Positively Pontificatory: Day 8

Don't worry, that's not a real word. (8,298 / 1,000,000)

When you think about it, there are far more reasons to not do things, than there are to do things. Doing things takes energy, time, focus, and there is usually an opportunity cost. Sometimes doing a thing causes problems, or it begins a chain reaction of more doing. Although, I guess inaction causes many problems as well. My point is that there is a fundamental proclivity for laziness in biological organisms. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “What does this gabby goober know about biology?”. I’ll have you know, I slept through a high school biology class a decade ago, so I know things.

But seriously, from a biological perspective, how does pursuing one’s dreams benefit the survival of the species? Organisms are compelled to action by what? DNA? No, I’m actually asking. Someone help. I started down this path totally unaware of how in over my head I would get myself. Wait, I think I got this, let’s see if I can turn this ship around. Organisms at least process energy, grow, and reproduce. I think that’s a safe enough statement (thanks Google!). The actions of organisms reflect their need to acquire energy, grow safely, and reproduce. But then there’s this weird phenomenon that invaded some organisms’ brains, which completely flies in the face of biological drivers: fun!

Is there a biological explanation for fun? One that connects some evolutionary advantage to it? Maybe in social animals, the members of a group build camaraderie and trust through play. But humans take fun to a whole new level. Like, some of us jump out planes for fun. Flying planes. Thousands of feet in the air. You can’t try and tell me there’s some biological explanation for that. Also, why is it that I enjoy the phrase “he/she/me wumbo” more than any other phrase found in the English language? If you don’t understand that reference, that’s okay, but you probably also don’t understand why millennial humor is rife with unintelligible absurdities.

So, continuing this theory that I’m building; there are needs that we must satisfy as organisms, just like any other organism. We need to eat, be safe, be healthy, etc… But then we have what I would call small ‘w’ wants, and also big ‘W’ Wants. Small ‘w’ wants are cheeseburger cravings, laziness, and watching Netflix. Big ‘W’ Wants are your dreams, aspirations, and more abstract goals. Small ‘w’ wants are fun and easy to pursue: you want cheeseburger, you eat cheeseburger, now belly full and happy chemicals released into brain. Big ‘W’ Wants are harder to pursue, and the process may not be fun. You Want to be a doctor? Unfortunately, there is no steady drip of serotonin available to get you through thirty years of school. You won’t suddenly be stricken with a craving to memorize the vertebrae of the thoracic column.

It may seem like I’m talking about all this random stuff, only to build up to the point where I proudly exclaim “So go out and chase your dreams!”, confident that I’m the first person to ever connect these dots. Which, admittedly, is kind of what I’m doing. Really, what I’m trying to do is caution against inaction, which is the easiest kind of action in my experience. This is probably something that I needed to write, more than it is something that any of you needed to read, but that’s the nature of writing, isn’t it?

We got through a week, by the way! I thought it would be more difficult to pump out a thousand words a day, but so far, it’s actually been really fun. Am I already contradicting my previous thesis? That’s okay, that stuff is in the past, who cares? Hold on, I’ll be right back, gonna grab a cheeseburger. Alright, an indeterminate period of time has elapsed, and I have returned. I just noticed that “gonna” doesn’t have a little red squiggly line under it. Are you telling me that it’s a real word?!? Get outta here. Oh, looks like “outta” didn’t make the cut.

Whoa, the coherence got a little sketchy there for a second. This is your captain speaking, apologies for the intellectual turbulence; it looks like we just hit an aberrant patch of gamma brain waves, it should be smooth sailing from here on out. Hah, the funny thing is thinking that my writing isn’t always breakdancing on the brink of incoherence.

Anyway, we did sounds yesterday, which was actually pretty challenging. Sometimes you just don’t have the words to describe things. That must come with experience. What sound does a sword make when you stick it in a blacksmith’s furnace? I don’t know, that’s why I wrote “it made the sound it makes when it does that thing,” yesterday. That one’s gonna bother me until I go to a blacksmith and have a listen. Also, I intended to only describe sounds, but I accidentally slipped non-sound things in here and there. Verisimilitude shattered, I know.

I’d be interested to hear about the images that popped into your head when you were reading the descriptions. Sometimes you think you’re conveying an idea a certain way, but when someone else reads it, they have an entirely different understanding of it. Having ideas is a breeze. Having good ideas is harder. Having good ideas, and conveying them well - that’s the goal. We’ll get there eventually. In fact, that’s the purpose of this very post; and all of my other posts. Just in case you’re new here, and you for some reason decided to start reading this blog at the end of the ninth paragraph of the eighth post, we’re here to practice creative writing.

As I mentioned before, I’m focusing on worldbuilding for now. The exercise I did yesterday was intended to contribute to that goal. I think I’m going to continue doing small-scale exercises like that before I get into bigger stuff like… building worlds? There’s no rush. After all, we have a long way to go. Thanks for reading, and as always…

Totally Nailed it,
Michael