(7 minute read)

Survival Of The …Intelligence?

Knowledge is freedom. Freedom is knowing yourself. We have inherited some truly great things from our ancestors. It is important to recognize these contributions.

Hardwired into our brains are our survival instincts. Check out this earlier post for a more detailed explanation.

The fight or flight instinct is a form of “intelligence.” It helped our early ancestors determine when they were in danger. Over time and experience our ancestors learned to recognize and remember dangerous situations. Those that did not remember were eliminated from the human gene-pool rather early. The “smarter ones” survived.

The fight or flight response was passed down to us. It is still embedded into our DNA and remains deeply ingrained. The use of it happens quicker than our reasoning skills. So, it is possible to make mistakes when we are called upon to make quick decisions or judgments.

If all the facts are not available or obvious to us, the natural response is to fill in the blanks. We do this using past experiences and information in our brains, our data bank. These are based on our biases, opinions, facts, experiences, or worldview. In fractions of a second, our mind receives all of this information. We are then expected to make a decision.

Filling In The Blanks

For years, I used an exercise like this in a visual communications course. It proved how, without all the information needed, the brain fills in the blanks.

Study the picture above. Besides the obvious of what the object is, is there anything you see in the cloud formation? It is possible to interpret more than one thing.

In the cloud formation, I see a ghostly 3/4 profile face of a Cocker Spaniel. There is a nose and eye of a dog at the bottom right. Long flowing ears extend from the center to the upper left corner.

Do you see it? Once you do it is hard to un-see it.

The same principle is at work here allowing us to see a dog’s face or pink elephants in clouds. We can also find images in tree bark, shadows, and random ink blots. We also see faces on the moon and the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich.

As part of the survival instinct the brain has the ability to make sense of random patterns. It does this by “filling in the blanks.” The process is called pareidolia or apophenia.

Part of our survival instinct is to quickly make sense of the world around us. Despite the missing pieces and the absence of any reality, the brain pieces the patterns together. The picture above is not really a dog in the clouds. Nor is the Virgin Mary in the grilled cheese sandwich. However, the brain creates familiar images we think we see as a result from our ancestors. In order to see danger hidden or lurking around the corner they developed the ability to quickly “read” the environment. Those who were able stuck around a lot longer.

It turns out that faces and body parts are common images. The brain frequently tries to piece these together. This is true for images. It is also true for all other incomplete information we come across. Because things happen to us in an instant, no matter how hard we try, we may inevitably get it wrong.

And so it is with life events. Learning how to “know thyself” is being personally aware of our own tendency to get things wrong. The good news about is that we can learn how to not make those mistakes.

To get better at our decisions we will need to make a deliberate effort to slow down the decision-making process. We do this by intentionally suspending any judgments or decisions until more information is available. Once we have as much information as we can gather we can then make a more complete and informed decision.

To Err Is Human

In life most of us are trying to do the best we can. There is no one-size-fits-all definitive manual to help guide the human heart through suffering and disappointments. When a glitch occurs, we deal with disappointments in various ways. One way is insulating ourselves by choosing from a myriad of “voodoo” explanations.

• “It is someone else’s fault”
• “I am being punished because I must have done something wrong”
• “God is teaching me a lesson”
• “I will ‘grow’ stronger if I overcome this”

Coming up with an excuse might initially make us feel better (comfort belief). But at some point, we have to live with the disappointment. Disappointments are not exercises in chastisement from a capricious god. They are not a form of karma visiting us because of our past sins. If we are honest, many disappointments are determined by our own ignorance in their existence. Most can be blamed on constructing a belief system that guarantees comfort and insulation from disappointments.

We stay so busy trying to insulate ourselves from life’s inevitable happenings. As a result, some of our greatest disappointments are the ones we do not see coming. “Life is pain,” the Dread Pirate Roberts told the princess in The Princess Bride.

Of course pain is disappointment and to live is to be pained by disappointment. But we do not have to live in fear of disappointments descending upon us. We only have to choose to live in a reality where we are awake and humble. Be willing to accept, challenge, and make adjustments to disappointments as they come and before long you’ll master them.

The greatest defense is an offense. Being on the offensive here challenges us. We need to continue to do our best under the circumstances. Best selling author Brennan Manning, whom I have quoted in previous posts, often shared a particular saying.

“Today, I will not ‘should-on’ myself.” Hearing the phrase “not should-on” is the PG version of exactly what it sounds like read aloud. “Today, I will not should-on myself.” Of course, the sentiment is that I will not second guess life’s circumstances or disappointments. I won’t beat myself up over them. I’m doing the best I can with what I have. I will be as kind to myself as I am to others.

That last part; being as kind to myself as I am to others. It is amazing how quickly I come to the rescue of someone else who is hurting. How quickly I want them to feel better about themselves. Being as kind to myself as I am to others is a good daily code to live by.

When a “glitch” occurs in your perfect little world, forget the mystical explanations. Simply acknowledge there is a glitch and nothing more. No hidden secrets. No hidden meanings.

Bad shit happens to good people. It happened to you. If you count yourself as being part of the human race, it will happen again. As reasoned individuals, we can acknowledge the issue. This allows us to honestly and truthfully work through the “glitch” without any false pretense or bravado.

When it happens we can say, “Whoa. Déjà vu all over again.”

Disappointments happen because we are alive. And that …is far better than the alternative.