I think 'giving up' is a very human trait, i've been watching spiders lately and their webs get destroyed so often, but do they sit and sulk for a week? No, they get right on to building another one, a big cat in the wild doesn't give up if it can't catch anything for a while and go hungry. Ants and bees never seem to stop for anything so why are humans so defeatist, why do we stop trying?
3 posters
Giving up
Violet- Admin
Number of posts : 24568
Location : UK
Registration date : 2009-02-15
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.
Kaere- Member
Number of posts : 2719
Registration date : 2009-05-19
Most of the things we stop trying to do aren't about survival I guess. Spiders must have a web to catch bugs for feeding, animals must hunt or they will die. Whereas we have all our survival items come so easy - that the stuff we give up on isn't essential I guess, so it's easier to walk away from in that sense. Plus, after awhile and several failures, we start to second guess if the attempt is worth the time and effort.
innerlight- Elite
Number of posts : 3817
Age : 45
Registration date : 2009-02-20
Violet wrote:I think 'giving up' is a very human trait, i've been watching spiders lately and their webs get destroyed so often, but do they sit and sulk for a week? No, they get right on to building another one, a big cat in the wild doesn't give up if it can't catch anything for a while and go hungry. Ants and bees never seem to stop for anything so why are humans so defeatist, why do we stop trying?
What separates humans from animals, and even insects, is that we have awareness. It's that awareness that decides if we should give up or not. We become aware that it won't work, as far as we think, and then we decide to give up. Animals survive on instinct, and will continue to do what is required to survive. An animal that is hungry enough, like foxes, will do whatever it takes to survive.
Violet- Admin
Number of posts : 24568
Location : UK
Registration date : 2009-02-15
Hi both, you both mentioned instinct, humans do still have that though it must be buried very deep inside until we get into a position where we need to bring it back to the fore, for example if someone tried to kill us we wouldn't simply say 'oh, ok then,' and lie down and wait for the end. So you're right I think as most stuff isn't about survival like it used to be.
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.
innerlight- Elite
Number of posts : 3817
Age : 45
Registration date : 2009-02-20
Violet wrote:Hi both, you both mentioned instinct, humans do still have that though it must be buried very deep inside until we get into a position where we need to bring it back to the fore, for example if someone tried to kill us we wouldn't simply say 'oh, ok then,' and lie down and wait for the end. So you're right I think as most stuff isn't about survival like it used to be.
That's the awareness that we have to decide what we are going to do. We can either succumb to our survival instincts or we can decide another route.