Would our ancestors be proud of us? When I think of the problems humans face today: suffering, anxiety, inequality, social justice issues, war, pollution . . . I try to put things in an evolutionary context. On the one hand, we have come so far. We have created many wonderful ‘science’, ‘technology’, and…
Tag: intellect
Growing Smaller is a Worthy Goal (Part 2)
Here is Part 1 of this two-part series. In it, I focus mostly on the Growth part of the equation In Part 2, I want to focus on the Smaller portion. As I said, I used to be an entrepreneur. In my small town, I struggled to generate enough traffic to…
Would You Rather Be Right, or Happy?
Remember the last time you were at a real life impasse? It’s a cruddy feeling. Especially with someone you love. It’s frustrating to disagree. To reach a moment where you realize there’s no way to resolve the tension in the air. A simple conversation becomes conflict. We understand that the…
Understanding Math to Live a More Informed Life: The Normal Curve
Are you familiar with the ‘bell curve’? It’s also called a ‘normal curve’, or a Gaussian distribution because it describes what statisticians call a ‘normal distribution’. Here’s the wikipedia definition: a probability distribution that is symmetric about the mean, showing that data near the mean are more frequent in occurrence…
If I Resist Social Media, Do I Even Exist?
In 2010 I discontinued my use of all social media. I did so to avoid the pain of the he-said, she-said comments associated with my divorce, as part of my healing. It was extremely helpful and I did not miss social media in any way. In 2020 I waded back…
You are You, and You are Me: A New World View
Do you put on your oxygen mask first? Then what? We help our kids, our partners, the people sitting next to us. But we don’t think too much about what to do next. We are sort of obsessed with taking care of ourselves. And some of us suck at it….
How Could I Be So Wrong While Being So Confident I Was Right?
You know you do it. You think you are right about something, only to find out you were incredibly, undeniably, 180 degrees wrong. It happens. To all of us. To all of us humans, anyway. We all think we’re right. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have conviction. We’d be open….
Rugged Individualism or Unified Connection? Cooperation vs Competition
Do you enjoy friendly competition? Many of us do. Some say it brings out the best in us. Some thrive in an environment where other people push us to perform at higher and higher levels. I can appreciate friendly competition like this. But I rarely see it. And sometimes even…
Homeostasis
Do you seek balance in your life, or do you go all-in on things you like? I used to think everyone wanted balance, and had a moderate approach to all things in order to maintain that balance across their varied interests. Given that there are only so many hours in…
It isn’t Capitalism, Religion, or Politics. There’s Just Too Many People.
It’s a numbers game I can almost always explain an observation, conflict, dilemma, or issue, with the ‘too many people’ explanation. I have as many degrees in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology as one can get. I’m not bragging, just explaining my credentials for making the observation that the problems we…