Born to Live

There is an evolved respect for aggression. I have learned to recognize this over the years. It probably served good purpose in physically threatening environments since detecting a threat signal was far more important than a friendly one. If you missed a bear hug or a bear chase, a missed response mattered for one situation far more greatly. It is one reason why aggression is not completely stopped or disputed when it happens. Try to recall a situational dilemma of proper socially good behavior disrupted by aggression, and you’ll see what I mean. There is always some degree of collective assumption that aggression matters more or will eventually serve some good purpose of survival. Though it makes many people feel safe, I wonder how such a style of survival shapes long term happiness.

Compared to how human beings lived long ago, there are no physical threats of any violent kind in our daily lives today. The aggression we think is saving us is probably also damaging the beautiful lens through which we see life. Because before an exercise of aggression and vileness is a space of consideration. It is where we can quickly learn why a primordial response might be about to find home. It does so because we were always designed to save the body first, the mind later. However, the way longevity works now in most worlds, the mind is the only reliable way to realizing the bliss of long-term journeys and destinations, which matter far more than the brief trips and twitches of anger. Some aggression is bad for health and shortens life. The sooner we understand this, the more powerful it is going to make everyone.