(1/2/22)

There are some people I know that are really good at being human. Honestly that’s the type of person I like most. People who live simply, exercise, eat healthy, cook for themselves, don’t overthink, notice small details, stuff like that. I heard on a podcast (Dear Hank and John) that the difference between humans and dogs is that dogs know how to be dogs. I have never met a dog who entertains dreams of grandeur. 

What do I think it means to be really good at being human? I think I see it as showering a reasonable number of times in a week, getting enough sleep, doing your laundry and making your bed every morning, and getting your oil changed and tires rotated when you’re supposed to. And washing a dish as soon as you’re done with it. And keeping your room or house or whatever clean. And being at peace with your family and having a circle of friends and being happy with things the way that they are like that.

In the Tim Ferris book, Tools of Titans, which I just finished yesterday, it has a quote in response to the question “What should I do with my life?” and the answer is “Enjoy it.” Why does that seem so difficult for people? I mean, like, a lot of people. And it’s not their fault. Eight-hour workdays and hustle culture and failing healthcare and student loans and really intense colleges that stress out their student body and car-dependent transportation and the way communities are structured and the poor Western diet and like the fact that there might not be enough lithium in the water are all things that make it harder to be good at being human, ostensibly. 

There was a study done in 1990 looking at the levels of lithium in the water in 27 counties in Texas, and they found that the counties with the least amounts of lithium in their water supply had the highest rates of suicide, homicide, and rape. Just because of the water. The county with the highest amount of lithium in its water had almost 40 percent fewer suicides than the one with the least amount of lithium. Other studies around the world confirmed this correlation. 

So like, it seems like it would be hard to maintain an internal locus of control to manage your health and humanness considering how out of your personal control everything is. But I think that’s what it would mean to be good at being human. Maintaining an internal locus of control and figuring out how to exist, maybe in mediocrity, actually preferably in mediocrity, but blissfully. I think money chasing is also messed up. I’d rather trade a smaller salary for a shorter workweek than work all the time and make money but lose all my free time and not engage in soul-fulfilling work. Even if it was soul-fulfilling work I wouldn’t want to be doing it all the time. Finding balance is really hard when you don’t know where equilibrium is, and let me tell you, the standard 40 hour work week with two weeks of vacation time per year is not equilibrium. I would need at least two months off per year. 

You ever just look at somebody and think, “Wow, he’s so good at being human.” Because sometimes I look at people and I do think that. People who pack their lunch. People who make smoothies and pour them in mason jars and bring them to work. People whose hair always look nice. People who do their makeup every day. People who food-prep. It takes a lot to just enjoy and live a quotidian life well. 

Whenever I think of the perfect place to live I think of Italy, or maybe France, where they spend like three hours eating lunch. Actually, that’s Spain and Greece. You know, the siesta. Factory workers in China also get to take thirty-minute midday naps. You know where they spend the least amount of time for lunch? The United States, probably. Life should be slower, life should be warm. Life should be focused around other people. I feel like the way our communities are structured–block houses, commutes to places far away, is not normal. It doesn’t feel fulfilling. 

Mice in cages run on wheels. People would think that the mouse is exercising some pent up neurotic frustration at not being allowed to run free, like nature would allow, but that’s not true. Mice in forests also like to run on wheels. Turns out, mice just really like running.

Some researchers put a hamster wheel in the forest, in an open cage with food, to see if any mice would run on it. And they did. Even when they took out the food, mice would run on the wheel. Even mice who were too young to have ever known there was food in the cage at any point visited and ran on the wheel. 

So I feel like, if we went to like 50,000 BC and left a treadmill in a field of neanderthals, they would use it. Because why not? If running on a wheel is a good enough mouselike behavior for a field mouse and a house mouse, then it should be fine for a human in captivity (are we in captivity?) to run on a treadmill. Dogs know how to be dogs. 

Do you think if you put a treadmill in a field, people would run on it?

This year I’m going to focus on being really good at being human. Reading seems like a good human task. Maybe even watching TV occasionally. Exercising. Taking supplements. Not spending too much time on social media but being an active participant when I do, instead of just stalking people. Maybe I’ll go outside more.