Being Part 3

One can marvel at the tremendous amount of information provided by Homo sapiens intelligence throughout the years. Currently, with the Internet, information about how to establish well-being can be received within a blink of an eye. However, some things don’t add up. For example, per suicide, white people and men are dying by the thousands. Nearly 84% of people who kill themselves are white, and about 77% of them are men. 49 of the 50 states saw their suicide rates increase over the course of a recent CDC study. Montana has the country’s highest suicide rate with veterans, accounting for more than 20%. Addictions are numerous and we currently have an opioid epidemic. Three quarters of the country are either obese or overweight. 1% of the country account for significantly much more wealth than the remaining 99%. More than 50% or so of the country are angry, prejudiced, concerned and politically divided. Too many in our country do not have health insurance. Educational divisions-achievement scores are particularly varied depending upon socioeconomic status differences {parents with more education, higher earnings, wealthier neighborhoods etc.} As a result of many of these issues, it is obvious that too many Americans are not living the good life, despite the plethora of available information. This means that a good life is dependent upon nature and nurture. Within our nature is our wonderful brain that has many functions, including mood, memory, hormone regulation, higher cognition, abstract thought, comprehension of language, social behavior, creativity, problem-solving, perception and navigation to name a few. So, the execution of behavior has short and long-term consequences. What may be good at this moment, may be disastrous in the long term. In other words, despite seeking pleasure, we continue exhibiting irrational and self-defeating painful behavior. It’s decision-making over a lifetime. Adolescent decision-making is usually different from middle-aged decision-making. There are always consequences for the obvious and the less obvious. In addition, wishing for the fountain of youth, winning the lottery, or taking the magic pill maybe just infantile and preoperational thinking at best More To Follow.