Humans biologically the same as ourselves have been around for around 200,000 years, but its only in the last 5,000 to 10,000 years that we have made sustained progress. Certain arts of the male mind - like construction, seafaring, astronomy and mathematics - seem to stretch back a fair bit further than that, but its only recently that we've really created civilisations.
Anyway, all that is mere background to my theory that through time man has become more CONSCIOUS. That is to say more self-aware and more in control of his thoughts and destiny. We are still almost totally dominated by unconscious thought-processes, but I feel pretty sure that, say 50 or 60 thousand years ago people were barely conscious at all, and probably drifted through life in a kind of trance. I say this partially because even today most people, most of the time are barely conscious. Unless you make constant efforts to stay focused, you will join most people in letting your mind drift aimlessly from one thing to another. Like a windmill being spun round by the external force of the weather around you. Just spinning, spinning. One thoughts pops up, which leads you to start imagining something, which brings up a memory, then you hear a song, which cycles around and around for a while, then something about it evokes an emotion which leads to another thought....
and so on. Like a cow endlessly chewing on the cud of trivia.
I believe a man should try to train his mind to rise above this kind of trance state and become as conscious as he can be. Conscious of where you are. Conscious of where you are going. Conscious of the effect of your actions and words. This is not always pleasant, or comforting. But over time, this kind of realism will pay off in your life.
Remember, effective action can only occur when you have an accurate as possible model of REALITY in your mind. And you have to become as conscious as possible to get it.
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