The Natural Living Test
January 5th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
[I found this in the back of Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior. It's more useful for contemplation than any sort of definite test of one's quality of life.]
This quantifies how closely your life matches that of our happier ancestors. Write down honesty how many times int he past month you have had each of the experiences below:
Rocked a newborn to sleep
Made up a story and told it to a child
Felt the sunrise warm your face
Satisfied a genuine hunger by eating ripe fruit
Satisfied a genuine thirst by drinking cool water
Shown courage in protecting a child from danger
Shown leadership and resourcefulness in an emergency
Shared a meal with parents, siblings, or other close relatives
Gossiped with an old friend
Made a new friend
Made something beautiful and gave it to someone
Repaired something that was broken
Improved a skill through diligent practice
Learned something new about a plant of animal that lives near you
Changes your mind about something important on the basis of new evidence
Followed good advice from someone older
Taught a useful skill, charming art, or interesting fact to someone younger
Petted a furry animal such as a dog, cat, or monkey
Worked with earth, clay stone, wood, or fiber
Comforted someone dying
Walked over a hill and across a stream
Identified a bird by its song
Played a team sport
Made a physical effort to achieve a collective goal with others
Sustained silent eye contact with someone to show affection
Shamed someone who was behaving badly, for the greater good
Resolved a serious argument using humor, emotional self-control, and social empathy
Sang, danced, or played instruments with a group of friends
Made friends laugh out loud
Reached a world-melting mutual orgasm with a sexual partner
Experienced sublime beauty that made your hair stand on end
Experienced an oceanic sense of oneness with the cosmos that made you think, “this is how church should feel”
Applied the Golden Rule by helping someone in need
Warmed yourself by an open fire under stars
Add the numbers. If your score is lower than 100, contemplate why you expect your life to be happy or meaningful if you are not doing anything meaningful for others or feeding your brain any of the natural experiences that it evolved to value and to find meaningful.
