We are constantly searching for a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Why are we even here — to suck the land dry?
We force meaning into the world with the hope that an outer stimulus ricochets back to accentuate the pulse.
We risk everything to feel something, encouraged by the mechanisms of error.
Life is an experiment. First, we act, then we deduce, making sense of the world by categorizing our reactions to it. The never-ending to-do list forces humans into overdrive.
Evolution is more than about survival. It’s also about the resistance to boredom. “All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone,” wrote Blaise Pascal.
We push ourselves to stay interested and excited. We pay the costs for playing it too safe and overthinking. What a pity it is when we leave it too late!
We deploy attention to the endless opportunities and challenges ahead — and then we wonder why we’re exhausted. How does one keep going?
The race between our need to mature while remaining child-like explorers is an extant struggle. The mind hears what it wants while the body takes it personally.
The flow becomes more effortful with age, yet the knowledge comes easier. With the extra push, we go far further than we could imagine.
