Book Part 1.2

Book Part 1.2
For clarification, the "1.2" in the title represents the chapter and the page (i.e. chapter 1, page 2).

We do have a purpose: to ensure our posterity the keys to successful living. Only then will future generations have the ability to further explore, evolve, and emancipate the human capacity to its fullest degree. If this is not a motivating factor to engage in productive endeavors, whatever they may be in your circumstances, then I do not know what is.
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Significant weight lies in the question of “How can we make things better?” From an evolutionary standpoint, our brains are automatically set to the default setting of identifying problems. 3This is known in psychology as the negativity bias. Scientists claim that this bias is rooted in the early days of evolution. The desire to avoid hostility and dangerous environments has resulted in the formation of the negativity bias, activating the fight-or-flight response. 4 This response activates the sympathetic nervous system which results in an increased heart rate, constricted blood vessels, and heightened blood pressure. Although this can hinder relationships with and optimistic perspectives on events that occur in human lives, this is a bias that has substantially enabled human survival and an innate ability to recognize flaws and errors that prevent successes and micro successes (e.g. doing laundry, washing dishes, and writing emails) in daily life.
One other such process of human evolution concerns the ratchet effect. 5 “Human culture…has the distinctive characteristic that it accumulates modifications over time.” Passing on transformations in art, dance, religion, cultural values, etc., evolution has resulted in the exponential growth and accumulation of intelligence due to the ratchet effect among other psychological phenomena.
Occurring from about 50,000 to 40,000 years ago, the first modern homo sapiens were, revolutionarily, able to reflect on symbolic thoughts. This revolution in the history of the homo genus resulted in a substantial increase in abstract thinking and the ability to conceptualize productive thinking in the form of innovation and 6 “unprecedented intellectual activity.” Along with immense cognitive developments during this era, more neural connections were produced, allotting early (modern) humans the ability to produce more connections between concrete, tangible experiences and the meanings, significance, and symbolism behind these experiences.
This exponential progression of intelligence has granted us the inventions of the wheel, written language, the printing press, and the modern scientific method, all within a relatively short span of time.
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            As the issue of abstract thought arose, philosophers such as Hsün Tzu, Mencius, Socrates, and Plato were all regarded by some as the patriarchs of modern conception.  Starting chronologically, let’s take a look at some of the works written by Homer.

Thank you for all of the support!
           

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