I've been getting more and more concerned about the eventual fate of the human race, as well as the planet.
We evolved with certain instincts which - like the unregulated free market - are ruining us. Food - population growth - greed.
Yet simply reasoning against these instincts makes little impact. We need to learn to manipulate our instincts so that they work with us instead of against us.
Let's consider our instincts:
Food. Of course, eating is necessary for survival, but at this point the people in the US are way, way too heavy, which creates all sorts of problems. Health problems. Transportation problems (I once read an interesting analysis about how much we would save in fuel if people weighed what they should weigh). The fact that we eat too much has a huge impact, too, directly on the emissions in the air (and if you shifted from meat to vegetables you would also create enormous savings in the environment - if you can't give up meat entirely, simply reduce it). What's ironic about this is we don't even like being fat, and so there are lots of magazine articles and lots of money devoted to how to lose weight.
The problem is we don't recognize how we eat, that it's instinctual. We take cues on how much to eat from our environment. If we want to eat less we need to be around food less (smaller plates are great). (See the book by Wansink, Mindless Eating, for scientific studies on the subject.)
Sex/Reproduction. The desire to have children is another natural instinct necessary for the survival of the human race. Well, with 6.whatever billion people in the world, this is another desire that has gotten out of hand. There are instances that one reads about that really annoy me:
- Why does a woman who already has six children take fertility drugs?
- There was a story about a Muslim who kept rotating through wives with the ambition of having 100(!) children.
- In Gaza, we learn that half the very crowded population is under 25...
What is the solution? The Chinese approach, one child per family? How do we combat the idea in many cultures that contraception is bad - which in my opinion is based on the idea that women should not have control over their bodies (think of how quickly the Japanese government OKd Viagra while it took them forever to OK birth control pills).
My idea is that the best approach is to educate and liberate women. This won't stop all of them (such as the woman who just gave birth to octoplets) but it makes a difference. Of course, this means fighting a lot of other cultural problems.
Greed. How many houses do you need? How much money do you need? The CEOs and the executives, as we know, have all been helping themselves to huge amounts of money, even though they really don't need it.
However, it makes them feel good. There's nothing like stroking that ego. So - is there a less expensive way to stroke those egos? Can we start paying more respect to those who do genuine good? Can we find a way to honor them, to elevate them, so that these people are the ones that we want to emulate?
Sermonizing over for now! There are other instincts that go out of control. Please, tell me what you think.