WILD WORLD PSA

Bear Friends Among us

I'd previously alerted a handful of neighbors to my sightings of our brown bear so expected it would make its way around. In case you missed it, a little recap and update from my observation deck:

I first saw our brown bear traveling between the fence line and arroyo on the Torres property directly east of us in early August and a couple times since. So, it may be safe (better safe than sorry) to consider the length of that property a fairly frequented bear route. In light of persistent fence breaches (from our side) and despite many kind requests to please stop modifying the fence to access the property, a bear patrol is one way to inspire some respect for boundaries! : D

In all seriousness, something drove our friend to come to an area that is not conducive to bear survival. If the bear is especially hungry, stressed and/or perceives a threat, it will behave far differently than it normally would. While I’ve personally found wild bears to be amazingly chill, you don’t want to learn the hard way (like Grizzly Man) , what they are capable of when triggered. And ain’t that how it is with many of us?

As with humanimals, it’s best to know the kind of animal you may be dealing with and mentally prepare in advance for best actions to take in case of aggression. You can read up on what to do if encountering different kinds of bears (there are very different recommendations depending on the type of bear) and how to avoid contact here.

May you be blessed to enjoy their great beauty from a safe distance!

SEARCH FOR THE (WILD) SELF

Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Quest for Affirmation

What is the role of a patriarch? What does it mean to “provide” for a family? What level of lifestyle is acceptable, in terms of the development of children and the mollification of one’s own ego? …

Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox is a film about a father grappling with these questions, a (fox)man being forced into confrontation with the overwhelming evidence of how his selfishness and desperate need for validation–-hidden behind a magnanimous personality–-has hurt those around him, even as the same qualities are part of what attracted many of those individuals into his orbit in the first place.

…Mr. Fox reckons with the psychological drive of performative masculinity, and the way such traits can negatively affect next generations unless they’re acknowledged and confronted…

Full Paste Magazine essay here.

LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

The Wolf Encounter

One of the film's final scenes—the encounter with the wild wolf—is perhaps the most poignant and memorable of all. It is brief and subtle though dense with layers of symbolism and meaning. While it strays completely from the original Roald Dahl book, it somehow presents a cornerstone for the entire story.

In this scene, Mr. Fox abruptly stops in the midst of his mad pursuit to engage with the embodiment of that which he’s been seeking the whole time—a wilder and freer version of himself. What he sees and admires in the wolf evokes both awe and fear within. He seeks to connect. Feeling wells up in his eyes. He raises his fist in a sign of solidarity. The wolf responds in kind. They all resume their separate paths… and a tram whizzes by.

Feeling unsettled with the duties and comforts of a domesticated life, Mr. Fox seeks the thrill of his youth. Though, as he stirs up trouble for himself and those he cares for, he begins to see (in his ‘mid-life unraveling’) that perhaps his self-indulgent search for freedom and wildness is not really what it means to be truly “wild & free”, like the wolf.

As a highly social and deeply family-oriented species with pack structures built around strong leadership, wolves are exceptionally intelligent and resourceful, inclined toward self-sacrifice and honor… in essence, the wolf may represent a life of freedom but it also represents the deeper reality of what is truly required for successful survival, at the heart of which is an enduring dedication to the pack over the fleeting desires of the self.

This brief scene is as much a brilliant portrayal of our own human tendencies as it is a subtle reflection on the conundrum of our domesticated human nature!

TYRANNICAL SATIRE

Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satirical novel about a group of farm animals who rebel against their oppressive and incompetent human farmer in the hopes of creating a society in which the animals can be free and equal. However, their utopian dream is ultimately corrupted by the new ruling class who “heroically” seize power, leading to a new form of oppression and injustice.

While the story has often been used as a form of political propaganda, Orwell's true intention was to speak more to the responsibility of the common citizen in keeping all leadership in check rather than too readily surrendering our power (including our own capacity for discernment) to the next because it seems more appealing and promising than the former.

As Orwell saw it, if revolution is what we seek, it must begin first with and within ourselves, not by surrendering to the next charismatic character promising a superior ideology. He offers a perennial caution to us all as we so often find opportunistic characters seizing upon (and even strategically cultivating) situations of discord and divide not with altruistic intentions of bringing people together for truly higher collective aims but to bring people together under their own control and influence in order to serve their own egoic aims. In other words, as we allow those with personal and elitist agendas (as opposed to collectively-empowering solutions) to swoop in and play the ‘hero’, we unwittingly sign our autonomy over to those who are accruing interest on their “services” to the people (according to their ledgers anyway) in exchange for our unquestioning loyalty and compliance, like royalties on loyalties. So, best to cultivate our own discernment, hold those in positions of power accountable, and engage more actively as empowered citizenry to avoid such pitfalls of the past.

In a 1946 letter that he wrote to his friend Dwight Macdonald, which was republished in George Orwell: Life in Letters, Orwell expanded upon his intentions behind the noted animal allegory. Macdonald had written to Orwell that the anti-Stalinists were upholding the book as an example that "revolution always ended badly for the underdog." Orwell scoffed at this interpretation, saying that, "If people think I am defending the status quo, that is, I think, because they have grown pessimistic and assume that there is no alternative except dictatorship or laissez-faire capitalism." And he explained the actual point of his book, as he intended it:

I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job. The turning point of the story was supposed to be when the pigs kept the milk and apples for themselves (Kronstadt). If the other animals had had the sense to put their foot down then, it would have been all right. … What I was trying to say was 'You can't have a revolution unless you make it for yourself; there is no such thing as a benevolent dictatorship.'

PRIMAL CALL

Why should you read “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding?

Explore William Golding’s timeless satire, “Lord of the Flies,” which follows a group of shipwrecked boys as they descend into anarchy.

After witnessing the atrocities of his fellow man in World War II, William Golding was losing his faith in humanity. Later, during the Cold War, as superpowers began threatening one another with nuclear annihilation, he was forced to interrogate the very roots of human nature and violence. These musings would inspire his first novel: “Lord of the Flies.”

In this short video, Jill Dash dives into the timeless satire.

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The story was so compelling and timeless, there are 3 film adaptations to choose from spanning over 6 decades: 1963 Lord of the Flies - 1990 Lord of the Flies - 2026 version

RAT RACE

Happiness

The story of a rodent's unrelenting quest for happiness and fulfillment.

EVOLUTIONARY MORALITY

95% of your behavior is primate behavior | Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal has studied the behavior of primates for five decades. Some of his many important observations center around the evolution of morality and just how much we have in common with the animal kingdom.

The idea that animals are always in conflict with one another and competing for resources is “totally wrong,” de Waal says. Other primates, specifically chimpanzees and bonobos, have demonstrated a range of traits and tendencies typically regarded as human, including empathy, friendship, reconciliation, altruism, and even adoption.

WAY TO A BETTER WORLD

Falling for Watership Down

Reviewers have compared Richard Adams’s Watership Down to Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. I’m not competent to evaluate that claim. But I can make my own assertion: Watership Down is an epic adventure. It’s a journey to find a home, a quest to overcome adversity, a struggle to form community, and a battle against tyranny.

A shadow falls on a peaceful rabbit warren when a small, nervous rabbit named Fiver, known for being something of a seer or prophet, senses imminent danger. He warns his brother Hazel that they all must leave before disaster strikes.

When the warren’s Chief Rabbit won’t listen, Hazel and Fiver convince as many others as possible to go with them to find what Fiver says they need: “High, lonely hills, where the wind and the sound carry.” That destination is Watership Down, a hill in the English county of Hampshire (where Adams had grown up). But reaching this peaceful place isn’t easy. The sojourners face predators, obstacles, their own weariness, and a strange warren of rabbits with something to hide…

Find the full article here.

HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Snow Raven feat. Andreas Om cover Human Behavior by Björk

Snow Raven and Andreas Om call the Arctic their original homeland. The animal sounds are from their region as is Björk, the originator of this song.

Message from the musicians: We dedicate it to Spirit of the Arctic! The environment in Arctic becomes more fragile: melting of Ice, permafrost, enormous amount of mining of mineral resources and creating the wounds all over the face of Mother Earth! We call everyone to pay attention on our behavior, thoughts which lead us to behave... everything is dependent from us, future of our planet is on our hands!

CAUTIONARY TAIL?

The Calhoun Effect

What happens to a society when it runs out of meaningful roles? And more importantly, are we heading toward our own Universe 25?

In 1968, scientist John Calhoun built a literal paradise for mice. They had unlimited food, perfect weather, and zero predators. Five years later, every single one of them was dead. This is the story of Universe 25, one of the most disturbing psychological experiments ever conducted. Most people hear about the "mouse utopia" and assume the colony collapsed because life was simply too easy. But the real reason is much darker—and it holds a terrifying mirror up to modern human society. We’re breaking down exactly what happened inside Calhoun's enclosure, from the chaotic rise of the "behavioral sink" to the eerie, silent emergence of "the beautiful ones." What happens to a society when it runs out of meaningful roles? And more importantly, are we heading toward our own Universe 25?

RISE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

What is the Human Animal?

Some call this age, our age, the Anthropocene. It means that in this age, human activity is exerting the dominant influence on Earth. Humans have changed everything from the carbon cycle to the water cycle, and have completely disrupted the Earth’s systems and functions. We have transformed every ecological niche on earth, and in most cases, not for the better.

No one can deny that humans have had an outsized role in the terraforming, manufacturing, standardizing, and domination of the world. This fact — that humans have had the ability to transform and leverage so much of the environment for our uses, has led us to have a subtle but pernicious understanding of ourselves: that we are separate from nature somehow, like demi-gods on Earth with the power to transcend our limits, exceeding beyond any other creature. But as Lewis Mumford wrote, “man is nevertheless no god.”

So, what is this… anthropos? What are humans, really? What are the key qualities that make us — this animal that has so much potential for creation and destruction? That is what we explore in this film, laying down a conceptual and philosophical framework that will inform the rest of our work in upcoming episodes of Death in The Garden.

ANIMISM ACTIVISM

Four Souls of Coyote

Set in the present day, Native American teenagers confront the crew of an oil pipeline project, just down the hill from the land of their ancestors. The grandfather evokes the ancient tale of their Creation myth, reminding all of us that the challenges facing humanity are universal, and that we need to find our place in the great circle of creatures.

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In Indigenous American lore, Coyote is a deeply complex symbol primarily known as a trickster, culture hero, and transformer. He has a sort of dual nature—often helpful though fundamentally selfish—and operates beyond the confines of morality. Focused less on mutual cooperation and more on indulging his own impulsive wants and desires, Coyote shows us what kind of trouble can come of acting selfishly and out of alignment with the Natural Order. His antics often result in some level of discord or destruction that upsets the balance of life. Though the problems he causes are disruptive, they also have the potential to catalyze necessary evolutionary change.

While Coyote is considered “The Evil One” by many—an opponent or adversary to the Creator—he is also represented as a collaborator with Creator helping to bring the world into being while also ensuring it never remains static. So, while Coyote provides us many a cautionary tale about what kinds of problems result from selfish, devious and impulsive behaviors, the stories of Coyote also remind us that we can continue to “level up” by responding creatively to the trouble he (and those of a Coyote nature) may cause.

GROUP MENTALITY

Dogville

…Lars von Trier has made a mesmerizing and compelling film about the ways in which community can fester and turn bad when fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar brings out the worst in people. Spiritual writer David Spangler has written: "Some people think they are in community, but they are only in proximity. True community requires commitment and openness. It is a willingness to extend oneself to encounter and know the other."

…the townsfolk turn against Grace, trample on her rights, violate her body, and try to steal her soul by humiliating her so completely that she no longer feels human. One of them even remarks: "Don't think of this as punishment" when a dog's collar is put around her neck and she is forced to drag an old flywheel behind her on a chain. Another says, "It's nothing personal." And we recall the communities that participated in the persecution of the witches in New England, the decimation of the Native Americans, the enslavement of African-Americans, and the shabby treatment of immigrants who were made to feel like pariahs, something that continues to this day.

In the surprising finale to Dogville, Grace demonstrates another shadow side of America that is as chilling and true as everything that has preceded it…

Find the full film review here.

In the end (spoiler alert)…

Having been subjected to escalating abuses from the townspeople she had truly felt love for—and to whom she had offered the gifts of her service, presence, generosity, kindness and care—Grace comes to her own revelation about the true nature of the residents of Dogville. Grace's Revelation is a scene that invites us to reflect on what we ourselves might do (or fantasize about doing) in a similar situation as we consider the nature of our own reaction (secretly satisfied, disturbed, both and more?) to the film's brutal conclusion.

PRIMATES OF ANOTHER KIND

Being Human | Robert Sapolsky

Robert Sapolsky’s lecture at the Leakey Foundation, titled “Being Human,” explored fundamental aspects of human nature and behavior. As a Stanford neuroscientist and biologist, Sapolsky is known for blending research insights from fields like evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience. In this event, he delved into the evolutionary roots of human behavior, discussing how biological mechanisms, like hormones and stress responses, influence human actions and social dynamics. Through storytelling and humor, Sapolsky shared examples of both human and animal behaviors, questioning traditional views on concepts like free will and morality.

Find a humanity-affirming TED Talk by Sapolsky here.

CONTEMPLATIVE

Thich Nhat Hanh - "Please Call Me By My True Names"

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness, global ethics and peace.

This poem, read by Samaneri Jayasara, reflects a deep insight into how we cannot separate ourselves from the world around us, even those who do harm.

Music by Maok - "Darkness and Light"

NEUROBIOLOGY OF INEQUITY

The Psychological Trick That Keeps you Obedient

Why do poorer people love Period Dramas like Downton Abbey, that adore the very Privileged aristocracies that kept their great-grandparents in poverty? Why do we worship Billionaires despite their clear exploitative behaviours?

This is the psychology of how shows about the British class system became comfort viewing for the people it should enrage. And how we fall in love with the Myths of the Super Rich today. I love Downton Abbey too. That's the problem.

In this video I use John Jost's System Justification Theory and Robert Sapolsky's research on the neurobiology of inequality to explain why people at the bottom of a hierarchy so often defend it, and why a beautiful house full of deferential servants works less like escapism and more like an anaesthetic. We get into why "poor but happy" stories make inequality feel fair, how years of low status physically rewire the brain and leave you more risk-averse and more attached to whatever stability exists, and the one hopeful catch: the moment you can name what a story is doing to you, it starts to lose its power. You don't have to stop watching Downton. Just watch it the way a doctor watches a cigarette advert.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY

The Fawn Response: How Trauma Can Lead to People-Pleasing

The fawn trauma response is appeasement behavior learned to avoid danger. Though it’s most often rooted in childhood trauma, those who’ve adopted this strategy will use it unconsciously well into adulthood to appease others namely adult bullies. This article addresses the signs, situations and personal cost of the “fawning” response.

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Find Practical Tools for Un-Fawning from Clinical Psychologist and Fawning expert Ingrid Clayton.

A short article here on Ingrid’s view of Fawning as a trauma survivor herself.

Her book “Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves and How to Find Our Way Back“ here.

RITUAL SACRIFICE

The ugly psychology behind scapegoating

Did you know that our desires are not entirely our own? Desires are imitated from the first moment we are born. Our desires form from what our parents, friends, and significant others want in life. Now placed in a group, large or small, these imitative desires are even more powerful. These transferred desires within a group do create cohesion, but they're also the heart of where scapegoats are born. A scapegoat is someone outside of your group who also stands out from the social norm. The group then uses these scapegoats to transfer blame and negative emotions because they do not share the desires of the group. This blame, negative emotion, or fundamental truth is something the group does not want to acknowledge internally, so the blame is transferred to the scapegoat. In an instant, the problems of the group are gone because of the transfer of blame onto the scapegoat. Since scapegoats are identified as the root cause of the problem, they create a sense of relief, healing, and even protection for the group. But at what cost…

THE SCIENCE OF BENEFICENCE

Evolution explains kindness—even when it kills us | Paul Bloom

There are several misperceptions about evolution, one of which is that it would drive animals toward being selfish, uncaring, and unloving toward others. But there are several ways in which kindness and altruism can evolve through natural selection. Two ways are kin selection (helping those who share our genes, like family members) and reciprocal altruism (helping those with whom we are in regular contact). In this way, a system of universal morals can develop.

MIMETIC DESIRE

Rivalry: How to beat a basic instinct

Humans are more rivalrous than we like to believe. Nearly every religion has ancient stories of sibling rivalries. Unfortunately, we humans seem to delight in seeing others fail. But according to Luke Burgis, envy often leads to misery. The strange mystery of desire is that we look to others to figure out what it is that we want, and then we adopt another’s desires as our own. Occasionally, though, rivalries can produce good outcomes, like the rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini.

HUMAN EXTREMES

She studied extreme psychopaths. Here’s what it taught her about human nature

Abigail Marsh, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Georgetown University, explains how the world is impacted by those with psychopathy, and, additionally, those who practice extreme altruism. Psychopathy, she says, is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting a small percentage of people, who are different from a very early age due to their unique brain development. Conversely, she talks about people who are exceptionally altruistic—those who go out of their way to help others, often at great personal risk. These individuals are humble, believe in the goodness of others, and are highly empathetic. She concludes by explaining that acts of generosity have been increasing on a global scale, and how these trends have proven that it is possible for individuals to change their own natural levels of altruism. Through awareness and action, we can build a more caring and helpful society for ourselves and generations to come.

If you’re curious about your own levels of altruism, Marsh suggests using online tests like the TriPM or HEXACO personality tests:

• The TriPM test: https://psychopathyis.org/screening/t...

• The HEXACO test: https://survey.ucalgary.ca/jfe/form/S...

MORE HUMAN

From revenge to peace the story of a Palestinian and his Jewish friends

After years of grief and anger following his brother’s death, one Palestinian man’s journey from revenge to peace begins in the most unexpected place—a classroom. Surrounded by Jewish classmates, he discovers that the walls separating “us” and “them” are not as solid as they seemed.

METACOGNITION IS OUR SUPERPOWER

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor: What a Stroke Revealed About Consciousness

What happens when three-fourths of a neuroscientist’s brain goes offline, and what remains is not emptiness, but peace, connection, and love? Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist who spent her life studying the brain, until a massive stroke made her the subject of her own life’s work. As the parts of her brain tied to language, identity, linear time, and the sense of being separate began to shut down, she entered an expansive state that would shape the next chapter of her work.

After eight years of rebuilding her brain, Dr. Bolte Taylor emerged with a new framework for understanding the brain and the self: four inner “characters” that influence how we think, feel, react, relate, and move through the world. In this episode of the Talk Tracks, Ky Dickens speaks with Dr. Bolte Taylor about what her stroke revealed, how Whole Brain Living can help us engage all four parts of ourselves, and how we can learn to choose who and how we want to be. Together, they also explore emotional reactivity, inner peace, intuition, telepathy, energy healing, and the possibility that some forms of awareness may reflect capacities of the brain and consciousness that science is still learning how to understand.

Find this conversation on YouTube or Spotify.

Her viral TED Talk “My Stroke of Insight” here.

HUMAN + NATURE

How to live on Earth

What if the solutions to building a better future already exist?

How to Live on Earth is an ambitious feature documentary that explores how humanity can build a safe and thriving future by working with nature, not against it.

Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch, the film presents the ultimate hack, showing what becomes possible when we team up with nature to solve our greatest challenges.

Heart-warming, entertaining and energising, the film presents a hopeful vision of a future within reach – one in which nature thrives, and so do we.

HUMOR I

Planet Earth but…

Join us as we explore the human wilderness of Karens, Chads and Dads.

HUMOR II

Green Vine Snakes don’t bite. They do better; they judge you.

Why do I feel like I know that face?