The human life is analogous to a computer program. Now I’m not a computer programmer myself, so this might be overstepping, but let me paint you the picture anyway.
What is a computer program? A simple search on the ol’ googler will yield over 3.5 billion answers in less than a second. Do you need a minute or so to wrap your brain around that piece of information?
Our generation, and more specifically the American culture (I’m not worldly enough to know if this is an ‘us’ problem or an ‘everywhere’ problem), is bound to this idea of having all of the answers at our fingertips.
As a teacher, I can’t tell you how disappointing it is when I give an assignment that asks for the students to bring creativity to the table. I leave it open-ended and even encourage them to really explore an idea, only to find out that many of them are unable to generate their own unique concepts. Some would even just copy and paste something they found from the internet, from Wikipedia nonetheless!
When did we stop thinking? Stop creating? When did we start letting the program run without our input?
Sure, I get it, this is the easy way out. Why explore unknown territory when it takes such a vast amount of energy. Especially if we can get the job done by being average.
Let’s science this a bit.
Energy.
If you look at the human body, the adult brain weighs in at a solid 3 pounds. It accounts for about 2% of our body weight. However, the brain although small, it is mighty. It will consume 20% or more of the body’s total energy. This makes sense if you think of the anatomy and the sheer amount of nerve cells that are in the area (more than 86 billion!).
As I was wading through my anxiety disorder, I came across some information that tied this all together for me. During my recovery, as my panic attacks were less frequent, I found myself to be more exhausted. I was following the coping strategies that were presented to me, but I would still be depleted. This confused me. If the panic attacks were fading, shouldn’t I be getting some relief? Instead, I was even more fatigued.
Why?
Thank God I’m a scientist here folks.
