Why do so many people have trouble believing in evolution?
January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Science | Leave a Comment
So I read this article by Marcelo Gleiser (a professor at Dartmouth no less) entitled Why do so many people have trouble believing in evolution? and was disappointed that the guy was lazy and didn’t really try to answer the question. Because it is a fascinating question. Truly fascinating. And truly worth some good, non-polemical scholarship.
I would suggest that the reason most people have trouble believing in evolution comes down to a cluster set of reasons such as these:
1. People value their sense of self-worth, and perceive evolution as an attack on their self-worth (I’m not saying it should, just that they perceive it this way)
2. Science popularizers can come off as real arrogant elitist assholes sometimes
3. The authority of science has been overused in marketing and corporate america to swindle people, so it carries less street cred
4. Most people hear about evolution through the testimony of textbooks, professors, experts (i.e. most people never directly perceive it or evidence for it)
5. A lot of people believe that their life can have no purpose unless there is a God (I do not agree with this, but I observe it)
6. Many people believe that evolution sets the stage for complete moral decadence
The list can go on. But the fact is: since we can’t perceive evolution in real time, it is not an experiential belief that lodges into our hearts. It is the sort of belief that people don’t really “feel” directly. It doesn’t impact our daily lives in market-force type ways. And in this culture it has really become a very tribalistic sort of belief as evidence by the article mentioned above (either you are with us or you against us) so people are more prone to apply Pascal’s Wager type logic and throw their lots in with the view of reality that they find the most attractive (the one with a God and a sense of purpose).
******************************
On a personal note, I tend to believe in most aspects of evolution (especially the kind we can observe in laboratories as bacteria mutate and adapt), but I do not believe that we really understand the mechanisms all that well. I am more of an evolution agnostic – recognizing that the emergence of life and it’s subsequent development remain more mysterious than known. And I’d like scientists to explore these questions free of tribalistic dogma (and I’m sure many do, we just hear about them a lot less frequently).
And the question I’d like answered: Why do so many science popularizers equivocate between evolution and the origin of life (abiogenesis)? Is it intentional? Or just one of those slips?
Natural Eating – The only diet you need
January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Health | Leave a Comment
I have come to the conclusion that there are multiple ways to eat in a healthy way, but that the major obstacle to each of these methods is our dependence on convenience.
The common theme to healthy eating is the idea of natural eating. Eating things that require very little processing. Things that our ancestors could have eaten thousands of years ago.
Vegetables, Meat, Fowl, Fish, Nuts, Seeds, Fruits.
The major groups of healthy eaters these days, in my mind are: Paleo/Primal, Vegetarian, Vegan.
What they all share in common is an emphasis on natural, unprocessed foods. However, practitioners of these eating systems tend to cheat for the sake of convenience.
Paleo/Primal people rely too much on meat and nuts and don’t get enough veggies.
Vegetarians rely too heavily on grains, soy and legumes. And fruit.
Vegans struggle to get enough calories and to compensate rely too heavily on grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
I’m a strong believer in the Paleo/Primal way of eating because I think it is the only system that is available to the average man. Meat satiates and satisfies and keeps people from the never ending cycle of insulin spikes and empty carb addiction. However, to be truly natural, those who eat Paleo/Primal should be intentional about eating waaaaayyyyy more veggies than otherwise. Don’t just eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. Eat eggs, spinach and bacon. Don’t just have fish for lunch. Have fish with a salad. You get the point.
The biggest challenge to natural eating is getting enough vegetables. So most of your energy should be focused on beating this challenge.
Don’t divert your eyes
January 16, 2012 | Filed Under Relationships | Leave a Comment
I’ll always insist that the number one issue that most guys face with women is that they have the wrong phase frame. You want to be the one phasing her and not the other way around.
Being phased happens in a number of ways, both consciously and sub-consciously. Rather than focus on the conscious aspects today I’ll focus on the sub-conscious.
Next time you’re walking down the street, pay attention to your natural biological reactions to various people. Old people. Business people. Fat people. Skinny people. Ultra-attractive people. Just take note. Be aware of the different ways your body reacts.
Now, it is very common for guys to experience the following when they see a woman they are attracted to:
- quickening heart beat
- increased walking speed (and irregular steps)
- heightened awareness
- diversion of eyes
- possibly a second look
These are all physiological reactions. Even the second look is normally a very primitive behavior. However, all of these physiological reactions are disadvantageous in the current social environment.
The good news is that you can practice gaining control over these things. Here are some tips for doing that:
1. Slow your breathing down (and your walking … you’re not in a rush)
Calmness is very attractive. A slower breath leads to less anxiety and less outwardly expressed nervousness. And by removing any awkward, jittery movement that comes from the heightened awareness, you’ll stand out as being unphaseable.
2. Smile confidently
You’re in control of the situation and everything’s cool.
3. Look at her knowingly
Assume that she’s attracted to you and look at her as if you know she is.
4. Don’t divert your eyes down
Let her do that. But don’t flinch. Beware: it could get awkward. Just maintain that calm, knowing smile (as if you are king), keep looking at her for 2-3 seconds, and then if you need to, slowly, calmly, divert your eyes to the right or left (not down) while maintaining the smile or even magnifying it a bit. But preferably you just walk through keeping your eyes looking forward.
[I have another tip on this topic but I'd rather not make it public so feel free to contact me using the contact form on my site if you'd like to know more].
At the end of the day, gaining control over your own state of being is one of the keys to attraction. Practice being calm and in control. Minimize the negative physiological effects of an attractive woman, and she will likely become intrigued.
Don’t try to impress
January 15, 2012 | Filed Under Relationships | Leave a Comment
The world’s complicated. And our words often overstate the case.
You’ll hear women say they hate when guys try to impress them. But really, they do want to be impressed. Women are longing to be impressed. Just not the way most guys *try* to impress.
What they really mean is that they are not attracted to a “try hard” or a “chameleon”. A “try hard” isn’t taking the right phase frame. He feels that he needs to prove himself to the girl and comes across as a weak, empty fraud. A “chameleon” shapes his interests, hobbies, etc. around the girl he is attracted to in an attempt to appear more compatible than he really is. Girls can sniff this stuff out from a mile away.
Yet girls want to be impressed. They want a man whose value as a potential mate overflows from his very presence. They want a guy who just feels right.
So what do you do as a guy?
You be your best self. It’s that simple. And if being your best self isn’t good enough right now, then you work your ass off improving yourself… really improving yourself (not faking it). Months and years, not hours. And if you do the work to make yourself better, your confidence will improve, you’ll feel a sense of peace and calm with the world. You won’t be easily phased.
And it’s the guys who radiate a natural, life-worn confidence who actually *do* impress women. Without trying.
Every once in a while my heart skips a beat
January 14, 2012 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
10 Principles Of Life
January 10, 2012 | Filed Under Tips | 1 Comment
I consider myself a realistic idealist. I temper my idealism with realism. I know the world can be better, and that there are things that I can change, but I love and honor the world as it is, and don’t try to change the things I can’t.
I’ve found that pure idealists tend to misallocate their energy, worrying about things they can’t control. They are also prone to struggle with depression because, often enough, reality doesn’t fit their expectations. I’ve also found that pure realists are prone to emphasizing the negative. The realist sees the rare baby dying in the burning house, but too often overlooks the daily miracle of new life. The hardcore realist struggles with nihilism and/or cynicism because reality often presents itself as harsh and brutish.
As a realistic idealist, here are ten things I’ve learned about life. Ten rules I try to live by.
1. Listen to your body
In many ways, your mind is a reflection of your body. The state of your body is manifested in the way you feel mentally. Your mind is also a monitoring system for your body and is constantly receiving feedback. Once you start paying attention to the signals your body is sending you, you gain an immense control over your well being. Your body is one of the few things in this world that you have the power to control and the effort you put into caring for your body (through what you eat and what you do) has huge effects. Compare that to the amount of energy you put into global politics and the corresponding (non-existent) effects.
Gain control over your body and your life changes for good. It is the road to joy.
2. Think less
Post-enlightenment we have become mind-centric beings. We self-identify with our minds. And many people live their entire lives in their minds. But the mind is really just a tool for us as beings. Just like the wings of the sparrow. Now imagine if the sparrow was constantly flapping its wings, even when it was sitting in its nest. It would be constantly tired and burnt out. Look around. We are constantly tired and burnt out.
Once you start thinking less, you can start being more fully human. Play. Go on hikes. Create adventures. Laugh. Enjoy the moment you are in.
3. Take smart risks / Avoid stupid risks
Perfectionists make the mistake of never taking risks. And then there are the winner’s of the Darwin Awards. You want to fall somewhere in the middle. Don’t be afraid of failure. But yes, do fear death.
4. Stop following the script
In other words, stop letting other people or entities (corporations, governments) live your life for you. Be intentional. Be an expressive being. Engage the world. Follow your gut. Do things your way.
We live in an adaptive, non-rigid world. There are many unwritten scripts. Why not write yours rather than going through the motions of somebody else’s?
5. Play the percentages
The more you live, the more you learn how patterns work. As a young boy, you may think that there’s only one girl in the world for you. And this idea might freeze you up to not take the risk of letting her know that you like her. But, if you simply had the knowledge that there are hundreds, thousands, probably millions of girls out there who could make you happy… well, you might loosen up a bit and not sweat the consequences.
Same goes for a career. After living a while, I now realize that I had a dozen good options. Reality wasn’t going to implode if I didn’t do things exactly right.
6. Understand how the world works
There is peace to be found in understanding. But you must be willing to not expect anything of the world. You must take it on it’s own terms. As you gain understanding of the world, the burden of saving the world goes away. It is freeing to submit to reality… on its terms.
Be a student of reality. Love it. Love truth. And as they say, the truth will truly set you free.
7. Honor your nature
You are not a blank slate. You are a human being. Learn what it means to be a human being. Embrace your nature. Love your nature. Don’t reinvent the wheel from the ground up. Don’t assume you can eat anything you want. You don’t put dirt into your car’s engine. So stop putting crap into your body.
Learn what brings contentment. Have a real, authentic social life. Stop living through Facebook. Embrace procreation and the regeneration of life. Grow your own food whenever possible. Care for some animals. Invest in your family. Be active. Play.
8. Take yourself less seriously
Seriously.
You aren’t that important. Or special. Or unique. Unless everyone is. In which case you can stop worrying about needing to maintain your specialness.
9. Be spontaneous
Don’t always live through thought and careful calculation. Be smart and safe, but allow yourself to express spontaneously. Whether through art, or whimsical physical activity, or play or sex or whatever. Just let go sometimes and flow and be.
10. Control what you can / Avoid addictions
Stop carrying the world on your shoulders. Stop worrying about the things you can not control. Focus all your energy on yourself and the things you have the power to change or make better. Are you stressed out? Stop worrying about what’s going on in Libya. Stop watching cable news. Say “no” the next time someone asks you for a favor or be part of some committee.
Invest in yourself before you invest in anyone else. You’ll be a better gift to the world and others if you take care of yourself first. So focus on your body. Focus on your immediate environment. Focus on your local community. Focus on your food. Focus on your family (though you may need to give up control here too, as it is not healthy to try to control personalities).
And hey, avoid addictions and all unhealthy dependencies. When you are addicted to anything, you are out of control of the thing you literally have the most control over in this world: yourself. As for unhealthy dependencies, yes, some relationships (even within the family) are unhealthy dependencies. Don’t try to change people though. Love them, support them and when necessary, avoid them for your own sanity.
Too Much, Too Easy
January 6, 2012 | Filed Under Economics | Leave a Comment
Note: this argument isn’t that people won’t work hard. or aren’t willing to. my argument is more like this: the skills that our country needs require long term vision, and our social atmosphere does not support long term vision.
Economics boils down to an analysis of human motivation and human happiness. It’s really that simple.
What drives people to be productive?
- stability/security
- access to food
- access to sex
- social value / social pleasure
- supporting a family
- developing a vision/dream
There’s not much more to economics than those 6 motivators. Most everything that everyone does on a daily basis drives towards one of those things.
When most people discuss the economy these days, they point out the wealth disparity between the top 1% and bottom 99%. But really that’s a measurement of wealth in the abstract. A true measurement of wealth would look at each person’s access to the 6 things above. Of those 6 things, I would say that at least the top 4 are readily available to anyone of any social class with minimal effort.
The fact is that for many people, the cost of investing oneself in long-term goods such as an education and career, or of just planning for the future in general, of developing high-demand skill is not properly motivated in this society. Why is that?
One condition for long-term motivation is that not all short-term motivations be easily accessed. This is an observation about reality, not a suggestion for how to shape an economy. It’s just a fact that as a society, people will abandon long term effort if short term effort provides plenty of rewards. Think of the economy like a farming season. Most of us are only motivated to harvest the things that have very short growing seasons. Anything that requires a long growing season is sacrificed and/or compromised, and yields a non-existent or far weaker crop.
I would say that the four things that people are most motivated by on a short-term basis are:
- Food
- Sex
- Security
- Social value / Social pleasure
If a person has easy access to these four things (and really, in the United States we do) then he or she is not going to do the hard, often monotonous work, of investing in long-term virtues or skills, such as a highly technical career (or a family).
And we do have very easy access to these things:
- Cheap grains
- Hook up culture
- Socialized protection through police and military
- Facebook, texting
In this society, the things that matter the most to us are provided to us almost as a free lunch. This provides very strong pressure on a large portion of the population to settle for these short term motivators while sacrificing the things that take more time but may have longer term benefits like:
- family development
- developing a vision/dream
So what man in his right mind is going to take the risk of years and years of unrecognized effort, and mind numbing study for the very unlikely chance that he’ll be part of a stable family (less than 50% of marriages survive) or see his dreams realized (even fewer small businesses survive).
The fact is, our economy is a reflection of our basic human needs. And right now, it’s too easy to have these needs satisfied through artificial and/or fake simulations like a bag of chips or a Facebook chat.
The Best Songs of 2011
December 31, 2011 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
Here are my 10 favorite songs from the past year. The best? Well, if I’m the judge;) Happy New Year and may 2012 be a great one!
Wye Oak – Civilian
We Are Augustines – Book of James
David Bazan – Wolves At The Door
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
The Horrible Crowes – Ladykiller
Middle Brother – Daydreaming
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
Typhoon – Summer Home
Sarah Jarosz – Run Away
Sleeping at Last – In the Meantime
On the importance of risk
December 30, 2011 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment
“To laugh is to risk appearing the fool;
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental;
To reach out for another is to risk involvement;
To expose feelings is to risk exposing true self;
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss;
To love is to risk not being loved in return;
To live is to risk dying;
To hope is to risk despair;
To try is to risk failure;
But risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing;
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing;
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love and live;
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave and has forfeited freedom’
Only a person who risks is free.”
Merry Christmas
December 17, 2011 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
Probably the greatest advice you could ever get, especially in a society that teaches us only to hoard and consume:
Give Till Your Taken
Giving doesn’t require that you neglect your own needs. Take care of yourself of course. But share life. Give joy. And receive it.
PS. I’m pretty sure I’ll not be updating this blog much through the holidays. So enjoy your friends, enjoy your families. And have a great Christmas!
