Cause and effect drives Western thought. We look at things as a linear progression: A to B to C to D ad infinitum. I am a direct result of physical forces that drove unicellular organisms to share responsibilities for survival a trillion or so years ago. It is mechanical and objective. I see what you see. So what do we see?
There is a "force" that we seem to see when describing/understanding cause and effect: desire. A gene "wants" to survive. It wants immortality. But really, a gene doesn't want shit. A rock doesn't want to fall; ice doesn't want to expand; a tree doesn't want to grow. A worm doesn't want to eat shit and, I'd even argue that a dog doesn't want to crap or fuck. These things just do. They just exist.
This puts us in a chicken or egg situation. Do I act because of desire, or describe the already initiated act by desire? There is some scientific evidence that it is the latter. Our actions (at least a subset of actions studied) are initiated a fraction of a second prior to our conscious decision to perform them. Whether this is true or not doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter because I don't know where my desires are initiated anyway. Why do I like the color blue? Why do I love my wife and child? Why do I brush my teeth? To maintain their health. Why do I want to maintain their health? Cosmetic, practical, and customary reasons. Why do I care about these things? The pre-pubescent eternal questioning can go on forever. (It's pre-pubescent because after puberty you only have one question: how do I get laid?) At certain point, it just is. I just like the color blue. I just love my wife and child.
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