Gad Saad

So we've got a very big frontal lobe, right?

So remember earlier I was talking about exactation versus adaptation?

One argument for why we love literature so much is that our brains need nourishment.

via storytelling, and therefore that's an exaptation.

My brain expects to be fed stuff that keeps me engaged, and therefore literature is one way by which I eat that nourishment, to use the food analogy, right?

So I suspect that because we are sentient beings, right?

We're not beings that are only driven by instincts of survival and reproduction, right?

I mean, all animals have to solve two problems.

survive and reproduce, right?

That's it.

That's the entire game of life.

But because we have consciousness, because we have metanowledge, because we are sentient, there needs to be more to life than simply having sex and reproducing.

And therefore, the way that you elevate that consciousness is through purpose and meaning.

So I'm a very happy... I mean,

I should mention, though, that happiness, about 50% of individual differences in happiness scores comes from our genes.

But the good news is that it leaves 50% up for grabs, right?

So I may be born with innately a more sunny disposition than you, so I'm now winning at the race.

But if I don't

make good choices, if I don't adopt good mindsets, then even though you started lower than me in an innate sense, you might surpass me.

And so it really is an interaction of nature and nurture.