BIOL 350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Phyllis Mcginley, Maurice Maeterlinck, Steven Pinker
27 Nov 2016
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Extension of self: eventual mortality anxiety. Two hypothesis + 1 recent day hypothesis: survival instinct. Impulsive from fear of the unknown": natural selection favoured eventual mortality anxiety. Self impermanence anxiety buffer: leisure drive, legacy drive esteem, delusions of meaning, purpose, and extension of self. Memetic legacy (vs genetic legacy: transition of self-identifying memes", personal values, belief, and views. Evolution by natural selection passes gents, not truth". Funerals - > honouring the deceased because it helps heal from our own imminent death: hobby of genealogy tracing identity of ancestors. We have unparalleled cognitive skills for accomplishment. Maybe we shouldn"t discover the meaning of life". Mortality anxiety + the culture of consumerism. Human life expectancy = multiple slides on each. Estimated to have a mean of 100 years. Other animals = incidental product of sex (children) Human = we plan our kids, sex is also used as pleasure actions: emotion of pride in our offspring.
