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<p>Leonard, you already sent a submission for the 28th, "Legacy."
Which piece would you like us to critique?</p>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/19/2018 1:59 PM, tuchyner5--- via
Group2 wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:97958524.677682.1537387195319@mail.yahoo.com">
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<div
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;">Below
is my sub. I think my messages are getting too wordy.<br>
<br>
Leonard<br>
860 words<br>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overcoming Our Old Programming</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I recently read, in a science fiction story
involving
artificial intelligence, that “intelligence”<i
style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">
</i>is defined as the ability to override one’s programming. I
was blown away
by the implications of that definition. The story was not just
talking about AI
(artificial intelligence), but also of organic intelligence. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All creatures are pre-programmed. For
example, some animals are
programmed to run away when confronted with certain kinds of
danger. When
circumstances don’t leave the option of flight, these same
animals switch to a
different program track, which is one directing them to attack
the source of
danger such as a predator.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Possums
are
programmed to play dead. It is an automatic response, once the
possum is
convinced there are no other options. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the book <u>Red Badge of Courage</u>, a
young soldier is
forced to flee when his fear overtakes him. However, given
time to absorb this
initial bout with fear, he chooses to override his natural
fear programming and
respond with fight instead of flight, even though the fear
remains.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>On the other
hand, he could have chosen to
jump programming tracks and switch from fear to anger. Or
maybe he could have
come to understand that living as a coward was more
threatening to his survival
as a worthwhile human being than dying.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Did he decide that self esteem was worth dying for?
Whether his choice
was right or wrong is really not the issue. The point is that
he had to
overcome his natural reflex programming to make the decision,
and that process
took real intelligence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even among the same species, programming
can be specific to
the individual. For some humans, anger is the go-to emotion
when faced with danger.
They are natural berserkers. Flying into a rage can be very
effective in a
battle for one’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nevertheless,
the
better choice is to remain calm and maintain control in a
battle. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Maintaining
control means monitoring one’s
reflex programming in order to exercise intelligence.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The issue goes deep. There are biological
imperatives upon
which much of evolution is based. The old programming requires
that one needs
to respond to aggression with a greater amount of aggression,
if he or she has
the capacity to do so. The choice of turning the other cheek
is not our first
programmed reaction to someone who is trying to hurt us, at
least not if we are
bigger, stronger, faster, richer, or if we have a gun. Ants,
chimpanzees, baboons
and many other animals go to war.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am
not sure that ants have any choice about it. Chimps will run
away if they don’t
think they can win.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whatever
the choice,
it is always the one that seems to provide the best outcome
for one’s physical preservation
or, self aggrandizement. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those options, which have served us well in
the past, are
the same ones that are leading to our degradation. How we
respond to global
warming is an example to illustrate my point. The old
programming tells us to
get all we can in the short run and not deprive ourselves of
physical bounty. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After
all, in our gatherer-hunter era we were
in no danger of overindulgence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Getting
all we could get while the getting was good was probably the
most effective
algorithm. If we used up the resources in any given place, we
could always move
on. There were plenty of places to move on to. By the time we
got back to a
used- up place, it most likely would have recovered. Even if
we killed off the
mastodons, there were still plenty of deer and moose. Some
groups of people
learned how to live within their resources, by respecting
their environments,
but there were always the others who did not, and who were
willing to take from
those who tried to live a more balanced way of life. The
takers took and the
rest of the world gave, whether they wanted to or not.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>From the takers’ point of
view, there was
always more to be taken. The land and oceans were, to their
limited
perspective, limitless.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We tend to be in denial when faced with
evidence that self
restraint is to our advantage, in the long run. We have the
capacity to see
beyond the short run, and through this ability we can override
the old directives.
Sometimes we do. Most of the time, we don’t. We allow
ourselves to be controlled
by these ancient programs. When we fail to overcome these old
habits, we
ultimately suffer for it. History is filled with examples of
this truth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The question is, can we rise above our
antiquated,
evolutionary programming, and re-write our code?<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just knowing that this is
an option proves
that the code can be re-written. In fact, I believe that the
alternative programs
are already written and are a part of natural evolution, even
if it seems to go
against the grain. Old habits are hard to break, despite the
fact that newer patterns
are accessible to us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Will
we, as a
species, choose these new patterns which are required in our
new, evolving
environment?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If so, this would be a good time to do it.</p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://abbiescorner.wordpress.com">http://abbiescorner.wordpress.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com">http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:abbietaylor945@gmail.com">abbietaylor945@gmail.com</a>
Order my new memoir at
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