The Wiseup Podcast

It’s no question that we humans are at the top of the food chain. Every trait had a purpose in our survival and excellence among the other mammals. It’s easy to understand how virtues like courage, sense of community and the ability to work in groups helped us survive as species. But what about bad traits like gossip, fear of judgment, and xenophobia? Of what value were they to our evolution?

To see the virtue in our vice, we have to understand that our 7 million years journey from a chimp-like mammal to what we are was no walk in a park. Every trait we have now has helped to keep us alive. This includes gossip, fear of judgment, and xenophobia. And to grasp that, I’ll have to take you back to 7 million years ago, and it will all make sense.

Picturing that I share a common ancestor with today’s chimps is a challenging undertake, especially as I’m staring at my cellphone.

Our common ancestors lived in the African rain forest for millions of years. They were the kings of the forest. It seemed that all the odds were in our favor. Predators stood no chance against us as long as we lived on trees.

Now that I don’t live on a tree, I can’t help but wonder what happened. Why did we leave heaven?

7 million years ago, the rain forest on the east side of Africa began to dry up due to plate tectonics. Food became scarce. It was no longer abundant heaven. Around that time, we wished our chimp-to-be cousins farewell and decided to take on a big leap and ventured onto the land. Then, our story began.

On land, we descended to the bottom of the food chain. We went from kings of the trees to clumsy prey on land. Mere survival was never so challenging. We became an easy dinner for most predators. Most of our kind were hunted and almost went extinct. Almost!

2.5 million years later, something big happened. Something that saved what remained of us. We could walk upright. We became Australopithecus!

Walking upright was the right mutation at the right time. This could have happened many times before. This time, however, it’s a huge advantage compared to any time before.

For our rain forest ancestors, walking upright would have only been a disadvantage. With this malformation, propagating their genes would have been impossible.

On land, nonetheless, walking upright had worked wonders. We could finally defend ourselves. We worked in groups, and with free hands, we could throw rocks at a distance and fight off predators. For this to work, however, we had to work together. Those who didn’t cooperate aren’t here to tell the tale.

2.5 million years later (2 million years ago), we, Homo erectus, claimed the throne and ascended back to the top of the food chain once and for all. With 950g brains, we could plan for the future, devise weapons, and build communities. And here’s how bad traits helped us survive:

Why do we gossip?

On the trees might make right. Now, however, the game has changed. We could talk and we used gossip to protect ourselves. We could conspire even against our fiercest peers if they didn’t behave according to the benefits of the group, and they wouldn’t stand a chance against the group. This technology (Gossip) kept individuals and communities in line.

Almost all of us know how terrifying speaking in public can be. Our heart rate spikes, our palms sweat and we can barely talk. It seems like we’re reacting to a life or death situation, but we know it’s not. The worst that can happen is they laugh at us, but we’ll survive.

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Unplanned episode on why is there anything at all, universe, planets, and people? It's easy to forget how strange the fact that there's anything at all when we're busy in everyday life. I also talk about Religion and superstition and the rise of astrology as a new religion.

I rant a little about astrology as it's becoming the new cult/religion. people are basing their lives on the idea of signs that hold no truth. 

If you're familiar with meditation, then you must have had the strange wonder of why is there anything at all. How come that the default is this?

I just had that feeling tonight as I was washing dishes and it hit me like a brick and decided to share it before I forget. So it wasn't planned. 

Being an ex Muslim myself, I rant a little bit about Islam and religion in general

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I’d like to think that I chose to write this post willingly. I could have chosen otherwise. But maybe I’m wrong!

Our brains are constantly thinking, not only of thoughts of critical events but subtle ones we’re not aware of too.

Before I was introduced to determinism, my perception of “thoughts” was different than what I know now.

I used to think of my brain as the CEO that controls my thoughts like a little “me” driving my body and looking through the windshield (my eyes!). But that’s an illusion, however. There’s no CEO inside my head.

How reliable is your brain?

In a study, 2 groups of participants were asked to answer a questionnaire. Before answering the questionnaire, the 1st group was given a hand sanitizer, whereas the 2nd group wasn’t. The result was that the answers of the first group were significantly more conservative than those of the second group.

This is a good example of how unreliable our brains are. It shows how subtle external factors can alter the way we think. And this makes me wonder if our thoughts are mere neurological translations to complex layers of external factors.

What if our thoughts are entirely dictated by subtle factors we’re not aware of?

Do you still think you’re still the driver?

We can all agree that if you drop a ball from a rooftop, it falls; And if you put your hand on fire, you feel pain.

And if you lose a loved one, you’ll feel sad and have negative thoughts. You won’t be able to help but feel and think this way.

But would you choose to have these thoughts and emotions?

The reality is that you don’t choose. Thoughts simply show up due to external factors and previous perceptions. This means different events combined with previous experiences trigger different thoughts without your help.

Every new thought is the result of external factors (perceived through the 5 senses) and internal ones (previous thoughts and experiences).

This means that we can theoretically relate our most recent thought to a single event that happened at birth.

Let’s have a little thought experiment.

can you name a fruit? Any fruit you want.

This is the ultimate test that will make or break my argument, so choose wisely!

continue reading if you made your mind.

Before you picked a name, you probably had a few (maybe 3 or 4) fruits in mind and you “chose” one.

But you certainly didn’t consider every fruit you that you know, because I’m sure you could name more than 4.

So without considering every fruit that you know, how did you end up choosing one?

You didn’t choose. Pictures and names simply showed up based on previous experiences. That’s all.

God VS Determinism

Religious figures and philosophers have debated this issue for thousands of years. Most religions argue that we undoubtedly have free-will.

And makes sense, as to believe otherwise makes us either question God’s fairness, or question its existence. As for you to be judged for your actions, you have to be responsible for them.

By Sulaiman Swiatti

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