Why Are Humans Inherently Crazy?

[sandy whitelinger]

Although I must say, I do have a deep fondness for the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy." Just for that I might have to start subscribing to this theory.

LTM (laughing to my self since I didn't LOL). That was a great movie, one in which the sequals were just as good or better.

 

[Nullifidian]

What does it mean for the human prospect?

Well, if the irrationality in the human gene pool isn't remedied soon, we may be doomed as a specie. Natural selection will either kill us off, or we'll become less "crazy".

 

[logician]

The human brain is not a computer - there are many factors that influence decisions, and emotions very often rule the intellect.

That's why we don't see too many Spoks in our society.

 

[standing_on_one_foot]

However, I think a certain amount of irrationality and jumping to conclusions and so on is actually an advantage we've evolved. We're never going to be able to get enough data to fully understand a situation. Quite regularly you have to make choices based on limited understanding. And our ability to make conclusions and connections, while it regularly goes awry, is also, by and large, a very useful adaptation.

Ever tried to make a computer function? The million ways things can go wrong if not all input is correct and present is enough to drive a person crazy. I'd rather not have my brain work like that.

I suppose the Vulcan option you're proposing is an interesting one...give up emotion and irrationality in favor of peaceful relations. Certainly Star Trek addressed that option periodically...but heck, even Spock would periodically be emotional or irrational. I don't think any functioning sentient being can really avoid it. Personally I'm with Spock when he says that logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it.

Dear Lord, I am a nerd.

 

[Booko]

Humans are still getting used to these massive and powerful brains we've evolved. We still haven't quite figured out how to use them.

Very true. The "animal" part of our brain sometimes overrides the rational part. At other times, we stuff our emotions as if they just don't exist. Neither choice seems optimal.

We have to find a better way to keep things in balance.

 

[Ozzie]

To the insane, constructing a personal mythology is the hallmark of insanity.

"I'm going off the rails on a crazy train."

I'm going off the rails on the gravy train. This is also constructing a personal mythology.

 

[Ozzie]

Very true. The "animal" part of our brain sometimes overrides the rational part. At other times, we stuff our emotions as if they just don't exist. Neither choice seems optimal.

We have to find a better way to keep things in balance.

Why not be animal at times, and give the rational brain the 'food" it requires at other times? RF for instance.

 

[Ozzie]

When one takes a hard look at human behavior, it is obvious that madness is a deeply ingrained human characteristic. Rationality is not the natural state of man, but a mix of rationality and irrationality. There is an inherent insanity in human nature. Perhaps, we are even the most insane of all the Great Apes.

Why is that? Why do we have this mix of rationality and irrationality?

How did this mix of rationality and irrationality that is human nature evolve?

What does it mean for the human prospect?

Can a crazy mind conceive of anything other than a crazy deity? Are our deities doomed to be as crazy as we are?

We need find ways to let the crazy animal part of our brains be expressed appropriately. Then our rational brain can deal with the consequences. Conversely our rational brain can conceive of goals. If we unleash the animal within we might find creative solutions for achieving them.

 

[Sunstone]

The "rational part of our brains" is every bit as much animal as the "irrational part of our brains". There is no real distinction. We are an animal through and through.

 

[logician]

"And our ability to make conclusions and connections, while it regularly goes awry, is also, by and large, a very useful adaptation"

Spok made educated guesses based upon incomplete information. Emotions have ruled our intellect since the dawn of mankind, which is why religion flourishes.

 

[Mavrikmind]

This is just my humble opinion, as I am one of no religioun. As far as I have thought upon the subject of Human irrationality. I think that our irrational thinking is linked to our imagination. I agree that for the mkost part Humans as a whole are pretty much self destructive. On the other hand, it's our imagination that has allowed us to "Imagine" something beyond what we are. Without imagination and irrationality we wouldn't ahve made it this far ( Of course I'm not gonna say that is good or bad )
If we didn't have this "Crazy " way about us we wouldn't have been able to see something better. Imagine if you will if we weren't crazy enough to think that we could make fire or crazy enough to make an airplane fly.
Yes our crazyness has brought us horrors but at the same time it has brought us closer to the devine.

 

[logician]

AMerica definitely suffered from temporary insanity when it (s)elected and re(s)elected Bush.