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only when we face the unknown will we meet ourselves for the first time.”
“I keep coming back to something Stephen Hawking said. That whenever an advanced society encounters a more primitive one, things usually don’t turn out well for the latter.
“The human mind is a tremendous learning machine, unmatched by any computer we’ve ever made or ever will make. What we try to teach people, however, and what they come away with are often two different things.”
“Apophenia is the tendency to see patterns and connections even when they don’t exist. It’s got something to do with how our brains are wired.”
One example was the gene LCT that coded for lactase, an enzyme that enabled humans to digest dairy. And yet in non-human mammals, LCT became non-active shortly after infancy. So why the difference? It was likely caused by a mutation that took place among the goat and cattle herders on the plains of Hungary more than seven thousand years ago. Humans had started drinking milk and over time it had changed our DNA.
“You know, they say life is like being at sea in a very small boat. The wind and the waves will push you all over. Up and down, left and right. Sometimes it gets so bad all you see are giant watery hands falling on top of you, trying to flip you over and drag you to the bottom. Then before you know it, you’re cresting the wave, high above it all, and for a moment you can breathe again. I guess it’s mostly true. Peaks and valleys, you know.”
Her frustration said something about human nature, didn’t it? About how quickly we grew accustomed to the conveniences technology provided us. Anyone who thought otherwise was free to toss their television set in the dump and listen to the radio instead. Still don’t agree? Then donate your microwave to Goodwill and fire up the stove whenever you needed to reheat your leftover pasta. Ironically, in the end, the joke had been on us, since the seconds and hours freed up by one modern gadget were often spent staring like a zombie at another.
