Wired for Survival, Yearning for Meaning

I've sold dog food to over 100 people now, and I've sold dog food to a lot of categories of people, because many different people have dogs.

I've sold to people without much money, and to a guy who was looking to invest in the company I work for.

In the end, they are both just people, yes, I talk about different subjects, but they bought the same product.

Working in sales has given me the opportunity to talk to a lot of people.

The best way to describe it:

Do you often have the feeling that you don’t understand what is happening well?

Do you think that people can resist reality sometimes?

Do you sometimes experience a lack of self-awareness and an understanding of your motivations?

Well, in today’s article, we dive into the depths of the creature we call Human.

Everything has a reason, consciously or subconsciously.

I am going to talk about a couple of theories, and in the end, I will bind them together for you, so you can understand yourself and others a bit better.

I will talk about:

• Survival & losing face

• Judgment & the mirror effect

• First to third order consequences

Survival & Losing Face

About 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang created matter, energy, time, and space - a story we call physics.

300,000 years later, these elements formed atoms and molecules, known as chemistry.

Roughly 4 billion years ago, on Earth, these molecules formed organisms, and approximately 200,000 years ago, these molecules formed humans or Homo sapiens.

From the moment we exist, we do nothing else but try to survive, just like animals.

And just like animals, we gather in groups.

In these groups, we have structures.

If you don't fit into these structures, you are considered wrong and people may exclude you. For now, I will categorize survival into two:

• Social survival

• Physical survival

Social survival stems from the animal instinct of living in flocks.

You want to fit into the structures of your group so you can be with people.

That is why we can be scared of many things: making mistakes, doing it wrong, having it wrong.

It is all part of you being able to lose face, and not getting accepted into the social structures.

It is your primary social survival.

Then you also have physical survival.

When we were not as spoiled as most of us are now, we were busy with surviving.

In our brain, we still have a part that helps us with that, the reptilian brain.

It is the most instinctive part of the brain that produces many of our unconscious decisions.

It seeks to satisfy our most basic needs: reproduction, domination, self-defense, fear, hunger, flight, etc.

The reptilian brain also controls our automatic processes, such as our breathing and heart rate.

It’s located in the brain stem.

Over time, we still have these two forms of survival imprinted in our being.

First to Third Order Consequences

Every choice we make has consequences.

If you make a choice, you also directly decide not to do something else.

If you choose A, you don't choose B and C, and eliminate a lot of outcomes.

For example, if I make the decision to drink alcohol, I eliminate the option not to drink alcohol.

Every choice has consequences, creating its own snowball effect:

The snowball effect is a psychological term that explains how small actions can lead to bigger and bigger actions, ultimately resulting in a significant impact.

Imagine a snowball rolling down a snow-covered hill. It starts small, but as it gains momentum, it picks up more snow, growing larger and larger.

I drink alcohol, therefore I have a fun night with friends - that's the first consequence.

• Then the second order consequence is that I'm hungover, less fit, or not as well-rested as I would be if I didn't drink alcohol.

• The third order consequence is that I'm less productive, less enjoyable, which can lead to falling behind with my projects, or not being able to do the things I wanted to do in the first place.

Every choice in life can be defined by the amount of consequences that react to each other. Life is built purely on the choices you make.

There is no good or bad, only workable and unworkable, weighted by the outcomes that you want in your life.

Looking at it this way was a reason for me to stop drinking or doing certain things for a longer period of time, and start activities like reading or eating healthier, for instance.

What Matters?

To summarize everything, we can identify two primary needs:

• Social survival

• Survival

These needs have an effect on our judgment.

Judgment is something we can become conscious of.

The more conscious we are, the more we can play with the mirroring effect.

With the mirroring effect, we can have more control over our levels of being.

For more control to create the life you want, you can consider the first to third order or further consequences.

By adopting this, you create a bias for yourself where you can exert more control over your outcomes.

Most things are not rocket science if you think them through a bit.

If you eat healthily and work out, you are healthier.

If you put in work, time, and effort, you get better.

If you uplift your standard, your life will be of higher quality.

But does it all really matter that much?

No, it does not.

Nothing matters, and therefore everything matters.

In itself, everything is meaningless until you give something meaning.

That is why this sentence would be the main takeaway: there is no good or bad, only workable and unworkable, weighed by the outcomes that you want in your life.

I want to add to it; and the purpose you create.

There is no good or bad, only workable and unworkable, weighed by the outcomes that you want in your life and the purpose you create.

If this article was of value to you, share it so it can be of value to more people as well.

In the article for next week, I am going to take a deep dive into the question, "What really matters?"

I am going to collect new quotes and new research for it, of course.

So, subscribe because you don’t want to miss that.

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