KEW Episode 110: The Acid Test. The Nature of Enough

The Neurodivergent Professor

English - February 02, 2023 09:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MB
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Previous Episode: KEW Episode 109: Nature Cooperates to Reduce Competition. The DNA Acid Test

Next Episode: KEW Episode 111: Vulnerability is Your Superpower

Like Competition, the concept of Enough is something I think about a lot. How much is enough?

I think about it often in the context of an annual income. How much money does it take to
be happy? Or satisfied. Or not upset. Or make ends meet plus a have a little fun. How much money do we really need?

And then I think about how some people, maybe not many, but some, make WAY more than enough.

And, of course, how many people make far less.

But the concept of enough has Natural implications beyond money. In fact, money is a very recent human creation and of little relevance in the 'grand scheme of things'.

How much was enough food? Or carbon? How much was enough oxygen? How many caves do we need to house all the humans who lived 50,000 years ago? Or wood for huts?

How much time do we need to live a good life? Do we need medical breakthroughs to allow us to live to be 100? 150? Forever?

Is forever enough?

I get a lot of insight from Nate Hagen's work on his project, The Great Simplification. I highly recommend his podcast: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com

Much of this episode, and future episodes, are inspired by The Great Simplification and the concept of 'Energy Blindness'.

I am also reading Morgan Housels' book, 'The Psychology of Money', https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Money-Timeless-lessons-happiness/dp/0857197681

I mention these guys, as well as an older KEW episode, in this Episode.

https://chrisburcher.com/2022/05/16/kew-episode-20-enough/

Here I argue that nature provides enough. Probably the concept of enough doesn't exist in nature because it almost always exists. Hoarding and gluttony don't seem to be common practices in other species, or in any part of Nature. If we look to Nature, vis a vis the Acid Tests, to inform us about enough i would say this is an entirely human construct.

Kind of like Money. Or Status. Or Power. Funny how the concept of enough might be a human-centric idea and only inasmuch as it relates to something also created by humans.

This Episode seems to have spawned a lot of ideas I will develop in the next few Episodes. I hope you enjoy it.

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