Big Think

Question: What forces have shaped humanity most?

Josh Lieb: Oh come on! What forces have shaped humanity? I mean what kind of question is that? That’s so insanely broad. Where . . . I guess it’s evident we’re . . . you know . . . Hunger, boredom, sleepiness. Those are the forces that have shaped humanity. Boredom, that’s what gives me a job. You know I’m here to keep you from being bored. Yeah, you know it’s . . . We’re monkeys, and we wanna have sex, and that’s a big force. Also Catholic Church, a big force. Also books. You know, these are . . . I . . . I . . . I can’t say. Whatever. It’s all . . . the clash of cultures. Our base animal impulses are what have driven us forward. And then our aspirations. We are smart enough to think that we are better than just animals, and I think we are. I think we do have souls. And so . . . and so we do the base animal stuff, and then we make the cathedral because we have a higher self.