added by Ajinkya Wadhwa and · updated 4y ago
A Story of Stories
- Early tribes of humans were probably similar to tribes of other apes—glued together mostly by family ties. Kinship is an obvious natural glue because animals are programmed to be interested in the immortality of those with genes most similar to them—so humans are more likely to cede individual self-interest to a group when that group is family. Tha... See more
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- In some ways, humans are just like Moochie (Animals).
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- Values and morals have the power to override a human’s innate drives. Where traits like honesty, integrity, generosity, propriety, respect, loyalty, or kindness are valued, people will behave differently than where they’re not.
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- Humans learn via direct experience, but their advanced language and imagination capabilities offer them a second learning pathway.
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- The Johnsons have problems. First there’s Moochie. (Their pet dog)
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- And Moochie shapes right up.
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- So what changed?
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- First, their primal motivations are super complex. On top of all the standard animal desires, humans are incentivized by all kinds of weird Snausages and electric fences. They crave self-esteem and want to avoid shame. They yearn for praise and acceptance and detest loneliness or embarrassment. They pine for meaning and fulfillment and they fear re... See more
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- But instead they tell her about Santa Claus. They tell Lulu that A) Santa Claus is omniscient—he knows when she’s been sleeping and he knows when she’s awake and he knows when she’s been bad or good; and B) when Santa breaks into their house next Christmas, he’ll leave presents for her if and only if she’s been good.
from A Story of Stories by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago