闲人

Without preferences we cannot survive. Foods that are tasty are not tasty in themselves; rather, evolution rewarded those who enjoyed the foods that contributed to their own survival. Those that did not prefer energy rich foods over poison, safety over danger, social acceptance over ostracism, failed to survive and leave their seed.

So we come onto this earth, equipped with age-old programming to prefer. Ancient knowledge, a potent tool to survive. Indispensable for a young child learning to live in the world.

But perhaps as adults we need to let it go. It has served its function to allow us to learn what is safe and not, what is good and not, and our maturation as a species has allowed us to use rational thought to understand what is good or bad for us, though many fail to make use of this.

Perhaps we need to recognize preferences for what they really are, just messages to guide us on our mission to survive, and not absolute commands that we punish ourselves for when we are unable to follow.