Survival of the Fittest

In skimming through a book proof (Simply an Inspired Life) by Mary Anne Radmacher and Jonathan Lockwood Huie, I found this observation of theirs that I think is a great insight: "Fear of the unknown is ... probably our greatest fear, and it has undoubtedly been intensified through evolution."

"Paranoia has had great survival value for the human species. Someone who is very afraid of everything becomes very careful, and lives longer - at least long enough to reproduce and nurture offspring."

"The ancestors of those who are alive today were the men and women who were very afraid of all the potential dangers and acted cautiously. Those who were fearless and foolhardy tended to die at a young age, before they could reproduce and pass on genes carrying their tendency toward fearlessness..."

Doesn't this ring true? And how does this match up with the theory that the medula oblongata of young males does not mature until they are around 25 years old and that accounts for the foolish and foolhardy stuff that they do?

When I was a young High School freshman, I thought of myself as a tough daredevil kid, so I went out for the football team. I had played sandlot ball and loved to take chances and run with the ball.

The coach had me "suit up" for a practice scrimmage. We "new blood guys" would be playing against a few of the first team, including a refrigerator-shaped guy named Bobby Watkins. (Bobby later went on to become an "all American" at Ohio State.)

At the first play, I grabbed the ball and started to run towards the goal, knocking guys down as I ran... all of a sudden, I experienced an earthquake of a high magnitude.. Bobby Watkins hit me and knocked me down. I laid there for a minute, pain coursing through my body, when a great insight ocurred to me... You could get hurt playing this game!

I got up, shook the dust, dirt and blood off of me, wobbled off the field, and said "goodbye" to contact sports forever.

So... I was a survivor.. and therefore my genes were able to be passed on to my progeny.

But what about guys like Evel Kaneval (sp?).. Johnny Unitas? .. Flacco (?) the Hulkster?

These are deep things to think about, my friends. Meanwhile, I would advise my grandson, Jack, to take a lot of extra care while he is playing football. He is really good at the game.. but I would rather that he played baseball.. or maybe golf.. or maybe tiddly-winks and therefore make sure that he will be able to pass his genes (diluted from this old grandfather) on to his progeny.

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