The idea of Zen
I came across an interesting idea recently while reading a book: Sapiens: A brief history of humankind.
The book is about how we came to be from a biological and historical perspective. The part that interested me the most is the idea that the reason we have certain psychologicalyes psychological not physiological traits is because it has been evolutionarily selected from. We like sweets because in our hunter gatherer days it was useful to eat as many sweet things as possible because you could never be sure when the next meal could be and eating calorie rich foods were important to get early humans through harsher seasons where food was not abundant.
We feel lonely because we have evolved to be social creatures. We seek members of the opposite gender (usually) because procreation has become enjoyable to ensure our evolutionary success. Individuals who enjoyed having sex were more likely to have offspring. We end up raising our offspring in familial groups because it was the most successful way to raise young humans.
Babies were born more helpless and more underdeveloped because their massive brains could fit through the narrower upright pelvis of women etc.
The book touches on one point... not quite religion but more belief systems. How we would all be happier if we could just enjoy the moment without wanting more than what we currently have. It makes sense though. I think its even how Buddhism works.
If you experience pleasure without wanting more, pain without desiring for it to stop then you are all set aren't you? The human condition makes us predisposed to obsessing about the future. Yes realistically you can't not think about the future but maybe when it comes to emotions we should just take it a moment at a time.
Signing off for now. Also yeah read the fucking book. Its pretty good. :)
The book is about how we came to be from a biological and historical perspective. The part that interested me the most is the idea that the reason we have certain psychological
We feel lonely because we have evolved to be social creatures. We seek members of the opposite gender (usually) because procreation has become enjoyable to ensure our evolutionary success. Individuals who enjoyed having sex were more likely to have offspring. We end up raising our offspring in familial groups because it was the most successful way to raise young humans.
Babies were born more helpless and more underdeveloped because their massive brains could fit through the narrower upright pelvis of women etc.
The book touches on one point... not quite religion but more belief systems. How we would all be happier if we could just enjoy the moment without wanting more than what we currently have. It makes sense though. I think its even how Buddhism works.
If you experience pleasure without wanting more, pain without desiring for it to stop then you are all set aren't you? The human condition makes us predisposed to obsessing about the future. Yes realistically you can't not think about the future but maybe when it comes to emotions we should just take it a moment at a time.
Signing off for now. Also yeah read the fucking book. Its pretty good. :)
Comments