Pondering sustainability and happiness

[mountain_child]

Being alone in a new town with limited transportation and funds I’ve been reading a bit more than usual in my off time. This has been quite lovely in a number of regards, and has also given me the chance to ponder a few things

Comments

[spadoink]

i think that part of it is that when you consider things on the evolutionary scale, that there wsan't really any logic programmed in to make us 'happy.' for some people, the things that make them happy are indeed the things that tweak the evolutionary guides. in theory without conciousnous and intelligence (for what they're really worth) we'd all be striving to get enough cushion around us to procreate and stay fat and healthy. that's all that evolution really wants. security adn safety so we can live long enough to procreate properly.

for some people you can see those drivers in what they do. of course being humans and not really in tune with our id the way that these lower base desires come out are pretty strange. you know, like the leaders of Enron and etc. i think those are all really strong ties.

i really dont' see the same connections to those who find happiness in art, music, witty discussions and etc. although, those who pursue science, i can see a very real connection there that could fullfil the lower desires.

as an alternate thought. i wonder if there's a bit in our minds that evolution has placed there. one that says that too much of the same genetics in the same place is bad. so evolution sort of randomly picks some to have the wanderlust and others to not. and it's a combination of nature/nuture and the way we interpet our base signals that has some people leave the farm for the city and stop and others to always wander never quite finding the endpoint that these stimuli find for us.

in the end, i think that we need to know more about what the base signals we get are trying to say to us before we can pick things in our much much more complicated societal system to try and meet them.

or something.
hi.
you're cute today.

[mountain_child]

As always you make excellent points ☺ I’d love to hear further explanation about your comment on those who seek sciences in their lives.

I think you’re right on most all of the points you make. From what I’ve learned so far about the patterns seen in animal movements, gene flow, and natural selection, I think natural selection or evolution would favor having genes that say “if you’re thriving where you are, stay there and keep it up. If you’re having difficulty, then get the heck out of dodge!” Those who aren’t doing well in one place or social situation aren’t very likely to have many offspring, and those aren’t likely to do very well (if there are any). So there’s not a lot of risk in going somewhere else and out into the great unknown (if it kills you, you really haven’t lost much in terms of your genes, and if you find a place you thrive you’ve won the jackpot).

But I also think there’s been selective pressure for our species to know a lot about it’s surroundings. Generally when we know more we are better able to thrive and take care of our offspring. I think this has created a curiosity factor (like Shaylith mentioned) that makes most of our species inclined to seek out more knowledge (but on what subject varies drastically from one individual to another). So if people find answers to the things they are curious about where they are they’re more likely to stay there, while those who don’t feel the push to hit the road and find out.

Just my ponderings thus far.

And thanks! Being cute has saved me numerous times so far. Remind me to tell you about my thoughts on the evolution of that one sometime ☺

[spadoink]

well i think that in general the evolution of science has for the most part been of the nature of the pursuit of the above mentioned fat happyness. i think that has allowed it to develop in our minds to allow for the pursuit of almost all science to seem like the same thing in our minds. that makes pretty easy sense for me. even the pseudo-sciences like psychiatry.

i think that when you're at the pinacle of the food chain and your only real competition is one another that the pushes for moving like that are a little different.
i think it's pretty rare that anyone would feel that there aren't suitable mates in a local area...but they might feel that they dont' like the offerings i guess. anything could start feeding back to our base needs and the less we're trully connected to them the less reliable we will be in figuring out what these results are going to have on us. i'm not certain that we really should be connected too overly tightly to these base drives, after all they are a thing of the past but they do help us to understand one another.

i dunno. aren't there animals that once there's a dominant male they just wander out. like lions. or bees. or whatever. i guess it sort of flows from what you say but i don't think it always has to be violence, there's just sometimes this urge to spread outwards. that's why i think there's more male wanderers than female.