This is a cynical quote I know, and I am usually not a cynical guy. This quote is also a pretty accurate observation about the lengths to which we humans will go to feel secure. When I say ‘feel secure’ I am not talking about actually being secure. I am talking about having the hope, the assumption, the desire for security all wrapped up with the methods to get that security.
Who doesn’t pursue it? It is a rare individual. But there are differences among people who nonetheless reside in close proximity to one another in socio-economic levels. One person takes losing a lover in stride and moves on, the other goes over the top and becomes a stalker. One person lives and breathes by the lottery numbers, another plays it and forgets they even have the ticket a day later. One person lives with guilt all day everyday and the worry of eternal salvation that may or may not result. Another person feels guilty but doesn’t worry about the afterlife.
Why is this? What drives us in our fears and thoughts? How do we grow into the best understanding of ourselves and our world and behave accordingly?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog
“Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating and religion.” -Scott Adams, 1957-not dead yet, American Cartoonist – Creator of Dilbert