Too Much Brain Power Dr. Yarrum 05.31.02-Fort Lauderdale, FL

Back in the dark ages of 1966, Lewis Mumford published one of his numerous books. “The Myth of the Machine”. In the “prologue”, he wrote:

“Through man’s overdeveloped and incessantly active brain, he had more mental energy to tap than needed for survival at a purely animal level…..Only by creating cultural outlets could he tap and control and fullyutilize his own nature.”

This brilliant and seminal observation explains much of man’s history. Man as he evolved had far too much brain capacity for mere survival, so he developed art, music, drama, literature, governmental schemes, technical conquests, atom bombs, video games, and other weapons of mass destruction.

He also developed limericks, crossword puzzles, philosophy, religion, and other imponderables.

He invented words for concepts which he could not grasp, like, ‘infinity. omniscient, ubiquitous’.

He continues to debate heatedly , questions which have no answers. And he uses this debate to divide the world into the good guys and the bad guys All because somewhere back in time an ape mutated into a man who could walk upright, had an opposed thumb , and more brain power than he really needed.

Leisure is the mother of philosophy.-Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)English philosopher

Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct; but to find these reasons is no less an instinct. F. H. Bradley (1846-1924)British philosopher

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Dr. Yarrum is a retired professor of research at Perdue Univ.-although he still consults from time to time.