Sunday, November 11, 2012

The brain. It's a terrible thing to waste

We know who'd win this race. The woman would have to stop somewhere along the way to check her makeup. :-)

I've tried for years to study exactly what we are as human beings. How our bodies work and why we do what we do. That's no easy task when trying to be objective or from the standpoint of being inside the thing you're trying to examine. Wrap your head around that thought for a second.

We know for a fact that we evolved. Look no further than ancient skeletons we've dug up and compare them to everyday man. But looking back on single celled critters that eventually became us is something fascinating. Swimming about in some primordial swamp looking for food to sustain itself and hoping none of its' neighbors took it for food gives one pause to ponder exactly what we are. We are after all nothing more than a collection of billions of cells all working in harmony to make us us. We have an awareness of what we are as a whole but never think once about the billions all working in unison. Even in this community there is a constant battle going on just to make you you. Outside forces are always trying to break in and muck things up but we have our own defense systems to handle it.

So it seems that the macro world is a reflection of what's happening on the microscopic level whether we think so or not. It's just that we're never in a state of complete balance. We may have moved past the ancient ways of seeking food and cannibalism is now unacceptable but the battle continues. Somewhere ingrained in our psyche is this unfulfilled need to acquire. Whether that be food or possessions we're usually happiest when we have a bit more than we need. That drive or selfishness I believe is part of our survival instinct. Don't tell me you don't have some closet full of things that you haven't used in years or a couple of cans of corn in the cupboard that haven't seen the light of day since the last century.

But it is interesting what we've evolved into after all these millennia and how we function as human beings. A simple rundown of our needs proved interesting when I made a study some 40 years ago. Think about it for a second. What exactly do we need to function as a human animal?
Air to breath - check
Water - check
Food - check
Clothing or protection from the elements - check
But in doing this study there was one overlooked item that never occurred to me until some years later until I heard it on a science program. And that would be respect. Call it deferential regard, esteem or self worth but the need is as great as food or water.

Then there is the matter of the male female brain. I suspect that was due to an evolutionary process as well. They function at polar opposites with good reason. Men as we all know are hunters in the way they think. They only seek the best of any heard when time and circumstance dictates. Most often it's more a matter of trying to drag the wild kill back to the cave because it was the easiest prey to catch. Better to come home with something than empty handed. No respect in that. Women however will browse looking for perfection. They will spend hours seeking what probably doesn't exist on the planet and when they don't find it will return home empty handed. That is to the bewilderment of any man on the planet. I fail to see the function of that fruitless exercise in the grand scheme of things but then I view that from a male perspective. And no if you're going shopping ladies don't take me with you, I'll stay here thank you very much. 

But I hope I gave you something to ponder. We are after all neither greater nor lesser than each other but there are great differences. Viva la difference.               

7 comments:

BBC said...

Must equate spirit in with brain science and understanding it. Taught religions make that difficult.

Collective consciousness is important, wonder if we'll ever get there.

Our brains are still evolving.

BBC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BBC said...

Going to correct a comment..

No matter how much our brains evolve we'll still be interested in tits, we're guys. :-)

BBC said...

My general experience with available women in recent years is that they've just gotten to independent and aren't very flexible and willing to work things out.

It's like, "If you don't like it my way hit the highway."

Like the last one I spent two weeks with, the sex was great (but three times a day in your 50's can make your balls hurt) but she was not willing to discuss anything past that.

Like my displeasure that she had three big dogs that she didn't feel the need to clean the shit out of their pen. They ruined all the carpets in her house after laying in shit all day, and she often handled them before going to work, in a hospital. Hello !!!

MRMacrum said...

The brain is not a terrible thing to waste. How could you possibly think that? Humans have for centuries, no make that eons and epochs, been wasting their brains happy as if they had them. Witness the total group wasting that just occurred on the Right........And Yeah I am inebriated.....so sue me.

BBC said...

Odd, that blast in INDIANAPOLIS.

Randal Graves said...

Dave's not here, man.