“Why Instincts Can Compete
With Our 21st Century Brain.”
· 1. Mike (my teenager): “My Bio teacher says we are Cavemen living in the
21st Century. There’s a conflict going on between our ancient &
modern brain. Huh?”
· 2. Me (Pop): “On-the money. But
here’s what it means to you. It’s the answer to “So-What?” - “Who-Cares?”
You don’t have to remember this.
· Modern humans are 10,000 years old. We started 2.6 million years ago from
the Ape family. That’s the Paleolithic or Stone age. We are really
Naked-Bipeds.
· Two-legged furless apes that still react to life by Instincts, Reflexes,
and Habits hardwired in our Nervous-System. They form Neural-Networks in the
brain plus spinal cord.”
· 3. Mike: “So you agree with “Teach”.
· 4. Me: “OK, we are the inheritors by DNA & RNA of a couple of million
years of Nature. Nurture, like reading & writing are a New adventure.
· The average U.S. citizen has been reading and writing (illiterate is the
opposite), for only 120 years.”
· 5. Mike: “What are examples of our conflict with our Ape ancestors?”
· 6. Me: “The smartest professor on instincts affecting Homo sapiens (you)
is at Harvard, an evolutionary biologist, called Jason Lieberman. He says a
lot.”
· 7. Mike: “Examples that make sense to me, please.”
· 8. Me: “Walking like our ancestors
or Sitting all day like us. Our tribe of “Hunter-Gatherers” walked
6-miles daily, 7-days weekly. Modern Humans never hit the one-mile mark, outside
their health club.”
· 9. Mike: “So they walked a little more.”
· 10. Me: “Our mind-body connected was constructed atom by atom to climb
trees, mountains and hills to forage for veggies, fruit & kill prey for
dinner.
· We dug and threw, walked and ran from better predators
that wanted us for their dinner.”
that wanted us for their dinner.”
· 11. Mike: “What was their reward?”
· 12. Me: “Survival in their environment, a hot meal, living long enough to
transmit their genes to us. Get this: their movement pumped Oxygen around their
cells, and blood to flow (better heart pumping action) and Immune System
activity.”
· 13. Mike: “Still they died at 25 years or so, but healthy.”
· 14. Me: “We sit at a desk & computer for 8-hours, in a car or sofa
the rest of our waking hours. No exercise. Heart Disease is #1, & Stroke
number 2 on our hit list.”
· It requires a Conscious decision (Willpower & Intent) to
exercise our muscles, tendons, ligaments & bones. It is not natural for
adult Americans to move actively. It is not an Instinct but requires a Decision.”
· 15. Mike: “What else?”
· 16. Me: “Reading & writing which translates to using the Computer,
keyboard and Internet. We had the Internet for only 25-years old. An Average of
5-6 hours online is normal. Did you know we check our Email 30-times daily.”
· 17. Mike: “I know you are dying to say it. Any suggestions to
self-improvement online?”
· 18. Me: “SpeedReading101 saves you 2-hours daily. You read and remember
300 pages daily. It helps with reducing chronic-stress too.”
· 19. Mike: “You’re on a roll, what else is different?”
· 20. Me: “What we habitually eat, sugar-starch-fats, not Veggies, Fruit
& protein. Modern man consumer 100 pounds of sugar annually, not their
5-pounds. Could explain lack of heart attacks & diabetes?”
· 21. Mike: “Last one, I got homework.”
· 22. Me: “Shoes. We cannot feel nature and need foot specialists. You walk
better barefoot. Exercise the bones in your toes and arches. They were not
Flatfooted like us.
· Last point about our eyes. There
are 2 types of vision: Fovea-central-vision which is very narrow. The second is
Peripheral (wide) vision.
· Your ancestors (progenitors) did not read the NY Times or Googled. They
exclusively used Wide Peripheral vision for seeing the Big-Picture. It helped
in tribal hunting of prey.
· Narrow (Fovial Vision) used in reading & computing causes Nearsightedness.
It causes Images to blur at a distance. By the way, Peripheral is the
secret of speedreading.”
· Mike: “I learned a lot & it didn’t kill me. I got more questions for
next time, thanks Pop.”
See ya.
Copyright © 2013, Bernard Wechsler
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