David Peat

Pausing the Cosmos 193anticipation of Armageddon and in the rising number of penal executions,with their tendency to become media events. 3For Freud the only possible strategy is one of resignation and acceptanceof the inevitability of human nature. Civilization will neverachieve all it pretends to. Reason has its place—certainly it cannot beabandoned in favor of some instinctual and intuitive reactions tothings. Reason helps to put a break on our more violent impulses andpoorly thought-out reactions but, according to Freud, it can never beenough. It only goes part way and is never strong enough to overcomeour more basic drives.Freud offered a psychological interpretation of the human situationbased upon the duality between Thanatos and Eros. A few decadesago an attempt was made to provide a biological explanation. It pointedout that the human neocortex, that advanced part of the brain capableof language, reflection, and planning, is a relatively recent evolutionaryproduct. Anatomically it is grafted onto an earlier mammalian brainand the more ancient reptilian brain. Thus the human brain is triune,with three structures, one superimposed on top of the other.The recently developed and somewhat immature neocortex is responsiblefor controlling the less “rational” drives and impulses of theseearlier brains. Like an inexperienced schoolteacher with a class of unrulychildren, it is not always able to control their underlying outbursts.On the surface this again looks to be a good explanation for the limitof human reason to control our more “animal” natures.Freud and the triune brain theory point in similar directions. Humanevolution is far too recent for societies to exist in stable form. Theneocortex and superego are simply too weak to control the brain’s underlyingforces and drives. Reason and civilization are not sufficient toovercome the conflict between Eros and Thanatos. Human beings, attheir present stage of evolution, are flawed. In view of the rapidity withwhich science and technology can produce the means of mass destruction,the future of the human race, as well as that of the other organismswho share this planet as their home, looks pretty grim.3It even seems that some executions are timed to coincide with prime timeviewing.