The Runaway Species

In breaking, a whole is taken apart.

In bending, an original is modified or twisted out of shape.

bending, breaking and blending

But more than keeping ourselves alive, we use these mental tools to flesh out worlds that don’t exist.

Simulating futures comes with the benefits of safety: we try out moves in our minds before trying them out in the world.

We are masters at generating alternative realities, taking what is and transforming it into a panoply of what-ifs.

But automated behavior can’t innovate. Mediated behavior is how we generate novelty.

Humans live inside a competition between automated behavior, which reflects habits, and mediated behavior, which defeats them.

Make-believe though they are, zombies show us something important about the natural world: creatures throughout the animal kingdom run mostly on automated behavior.

Brains seek a balance between exploiting previously-learned knowledge and exploring new possibilities