Better People

You need to do your part. Take your daughter to Ireland and teach her the art of appreciating the flavor of Guinness.

Funnily enough I did take K to Dublin for our summer hols 2004. She'd just turned 7. I didn't make her drink Guinness though - we stayed in a haunted castle !

I think the old Irish pub full of Guinness drinkers will be with us for at least another 100 years. St Patrick's Day this weekend they'll be busy.

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do you think we (humans) have some deep need to feel as if what we do is significant and meaningful?

Interesting, what do you mean by "meaningful"? Do you mean "meaningful to the individual" or something more general, ie. "meaningful to society"? Both probably? Or something else?

Either way, I guess the answer is "yes", especially when we are "young", well before we get jaded and cynical that is.

Why would we have this need? Is it something that is phenotypical (drummed into us by our parents/society) or genotypical (innate behaviour) or a combination of the two? I suspect a combination. Parents tell their children to "be good" and natural selection results in our wanting to do better than our fellow human, and if I am doing something meaningful and my fellows aren't, then I am better than them.

What's your view?

"Transition from success to significance" - our society seems to equate "success" with "financial success", something that I think is very wrong, but an inevitable result of a society created by creatures borne out of natural selection wouldn't you agree?

Who are the significant people in the world?