This article first and foremost had me in awe of the complexity that makes us. In describing all the different things that had to happen for a person to be able to recognize that their mother was moving in their direction humbles any effort we humans have made to try and replicate this system.
The idea that most absorbed me however was the fact that our circuits are still wired for the stone age. Understanding that our circuits are still responding from a different context shed new light on phenomena like cliques, scarcity mentality and abominable acts like honor killings. Although I agree with the author that actions cannot be blamed on the environment, our mental map and the corresponding physiological responses can be to an extent especially considering how buried and unconscious they are. Having said that, I wonder whether awareness as a tool can be a strong counter to that. Studies in meditation and other fields certainly point to the fact that awareness has the capacity to shift a response, but it seems to take a lot to create that initial gap between a thought and that first instinctive response which then cascades into a series of consequent actions.
I’m also curious about where our evolving mind will take us next? Even if it does take a staggeringly long time for our circuits to evolve, what influences are playing on it that will come to bear in a few thousand years? Will the habits of the industrial age such as extreme (or what seems extreme to me) individuality, the need for personal space, our love affair with machines and a disregard for the environment in pursuit of individual goals translate into our evolving mind map?
