Reflecting upon the strife and travail of man (what happened to Emo Mom the rapper chick) I've come to a conclusion about the horrible misstep in evolution that has brought upon us a life of sadness, foreboding, and endless worry. It's about evolution and the continued strengthing of the frontal lobes.
Absent frontal lobes, we'd all be like my dog, Daisy, laying on the floor beside me, sound asleep. She's not worried about getting a job, finding a house, if she looks fat. No agonizing about missing kick boxing class, spending too much money on shoes, whether some guy dog is going to call her, or whether the floor upon which she lays is littered with kids' clothing.
The continued development of our frontal lobes bring us into a realm of thought that makes us distress over daily mishaps; makes us judgmental, prejudiced, crazy, downright insane, murderers, child molesters, pill popping Wall Street guys, frustrated writers, guilt ridden, in debt.
Now I don't want to be too depressing because man's ingenuity has brought us many beneficial things like healthcare, computers, modern manufacturing and the like.
But along with these advances, foisted upon us by the ingenuity of man and his/her advanced frontal lobes, come liabilities. Healthcare gives us hope, cures. But also leaves us with insurmountable issues. People living beyond their years, miserable, demented, depeleted of money.. I watched my brother go through an agonizing year and a half in a coma. Waiting, waiting, tick tock, tick tock, until finally his life was claimed by pneumonia.
In contrast, my dog became severely ill, and solemnly yet humanely she was put asleep. After they peeled my crying body off the wall, I was able to stand and pet her, watch her sink into a deep sleep, finally death. She didn't know she was dying. She looked at me trustingly. There was no priest absolving her sins--she had none. It was deeply spiritual, really.
Computers. Without computers, we wouldn't have Emo Mom which would, of course, be a horrible shame. But we wouldn't have kids addicted to World of Warcraft, internet predators, instant messaging, pop up ads, the Microsoft monopoly. Animals without frontal lobes don't need computers. They don't need Quicken or Itunes. They just need food, water, some daily interaction. That's it. They're happy. No pressure. They're not feeling guilty about having a freaking Macbook that's been sitting in the box since Christmas, unopened! (I am GOING to set it up....really I am.)
Let's take Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution. Darwin investigated the transmutation of the species and spent five solid years studying fossils, rocks, coral, earthworms (ick!!!), animal husbandry (great term), and various organisms trying to determine out how animals, rock and such ended up where were and why they possessed certain, specific traits. He sailed around on his ship, The Beagle for five years. I have to say, one day on a boat and that was it for me (reference the Maiden Voyage of the USS Midlife Crisis.)
What they don't say was that Darwin suffered terribly from seasickness. Why? BECAUSE LAND MAMMALS ARE SUPPOSED TO STAY ON LAND! He suffered fevers, pleursy (love that word), and was frequently bedridden.
Initially, Darwin couldn't discuss his findings because he feared being burned a heretic. What's up with a species that tortures its own simply over differing ideas? Those who HAVE ideas of course. A coyote fights to protect its territory and its young but it's not going to attack another coyote because it prefers fawns to foxes. Aside from fighting for territory, mates, or food, animals don't fight. Unless they're owned by sadistic nutcases like Michael Vick. (Ok, Michael Vick is actually a bad example of advanced frontal lobes.)
But you get my point. Darwin spent twenty years studying stuff that brought us his world-changing treatise, The Origin of the Species. To the detriment of his own health and personal life. I mean, was it worth it for Charles? Really? He may have been a genius, but I'd rather be the innocent, clueless dog at my feet.
Darwin concluded: “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Let's hope our frontal lobes, ripe with possibility however flawed, continue to evolve to the point that we find a way to organize our jumbled thoughts and feelings--perhaps weed out that which is driving the entire human race crazy to the point where we're destroying our very planet. We humans were given so much; will it ever be properly used?
Or maybe we'll simply de-evolve so that we're back to the beautiful, happy dog at my feet, happy to see me even when my hair is dirty, unaware of war, death, George Bush, Darfur, dwindling Rwandan Gorilla populations, religious strife, an unhappy childhood. Rock on Daisy!!!!!
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3 comments:
"Ask yourself if you're happy and you'll cease to be so." I'm not sure who said that, but I'm sure he had a favorite chair at a local pub.
Ever the Pollyanna, I'd say we humans have a choice: we can drown in the sea of material attachments, world catastrophe, medical ailments, OR we can fight with perspective. We can see a brighter day, work toward a better future, learn to live with what we have rather than what we have not. Some are content only to wake above ground every morning. While most of us strive for more than that, success is a relative concept.
It's just a matter of changing your perspective.
(Don't you just hate people like me?)
Oh Duane,
Don't be so serious. I was just trying to do something scholarly. I have to regain my image after posting a rap song and admitting to being a closet rock and roll star.
Tryin' to mix it up for you, Duane!!!
You can be Pollyanna--better yet, write campaign speeches for Hillary--she is looking a bit gloomy lately.
Though you might find this fun, from the Phaedrus, about King Thamus, who stood in judgement of the god Theuth's inventions (including geometry, arithmetic, and writing):
Thamus inquired into the use of each of them, and as Theuth went through them expressed approval or disapproval, according as he judged Theuth’s claims to be well or ill founded, It would take too long to go through all that Thamus is reported to have said for and against each of Theuth’s inventions.
But when it came to writing, Theuth declared, “Here is an accomplishment, my lord the King, which will improve both the wisdom and the memory of the Egyptians. I have discovered a sure receipt for memory and wisdom.”
To this, Thamus replied, “Theuth, my paragon of inventors, the discoverer of an art is not the best judge of the good or harm which will accrue to those who practice it. So it is in this; you, who are the father of writing, have out of fondness for your off-spring attributed to it quite the opposite of its real function. Those who acquire it will cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful; they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance by external signs instead of by their own internal resources. What you have discovered is a receipt for recollection, not for memory. And as for wisdom, your pupils will have the reputation for it without the reality: they will receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, and in consequence be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant. And because they are filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom they will be a burden to society.”
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