Reading this from Heather (aka dooce) can’t help but make one sad for the personal heartbreak it describes. But NewMexiKen had another longer-term thought.
Modern life may in fact bring on more anxieties than our ancestors faced. And the constant barrage of drug advertisements and self-indulgent articles and books on this and that and every other ailment surely makes us more self-aware than they were. Even so, I will assume human beings have faced emotional problems beyond their control for centuries — and they were every bit as miserable as us, without any of the understanding, or any of the possible solutions.
It’s a wonder to me that the human race has lasted this long.
I might contend that self-awareness is a luxury subsistance-level humans couldn’t afford. Only when basic needs — food, water, shelter, reproduction — are in surplus is there the liesure time to consider the self beyond being simply hungry.
I know: I usually post jokes here. I just had a thought, and wrote it down fast before it sliped away.