I suggest you check out Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Physiological needs are at the base. The need for esteem, which leads people to altruistic pursuits, is much higher on the triangle. There is also an interesting set of books called Mountain People and Forest People, by Colin Turnbull, which cuts to the heart of the matter on hierarchies, and how human society degenerates when needs are not met.
If you check out the hierarchy, and read the books by Turnbull, you will understand that the human animal, though capable of great intelligence, is limited, as any other animal, by its physiological needs. The better we understand that, the better we understand ourselves, and the better use we can make of ourselves. To deny the animal inside us, is to deny a large part of our nature. Many people suffer intense guilt and severe psychological problems brought on by their failure to understand the physiological motivations of their actions. Once you understand the power of the animal needs, and that it is perfectly normal to have them, and that they are an evolutionary key to our survival as a species (an animal that doesn't eat and doesn't breed dies out rather quickly) it is my opinion that you can better control them.
I find the human animal, and all it's needs, fascinating. I don't find it sad that sex and food are basic. That's life, and life is good. It would be difficult, I think, not to be able to appreciate this aspect of being human. |
