ABSTRACT
For the purposes of defining the scope of a conflict situation shall assume that every conflict consists of two initially distinct groups. The principal parties to the conflict shall designate as the protagonists. The group that is cognizant of the altercation between the protagonists shall be referred to as the audience. Frequently, conflicts that begin at low levels of rhetorical violence increase in threat and violence so that the principals to the conflict lose sight of the issues. Paragames refer to extensions of the main contest in which protagonists can determine willingness to play at low levels of danger, cost, and humiliation. Consider traditional gentlemanly honor rituals. Society is the regulatory system that establishes priorities for the satisfaction of human needs or wants. To the extent that two incompatible needs occur simultaneously with the attendant attempts to satisfy them simultaneously, some system for determining and regulating priorities for need satisfaction is required.
