A Fun Diversion - Response # 1

Well our first question comes from across the pond, a fellow blogger named Rob Williams. A very thought-provoking question that I've been mulling around for several days. What percentage "human" are you and what percentage "animal" are you?

I really had to think about this one, but Rob poses a pretty interesting theory: are humans simply animals that learned to drive, vote, sip Starbucks coffee and have recreational sex? And all those things that we view as "animalistic" -- crime, violence, rampant lust -- aren't they really just carry-overs of a time before we evolved? And is it really wrong to deny our evolution?

I'll go on record as subscribing to this theory. Well sort of. We are just animals. For the most part (let's say 80 percent), we are guided (and sometimes misguided) by instinct and desire - food, water, shelter, and procreation of the species. And all of the means to those ends. We work to earn money to pay for our food, water, shelter, and the grooming products that make us desireable to the opposite sex for procreation.

We've evolved in ways that just make us SMARTER to reach those things. Instead of hunting wildebeast and gathering berries, we drive through McDonald's. Instead of sipping from the stream and hauling earthen jars miles back to the village, we have Dasani, bottle cranberry juice, and copper plumbing. And let's just not even get into all the ways we've gotten smarter about getting into someone's pants.

And let's face it...those activities that we see as animalistic, aren't those really just defenses when someone threatens our ability to achieve those basic needs?

Now the other 20 percent...well, we might be "human." And I think it is in that 20 percent that we will find the greatest accomplishments of our species-- space travel, a classical concerto, a beautiful painting, discovering true love, a great cocktail. Those are the things that transcend the basic needs and show that we might be more than our instincts.

Now do we deny our ancestry? Yes. Where is the joy in being driven by desire to keep food in our stomachs and roof over our heads? Where is the joy in whacking off someone's hand because they lifted a loaf of bread from the market?

A human's greatest joy has always been found in that small 20 percent. Our greatest tragedies and losses have been found in the mindless, if not insane, pursuit of basic needs. Why not strive to overcome that drive and to make more joy? Don't we all want to be more than we are?

So there you have it, Rob. The answer to your question is -- 80% animal, 20% human with the hope that I can someday be less "animal" -- well, except in special circumstances :-D.