I think survival today is just as consuming as it always has been.

The trick is making sense of it so we can do the best we can.

I think almost all animals have the ability to do this to some extent, although more evolved nervous systems are better at it than more primitive ones.

What we have as humans is the ability to create symbolic models of that external reality to help us understand it. We primarily use language, and lately, mathematics, to build these models. This allows us to apply formal operations to them, or we can share them with others to share information processing power with them.

Other model-making tools are religion, philosophy, culture and art. There may even be others we are not aware of. I am often amazed how much of my mental processing is done subconsciously, without even me being aware of it.

I’ve also come to realize that it really don’t mean shit. Regardless of what I think or believe, one day a malfunctioning bit of chromosome, or a minute blood clot, or a tiny bacillus will kill me off. Forever.

If you don’t believe that, consider how many species have gotten along perfectly well without reason or consciousness. And see how many rational humans have screwed up fatally with it, or perhaps because of it.

If that doesn’t convince you, further consider how little agreement we have as humans as to what really matters, what truth is, and “how the world works”. And in spite of these differences, most of seem to be able to function just fine.

As for our knowledge of “how the world works”, that has been evolving for millennia and we still have not arrived at any conclusions most of us can agree on. That alone should tell you something.

Hey don’t get me wrong. I’m glad I have a mind, and I love using it. In fact, I depend on it, and I trust it. But so do a lot of other people I am convinced are bat shit crazy. When I tell myself “they are all mistaken but I’m not” I immediately see the potential fallacy lurking there.

Consciousness and reason are useful tools, and we’re fools not to cultivate them and exercise them. But like any tools, they can fail us when we least expect it, not because of any fault of theirs, but because of our over-reliance on them.

Understanding that is the beginning (but certainly not a guarantee), of humility and wisdom.

That explains a lot.

The second design criterion does not necessarily follow from the first. If it did, cockroaches would have become extinct a long time ago.

I’d be willing to bet many of them were bankers. Or, more likely, banker wannabees.

The heart wants what the heart wants…or wanted in this case.

To my best knowledge, my ancestors were farmers all the way back.