The evolutionary auto-pilot
Part 1: Controlling my desires? WTH for? So many (most?) philosophies and religions want us to “control” our desires. They argue that being free of desires is the key to long-term happiness (whatever that means). That’s nothing new. In fact, if anything, it’s a super old concept. I get why it would possibly work, but until very recently, this concept never appealed to me. I couldn’t understand the point of not having desires, which I think are a beautiful part of life. Although, of course, I did recognise the destructive, never-ending side of our desires. In part out of intellectual curiosity but also to see whether this could help me overcome my dark nights of the soul, I did try to teach myself to overcome my desires. What I found, however, is that I was teaching myself to be indifferent, which is something that I hated. I couldn’t see the point of going through life feeling indifferent. I might as well not be around. To be fair, I’d never read much about it or
