waves is no big deal. My conditioning is that the pack mentality honestly means nothing to me. Its neither right or wrong, but my particular conditioning was that needing that style of support is not on, unreliable, and insecure. So taking up surfing was easy for me, in the way that whatever the pack thought never bothered me. Moving to Elliston was easy, yet I would see people going through all sorts of angst trying to fit in there. Same thing when I lived in Ballina for a few years.
It reminds me of say weight training. For instance, years ago, despite it being considered detrimental to performance, I saw that's actually not true. The opposite is. When I played basketball and it was important to me to be the fittest I could, plus weight train and surf, I ate 2 dozen eggs a day for around 15 years. Even now I eat around half a dozen a day. No fruit, that is, no sugar. Yet, my cholesterol levels were and are normal. That can easily be proven. In Elliston the farmers would give me eggs to play footy, and then the town was accusing me of selling them up and down the coast, because it is incomprehensible to the average person that eating that many is possible or healthy. 35 years or so ago, I had team doctors tell me how amasingly healthy I was, then when I would tell them what I ate, they would about face and say I would die. Hilarious. I learned that the masses often are totally off track, ala, four minute mile, or Galileo.
It's that,'did ya hear 'they' reckon. We love you 'they', save and protect us. Woops, no way....ssshiiiit'!
expectations each time you surf,is one of the things that determines your attitude when looking at surf..crowds or no crowds.
you pull up at a good quality surf spot,and there's 50 guys out....but its perfect,you watch for awhile,and mind surf the waves you want and an expectation is born that ....I am going to catch and ride those perfect waves.......but how many will you get by yourself...what is the realistic expectation of catching 1 perfect wave byyourself...or ya go fuck it ,I/m gunna catch every 2nd set..
what follows ,is your personal expectation being realised or ya sedt the bar too high.....don't catch what ya want...therefore ya get angry...especially as there will be another number of guys out with the similar expectation in catching ...as many as possible...the greed factor!!
I often surf in crowds and have found that setting my expectation for 3 good waves is enough,and more is a supa bonus...Hawaii is classic for this....I will actually come in after my 3rd good wave because it took me 2 hrs to get 3 good waves...
Frustration born out of expectation is an easy thing to remedy....there is still so much uncrowded surf in the world......and thats ....an option open to most of us...but at our home beaches on crowded days....you also have an option.....lower your expectations....
thanks blindboy,
After reading your artical I feel part of the problem with no solution.
I work as a carpenter far enough away from a city to not be over crowded my job gives me the shits, in order for me to provide for my family more people have to move here and inevitably at the rate expansion that is happening here this place will soon enough be crowded. I can only hope that when Im wealthy enough from the people moving here I can afford to move somewhere else far away like it is here. Ones progress is always others misfortune.