This blog post is dedicated to Anna, because I love her.
I’m not so sure that it was a step in the right evolutionary direction for us to become such complicated emotional creatures. We have a basic duty in life, and if we were judged purely upon this goal of biological fitness, we could probably all be successful at our endeavors. Funny to think about really… if we were actually just meant to procreate… we would be so good at what we did that cigars and champagne would abound. Maybe. Or maybe we would complicate that task also… of course we would want to create the best possible offspring given our circumstances. We would be so proud of meeting our best suited genetic match, and so concerned about recessive traits… if it ever evolved, internet dating would turn into a basic checklist of genetic predispositions, IQ scores, and objective remarks about appearance. I don’t care if you like long walks on the beach, but do you have dimples, curly hair, a family history of early menopause, and can you do that weird tongue rolling thing that I would like to pass on to my children?
But because we could do more as a species, we inevitably decided to do so. I am not talking about more in terms of how civilizations evolved and the basic quest to define success and surpass mediocrity- I am talking about our emotional functions. Mostly love. A funny concept- and something that we do not even agree upon as a species. How many different languages communicate the idea of love? And what do those words actually translate to in English (if you could properly translate anything anyway)? Humans are obsessed with love. As we should be- it is the unknown that everyone knows- the thing that you can’t ever describe perfectly in words- that frustrates, angers, saddens, bewilders and humbles us- if we are lucky enough to find it.
Think about the first human who said “I love you.” Clearly it was not those three words, it was just an expression of a similar idea. But the first person to attempt to describe the physical and emotional idea of love must have been met with a lot of confusion. I like to picture this person as a very old woman telling the person that she spent her whole life with that she has a feeling about him/her that will be difficult to express, even harder to understand, but the most compelling thing she has ever experienced in her life.
And little did she know that was creating the most important tool in our lexical toolbox. She also invented fire, the wheel, and Crocs- which were later recreated after drawings were found in caves in Southern France.
Powered by Tumblr - Theme by Kyle Moseby
