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Our purpose in life is to spread our genes as far and wide as possible. As such, it's not far off to say that "striving for more" is a facet of human nature; h

by daeken 14y ago

Our purpose in life is to spread our genes as far and wide as possible. As such, it's not far off to say that "striving for more" is a facet of human nature; having more money, a fancier car, more goats, bigger muscles, etc is a great way to get more mates, and fulfill your evolutionary goals to a larger extent.

colmvp 14y ago
"...having more money, a fancier car, more goats, bigger muscles, etc is a great way to get more mates, and fulfill your evolutionary goals to a larger extent." Indeed. Being rich and famous is a way to compensate for the lack of genetic traits that are typically attractive to the opposite sex (be it height, facial looks, or even race). Salman Rushdie, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods...
mattgreenrocks 14y ago
Fuck success, and all the glorification of it. I've been a slave to it (and ambition, which is just success in another guise) for way too long. Why do I say this? Because I'm not fully convinced it was always me choosing success. I was choosing success out of my own broken desire to be accepted socially, as if I had to redeem myself in people's eyes. This was a false reality I'd constructed based upon negative experiences in the past. The winning move was not to become the Ideal Male Seen On Magazines, but instead to grow into my identity. I have nothing to prove, and no one to impress, ideally. I'm not saying success is bad. I just wonder sometimes if someone benefits from all the neurosis and anxiety that the trappings of success lays for people. Capitalism? VCs? Because it seems that many elements of culture are not created with our best interests in mind. Think about it.
- koningrobot 14y ago
  The winning move was not to become the Ideal Male Seen On Magazines, but instead to grow into my identity. Sounds like you've traded one mythology for another. I doubt there was any "identity" that you pin-pointed, decided you wanted to grow into, and worked toward growing into. Rather, I think that "to grow into my identity" here means "to grow into that which I will grow into", making it self-fulfilling. Evolution gave us pain and suffering; indeed we shouldn't glorify it. But we should also not glorify the way things are as the way things should be. Can we all please deal with our insecurities in some other way than by making up a story saying it's all okay? The world is on fire. All is not okay.
  - mattgreenrocks 14y ago
    > The world is on fire. All is not okay. I'm well aware of this, and looking for ways to contribute to the good of humanity, rather than racking up a huge bank account. That is what I choose.
vacri 14y ago
Our 'purpose' is no more to satisfy the evolutionary process than water's 'purpose' is to satisfy the Water Cycle. Evolution isn't a thing with motives, and certainly doesn't have goals. It's a description of a process - it can't impart purpose. What you've described is bland pop psychology that homogenises human behaviour into one stereotype; that everything we do is aimed at improving mating chances. We're a lot more complex than that.

by daeken 14y ago

colmvp 14y ago

"...having more money, a fancier car, more goats, bigger muscles, etc is a great way to get more mates, and fulfill your evolutionary goals to a larger extent." Indeed. Being rich and famous is a way to compensate for the lack of genetic traits that are typically attractive to the opposite sex (be it height, facial looks, or even race). Salman Rushdie, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods...

mattgreenrocks 14y ago

Fuck success, and all the glorification of it. I've been a slave to it (and ambition, which is just success in another guise) for way too long. Why do I say this? Because I'm not fully convinced it was always me choosing success. I was choosing success out of my own broken desire to be accepted socially, as if I had to redeem myself in people's eyes. This was a false reality I'd constructed based upon negative experiences in the past. The winning move was not to become the Ideal Male Seen On Magazines, but instead to grow into my identity. I have nothing to prove, and no one to impress, ideally. I'm not saying success is bad. I just wonder sometimes if someone benefits from all the neurosis and anxiety that the trappings of success lays for people. Capitalism? VCs? Because it seems that many elements of culture are not created with our best interests in mind. Think about it.

koningrobot 14y ago
The winning move was not to become the Ideal Male Seen On Magazines, but instead to grow into my identity. Sounds like you've traded one mythology for another. I doubt there was any "identity" that you pin-pointed, decided you wanted to grow into, and worked toward growing into. Rather, I think that "to grow into my identity" here means "to grow into that which I will grow into", making it self-fulfilling. Evolution gave us pain and suffering; indeed we shouldn't glorify it. But we should also not glorify the way things are as the way things should be. Can we all please deal with our insecurities in some other way than by making up a story saying it's all okay? The world is on fire. All is not okay.
- mattgreenrocks 14y ago
  > The world is on fire. All is not okay. I'm well aware of this, and looking for ways to contribute to the good of humanity, rather than racking up a huge bank account. That is what I choose.

vacri 14y ago

Our 'purpose' is no more to satisfy the evolutionary process than water's 'purpose' is to satisfy the Water Cycle. Evolution isn't a thing with motives, and certainly doesn't have goals. It's a description of a process - it can't impart purpose. What you've described is bland pop psychology that homogenises human behaviour into one stereotype; that everything we do is aimed at improving mating chances. We're a lot more complex than that.