Regan Bradley - Blog 1

Denis Dutton’s TED talk sparked numerous ideas in my mind as well as struck my emotions. The way he described how we see beauty based on genetically predisposed concepts written in our ancestry confirms my value of staying true to our human race. There are good and bad aspects of this idea of how we perceive beauty and I believe Dutton hit both with elegance and grace. He spoke of how we have the natural idea to kill someone we do not like or disagree with. This is the warrior side of our past. He also explains how we find beauty in a path or in a water landscape or in tall trees based on our ancestors need for direction, water, and protection. We cannot change who we are and this is so true in the current world. We are human beings with genetically predisposed emotions that will not be earased due to a modern society quite different than the time of our ancestors. We are aware of these emotions and know when to tame them such as knowing not to kill someone we disagree with but also seeing the beauty in the directions found by a path. I see this personally with my love to hike. There is something about wandering long paths in the mountains to find either a beauty scenic view of the vast landscapes around or, my personal favorite, a lake near the top of the peak. I used to always believe this was just something that I like because that was just me. However, after seeing Dutton speak on the beauty we find in nature, I begin to think of the genetics behind my love for the outdoors. My ancestors probably loved the sight of a lake on a mountain because it meant both water and protection from those down below. It would give them the upper hand. It was so important for me to find a deeper rooted connection to a passion I have in my life. This passion I have in a modern society can be rooted back to the times of early homo sapiens, even earlier. My interest in adventure through hiking affires my value of staying true to our human race. Why should we care about this? Because everything we do or everything we love has a reason behind it. There is a point to everything. That is important to a person like me who most of the times has difficulty seeing the point to everything, but there is. We love nature for a reason. We find safety near water for a reason. We like the adventure of following a path for a reason. We are not clueless beings. We have a history, a past that shapes us. The science of our history determines the science of our lives today. It is written in our genes. This matters and is important. We should all care about where we come from and how this shapes who we are because this is what has got us to be here today, doing the things we do and loving what we love.