"Men are conscious of their own
desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been
determined.
~Spinoza
It's
tempting to ask… “What is the survival value of suicidal behavior in moths”…
but that's the wrong question. Instead what we should ask is, “What's the
survival value of having the kind of brain which, when there are candles about,
causes moths to fly into them?”
In the wild
state, when the moth’s brain was being naturally selected, there weren't any
candles, and if you saw a bright light in the middle of the night it pretty
well had to be a celestial object. It could be a firefly or something like
that, but it was most likely to be the moon or a star, or, in a day-flying
insect, the sun.
At optical
infinity, when light rays are traveling in parallel, those rays provide an
excellent compass. And it's well known that insects use light rays as a
compass. They maintain a fixed angle… let's say 30 degrees, to a source of
light. Well, if you maintain a 30 degree angle to the moon's rays, that's fine,
you go in a straight line. But if you maintain a 30 degree angle to a candle’s
rays, you'll describe a neat logarithmic spiral straight into the candle and
burn.
So, now we
have rephrased the question. The question is not, “What is the survival value
of suicidal behavior in moths?” the question has become, “What's the survival
value of maintaining a fixed angle relative to light rays?” And now we've got a
sensible answer. In the case of the candle it's just a mistake. The environment
has evolved (lights close to the ground)
at a greater rate than the Moth ability to overcome its hard wired desires.
(This
analogy was proposed by Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins)
Human:
It’s
tempting to ask, “Why has the human brain evolved in a way that attracts us
toward destructive behavior.” Think
about it…we spend more money than we make…we eat more food than we need…we lust
after our neighbors wife? What could be
the possible benefit for human evolution to spend more, eat more, or lust more?
Maybe this
is the wrong question to ask?
Humans have
evolved over the course of millions of years. During this time, the selection
process preferred individuals that were hard wired for consumption and
procreation. It should be easy to see how these traits were beneficial (necessary) in the early development of
man. The descent of man occurs when you pair these “hard wired” traits/desirers
in the twenty first century environment.
Think about
it… when a human’s brain was being naturally selected for, there weren't any
credit card companies… and… if you saw a dead animal it was in your best
interest to eat it….All of it!
The lustful
tendencies of today’s humans seem just as confusing as the moth committing
suicide in the flame. After all…”you’re
married…why would you lust after other women?” It seems confusing… that is
until you consider the evolutionary purposes of having a strong sex drive in an
evolving species.
So, now we
have rephrased the human question. The
question is not, "Why has the human brain evolved in a way that attracts us
toward destructive behavior?"
The question
is, “What is the biological advantage for the human brain to have insatiable
drives to consume?”
And now
we've got a sensible answer. In order for early humans to flourish, the
hardwired desires to consume are a must to perpetuate our species.
In the case
of the destructive behavior in humans, it's just vestigial traits left over
from our prior generations of early hominids. The environment has evolved
(abundance of food, availability of sex) at a greater rate than humanities
ability to control our hard wired desires in modernity.
Ironically….
if the hardwired traits inherited from a dangerous, barren world, are not
controlled…. Humans, like moths, will fly into the flames.
