07 Consciousness: There Are No Feral Humans

There are no feral humans. While a fish or a reptile can hatch, grow, and reproduce without complex training, human children do not and cannot develop consciousness, language, healthy emotions, or social awareness in isolation. Caregivers make humans by showing them over and over again how to communicate, respond, share, cooperate, compete, agree, disagree, problem solve. Caregivers literally teach awareness, agency, and consciousness. Agency and consciousness are rooted in our relations with other people -- our caregivers, our peers, and from authorities in our societies and cultures. Language, ideas, memes, and principles are taught, passed around, and shared between us. We crave contact, communion, and cooperation with other human beings. In this episode we also consider the role of spirit and body in consciousness, and how spiritual approaches can elevate our perspective and goals. I recognize my debt to Jordan Peterson, Jonathan Pageau, Paul Vander Klay, Andrew and Spencer Klavan, Jordan Hall, and others. Finally, we explain how consciousness is a symbolic, meaningful dance.