For most of our history as a species, we lived as tribal hunter-gatherers. Modern humans have been around for roughly 200,000 years, but agriculture, that is, farming, arose only 12,000 years ago. According to some estimates, we humans have lived as tribal, hunter-gatherers for over 94% of our existence. During that time, before farming, we were quite busy trying to obtain enough calories to power our large bodies (the human body is on the large side in the Animal Kingdom) and to sustain our enormous brains, which alone consume 20% of our daily calories. Food was scarce. Many berries and fruits, and the occasional spoils of a hunt, were needed to pay the high caloric demands of our body. There was no reading (not till circa 5,000 years ago), and very little time for any reflection. There were other priorities, and it was these priorities for which our brain evolved. The blueprint for our brain, encoded in our DNA, continues to be for these priorities and not for something such as reading.

Back then, humans perceived a ripe banana as a real object, out there in a real world. It was only something that should be eaten. The object was perceived as a yellow crescent, about one inch in diameter. It is unlikely that an ancient........

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