Truth and Consequence

When confronted by an issue that needs resolving, you parents likely told you that there are appropriate responses and responses that are not so good. The difference is usually dependent upon what part of your brain you use, or even if you are using your brain at all. For example, if you have a child that exhibits bad behavior, you need to demonstrate why that behavior is bad and then show that there are consequences. If you use the part of your brain where you feel sorry for them, you can present a bad example by rewarding the bad behavior in the guise of ‘bailing them out’ and presenting no consequences. Similarly, if you find a bullet in your yard, you can use the rational side of the brain and get it to law enforcement, or you can use the juvenile part of your brain and decide to smash it with a hammer and get a bullet in the gut.

According to our friends in the UK’s Telegraph, a man was confronted by a spider in his house. Evidently he has as much liking for spiders in his house as I do, but we use a different part of the brain to get rid of spiders. Unlike bullets, I know that if you smash a spider, they are unlikely to explode and lodge in you intestines. Therefore, I reason, it is possible to rid my domicile of said spider by whacking it with something that will hopefully not damage my house. In that list, things like sledgehammers, cars, small dogs and crowbars are right out. A shoe, then, or perhaps a flyswatter then comes to mind and action is taken. This gentleman was evidently using that part of the brain that says “DO IT! FIND ANYTHING AND DO IT!”

My guess is that he really and truly does not like spiders.

There was a crack in the ceiling where a spider had taken residence. That does preclude the use of a shoe or a flyswatter, and so the reasoning part of the brain would then suggest things like poison sprays. But, instead of reasoning things out, he finds his lighter and decides “Fire! Fire will destroy a spider!” Of course, fire can destroy much more than a spider, which it did, and now he has no problem with the spider, and he has damaged his house. See? In my brain, at least, things like flame throwers, hand grenades and, yes, lighters, are in the list of things NOT to use on spiders in your house. Because, you see, the house is BEHIND the spider. The poor sap tried to reverse his bad reasoning by using water, and by the time the fire department got there, they were able to save his house. That part of his reasoning process, at least, seems to be working.

If Darwinism works for him, the next time he sees a spider in the pad, his first thought will not be to torch the place. Likewise, the gent that finds a bullet in his yard is likely not to think of hammers first. The problem, as I see it, is that using the reasoning side of the brain helps you to find the consequences of those actions before actually doing them. As a parallel, if the US Government teaches businesses that bad actions have no consequences and spends untold amounts of money to bail them out, they are not using the reasoning side of the brain. People with brains can see that the consequence of that action is a disaster. The really sad part is that if we take a metaphorical flame torch to save our metaphorical house before reasoning that out, then we have nobody but ourselves to blame. Darwinism is not always kind.