Jacob von Uexkull, observing how evolution shaped organisms so that their perceptual and behavioral abilities were precisely attuned to their survival, remarked that “security is more important than wealth.” In other words, a squirrel in the wild doesn’t have the “wealth” of experience and of choice that people do when they decide to take a walk in the forest. What the squirrel does have is the “security” that it will notice what matters most and know how to do what it needs to do to survive, because biology supplies the needed constraints on choice. It helps organisms recognize food, mates,
...more
