Built for Efficiency

One thing that amazes me about the human body is its ability to manage itself. Of course you have the "unconscious" regulations such as pH and temperature, but what amazes me more is hunger, and moods.

It's amazing because even as I sit here thinking about what's going on, my brain does all of the work for me. If I'm hungry, a hormone is secreted that makes me want to pick up something and eat it. If my brain is tired from learning, my attention span is cut to spare my brain. Learning is a mental exercise; literally. At some point, you need to cut your brain a break so that it can regenerate itself. The best way you can do that would be sleeping. Therefore, when you're tired of learning, you get tired and heavy eyed, your body's way of saying, go to sleep.

Basically, the main goals of the human body are live, eat, shit, and have sex. If all of these are satisfied at the current moment [which, in America, they usually are], then your brain will put you in a lazy mood. Why do extra if you've already done everything that you need to to stay alive? Your body does not want to do more than it has to to stay alive. There is a budget on energy and nothing should be working overtime or else the quality of the body will be reduced.

Then, there's the other side... boredom. I think this is exclusively for intelligent animals. Boredom was an important evolutionary trait that inspired many discoveries. Discoveries such as using rocks as tools and weapons. Only those who were bored and disatisfied with the current situation went on to try to find creative ways of solving their problems. Today, that can be translated as creating hobbies, trying to get a better job, and entertaining yourself. Boredom is basically the source of all creativity. So if someone tells you that you must have been really bored to do something really crazy, tell them to fuck off because you're more fit than they are. Tell them to take it in the ass. Yeah. Ok, you don't have to. But don't feel bad.

So that's boredom, laziness, hunger, and zoning out.

It's not even so much that the body uses these moods, but just how effectively they moderate your daily activity. The main theme is that your body never wants to do more than it has to. A prime example is a track race. If you're winning a race, why run faster? Your body works on a system where it decides if its worth it to make an expenditure, then it will make the corresponding allocation. Maybe you're having a good day... what that means is that your brain allocated the resources to you and allowed you to accomplish what you had to. If you're having a real shitty day, your brain is telling you, no, it's not worth it. Don't waste your energy. If that is the case, it is almost impossible to get any use out of your body. Believe me. If your brain tells you that you don't care, you won't care. It is extremely influencial.

And it has to be... afterall, it is responsible for keeping you safe. But all this talk of you and your brain. What's the difference? Well, when I'm talking about your brain, I actually mean the regulation system that you don't really get to control. It basically calls the shots. It only wants the minimum amount of work to remain functioning, but will perform more if need be. You are basically just a curious consciousness trying to figure out how the world works. Without your brain, you couldn't really give a shit about your body. But, because your brain tortures you when you do things that are bad and rewards you when you do things that are good, you learn to want to respect your body. Cutting off your arm would be a lot easier if it didn't hurt so bad. I bet you that a lot more people would do it if it didn't.

But yeah, in a nutshell, you can see the many ways that the brain takes care of the body despite conscious desires and curiosities.