Look up Occasionally

Huge boulders fall from the heavens

tumbling down into the dense jungle.

I approach the fallen rocks with great care,

pleasantly discovering massive amounts of food.

I return home with a chunk of this mana as proof.

My family returns with me to carry the boulders back upon our backs.

We shall feast tonight and our family shall flourish.

—

Squeezing the stale bread between his fingers

it softly crumbles, the crust breaking into small flakes that float to the ground

Looking down, he discovers the grass sprinkled with crumbs.

The bread is useless, 

He tosses it far into the woods

and walks home for dinner.

Granite slabs

permeate the soil

In an inexorable cycle

That stabs to the heart of the earth.

A fire within

Burns all else

Until

It must consume itself.

• • Erika

    so what if we are similarly genetically predisposed to form societies and social norms so as not to act on our own impulsive selfish accords. Society peer pressure prevents us from acting for our on purposes and encourages us moving towards the better for human kind as a whole, not just to fit our personal needs. We are not pushed by innovation and creativity to better the world around us, but rather by the idea that it is accepted by the society to help others, thus our innovations are meant to better human kind. If we were to succumb to our own needs, we would become tyrants, desperate for power. Society acts like a checks and balances system. Humans are inherently selfish, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but also have a need to be accepted by their peer and thus the society acts like an invisible fence, forcing humans to conform to the ideas of “normal” so that each human does not act on its own accord.

    Grant 
    interestingI will need to think about that for a little while

    12 minutes ago

    Erika

    We obviously form societies as a means of survivial because we can’t supply ourselves with everything we need, but i think maybe the reason why we are such social creatures is because we need that invisible fence

    I think that all creatures tend to form tribes, groups, flocks, etc. as a means of survival (warding off predators, finding food, raising young, etc.) But humans are obviously capable of these things within only their families. There are plenty of families that live in seclusion and end up healthy.

  • But I think that, even though we are not built for it, animals wish to survive as long as possible even past the age of possible reproduciton

  • Usually, a predator will catch them or they will die of hunger. Old animals are not as effective

• 
  

  3 minutes ago

  Grant

  • I think that, in reality, or societies are based around supporting the elderly. In all animal cultures, the strongest or fastest animal is the leader. In human society, we have learned to value our elderly. The elderly (greater than 40 years) are nonessential to the running of an effective system. Brain and physical function starts decreasing and they eventually become a drag on society.

• 
  

  A few millenia ago

  Grant 

  • I think that over the years, we have learned to value knowledge as equally as survival. Knowledge is something that cannot be gained through strength or speed, it takes time. Time is the one never changing thing in the world. It is constant. Since we have progressed past the survival stage or existence, we have begun our insatiable search for knowledge. This leads to the need for elders. Nonessential members of society can be supported easier through the use of a collective system to support them, thus civilization. We also have an advantage of collaboration in civilization.

  • So, in conclusion, I think modern civilization has two purposes: to support the growth of knowledge and to promote survival/ support the growth of population.

Just Live

“Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. And never forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things—childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves—that go on slipping , like sand, through our fingers.”

-Salman Rushdie