Nature Teaches
By Les Mottosky
Have you ever observed dog walkers closely?
In most cases the person is lead by the pooch. Occasionally a dog will walk beside their human, but the pet's usually in front.
Dogs are immune to the conditioning of modernity. They're pure. And honest. They don't pretend they're leading with reason.
Humans do.
This works as a banger of a metaphor for what's really going on inside the minds of us humans. We believe we're running the show, but if you look a little closer, something else is leading us.
Actually – beyond our actions – there are three things that lead us. And they're likely layered: our natural instincts, our conditioning and then our conscious thought. In that order.
For clarity, let's go a bit deeper into an example (involving another omnivore with canine teeth):
You're on a hike when you come around a bend. Standing there 25 yards away is a big, nasty old brown bear. Your instant reaction is to do a 180 and sprint away from the threat. That's nature's instinct in you. Alive and ready. No thought necessary.
But then your conditioning kicks in; the learning you've absorbed dictates that running away triggers two of the bear's instincts. First you've turned your back and removed the threatening predator gaze the grizz interprets from the two eyes at the top of your face. This causes the bear to pause and begin evaluating who the prey is. But booking it to the parking lot removes all question; likely prompting the bear's pursuit instinct.
Conditioning over-rides your biology's need to run so the bear can't decided if you're food of foe.
This is when consciousness kicks in. You know you have three options. You can try to bluff the bear, get big, start yelling and maybe the bear decides it doesn't want to work that hard for your rack of ribs. You can reach for the can of bear spray on your hip and try to make the bear retreat. Or you can start backing up slowly, making your way around the corner and wait to see what the bear's intentions are. It might not be hunting, after all. Maybe it's on a hike too?
The bigger point here is you thought you were walking the trail. The bear reminded you the trail had been walking you all along.
That's true far more often than we'd like to admit.
Most of us spend our lives believing we're holding the leash, when it's actually our instincts and conditioning quietly directing the way.
That isn't leading with reason.
It isn't truly living either.
But it does begin the moment we notice who's actually doing the walking.
TAGS: #Nature Teaches
Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist // I help organizations turn creativity into their competitive advantage by aligning leadership, culture and strategy to unlock adaptive innovations.
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