Sometimes, when I’m in public, I look around at all of the random people I don’t know, and I truly celebrate our existence. I take a second to appreciate us. Us! We are literally amazing. We’re all obviously the outcome of 330,000 years of modern human brains doing the impossible to give us existence. And, the outcomes of millions of years of hominid brains doing the impossible before them!
Like, imagine the dark stormy nights, hunger, mud, fear, disease, thirst, wind, bruises, funeral rituals, broken bones, scrapes, scabs, and tooth aches that will inevitably lead to death (and the brains probably knew). It’s terrifying. Like, all of human history, and pre-human history is pure terror. Out of the darkness (not knowing), and into a generational horror movie.
And yet, when you look around, every single one of each and every one of our ancestors did it every single time. When you look backwards in time, the track record is perfect. The ones that didn’t do it are gone, forever drowned out by the flow of new genetics, new ideas, new work, new suffering given by those who did it, and continue to do it.
Like, imagine the dark stormy nights, hunger, mud, fear, disease, thirst, wind, bruises, funeral rituals, broken bones, scrapes, scabs, and tooth aches that will inevitably lead to death (and the brains probably knew). It’s terrifying. Like, all of human history, and pre-human history is pure terror. Out of the darkness (not knowing), and into a generational horror movie.
And yet, when you look around, every single one of each and every one of our ancestors did it every single time. When you look backwards in time, the track record is perfect. The ones that didn’t do it are gone, forever drowned out by the flow of new genetics, new ideas, new work, new suffering given by a growing population of those who did it, and continue to do it.
My cat doesn’t know it’s going to die – but our ancestors did know. For millions of years, they knew… and they did it ANYWAY! Whatever bullshit they had to tell themselves. Whatever self talk. Whatever religion. Whatever bravery they had to muster, through immense suffering, for tiny bits of joy. Life. Recursion.
It’s incredible. It’s Optimistic Nihilism 😂