'Fore I was born and I'll be dead for a million more
After I'm gone
So I live, to give somethin'
That can live on
Like the way you hum a song when the music's gone
Like the warmth on the sand
When the sun goes down
And I'm sittin' with myself
Nobody else is around"
-Michael Franti
How do we genuinely contribute to this world, to humanity? Must you achieve fame to alter the course of human history? How do we know that the change we encourage is "good"? Am I being selfish in choosing a career path that does not directly affect lives today? As my professor said, "In paleoanthropology, no one dies if the analysis of our data proves wrong." Implied, I think, may be that no one benefits either if our conclusions end up being right. I have to believe: that there is inherent worth in knowledge, or at least worth in the quest for knowledge; that to learn for the sake of learning is not frivolous; and that in learning about our world, about the history of humanity, about our biology, about our capacity for culture, about our lives in a socioecological context, we are better able to recognize our biases as animals, as mammals, as primates, as hominins and, finally, as humans. What are the implications of belonging to each of those categories (categories that, admittedly, we made up)? How might understanding our natural propensities encourage us to be more reflective in our actions?
Understanding propensities does not mean resigning yourself to your "inherent nature", but rather recognizing our unique ability as humans to recognize our bias (our "nature") and choose a direction/action from there. As cultural beings, and beings of unique intelligence, nothing is predetermined. We always have a choice of how to act in a way that serves our fellow humans, whether in grand acts or simple daily interactions.
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