The Natural Unnatural

Modern life is a fascinating blend of culture, technology, and evolution. What I find most interesting of all is how our evolved traits fluidly mix with other aspects of life. After all we are animals, we followed the same process to get to this point as any other animal did to get where they were. The kicker of all of this is that many people consider themselves different from animals, and therefore would not like to think of themselves as such. My favorite example of this is with sex.

There are two aspects of sex, the act itself and the courtship ritual leading up to it. Our courtship rituals are strange, very strange. We go on dates (usually multiple) before deciding if someone is a suitable mate, we use modern technology like phones to find suitable mates, and we follow societal rules in order to determine the best move to ensure intercourse. Evolutionarily, we like sex, quite a bit in fact. So like any other animal we strive to look for mates, but it is things like phones and rules and dates that modify the natural equation. The blend of natural and “unnatural” here is so fluid it is difficult to see that it is even animalistic at all.

I am reluctant to use the word “unnatural” in regards to human behavior because again I think this language is used to undermine the fact of what we are. Whatever humans do is natural, because by definition we are part of nature. To showcase this try using more biological terms when speaking about aspects of daily life. When we use words like “mating” for sex and “feeding” for eating the facade of our disconnection is apparent.

Many industries acknowledge this fact and use it to their advantage. There are colors humans are naturally drawn to, designs that we love seeing, and tastes that we crave. By using this knowledge they can create the products that can reach the most people, because almost all people will share these genetic similarities. This is the reason everyone likes the taste of sweetness, why art is so universal, and why sex is so widely participated in.

These thoughts can be daunting, if one thinks all of their life that they are not an animal then this new mindset could be very jarring, however there is an upside. When we are aware of some of the inclinations and wants of others then we can find new solutions to problems. By knowing that we are naturally inclined to consume sugar even at cost to our health, steps can be taken to create incentives away from that. In our own lives we can think on the social needs of primates and find better ways to communicate and participate in activities with those we are close with.

The way to find this knowledge is to take the barriers down that we have built to disguise our true nature (quite literally in this case) and observe the ways of modern life. We can analyze eating habits, sexual acts, crime and a myriad of other things to see some of the natural inclinations we as people have. Once we have this then we can put it to work to create a happier and more efficient society. We must first accept our nature and limitations, before we can truly build a great society around them.