Duality

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."

-Samuel Johnson

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    Humans are animals. This means:
        +You must eat
        +You must generate offspring
        +You must rest
        +You must fear

    Humans are mammals. This means:
        +You want to be around others like you
        +You want to be warm
        +You want to be solitary periodically

Homo sapien : "wise man"

Therein lies the ^conflict

You think, therefore you are? Accepted, but before you thought, you were already an animal; born into life as active as any other. Our nature affects everything about us. Why is an eighty hour work week bad? Because you're not built to do that.

BUT YOU CAN.

Ah, yes. Pandora's gift for modern humankind. We have the capacity to defy our needs. We have the capacity to exceed our nature. You can squeeze something so hard it damages the nerves in your hand. You can understand the surgeon general's warning and still go buy another pack. Yes we can.

The absolute greatest challenge for modern humans is to reconcile the flesh and the mind. More often than not it's perceived as an internal conflict of interest. You want to have sex, but you'd better have protection. You want to get really wasted tonight, but your body will reject the poison and eventually enter a passive state. You want to max out your credit card, but you may not have enough money for good food.

So you have teen pregnancy and overpopulation. You have a 12 step program and the best hangover cure. Credit repair and cheap fast food. Ginkgo biloba and caffeine. You have Restless Leg Syndrome and lumbar support. Gastric bypass and a personal trainer.

And you have charities and support groups. Volunteers and non-profits. Cooperatives and carpools. You have social contracts and public sanitation. Exchange students, liberty and the internet. Courage, wisdom, justice and moderation. Bicycles! Yes we can.

Humans made it this far due to their wits. Our genome is at least ninety-eight percent identical to that of some chimpanzees and I don't need to point out the difference two percent makes. That variance blossoms extraordinary potential and like any tool the merit is in the application. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to aid construction, then they dropped tonnes of it on cities to do the exact opposite. Clearly our biggest threat is ourselves. Clearly our greatest savior is ourselves.