and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

Sociometers - the idea behind self-esteem. You want to hear it? Sugar is sweet because it is your body's way of telling you that whatever it is you're doing - eating something sweet (i.e. nourishing) - is good. Do more of it, says your body. Orgasm . . . same thing. Well, self-esteem is catch-all term for specific psychological mechanisms that tell your brain that whatever it is doing is good. This is Kirkpatrick 2001. Now, WHEN does self-esteem increase? when someone loves you, when you feel your social status is high, when you feel part of a group, when you feel like you have reciprocal friendships, and when you feel like you are providing for another person, especially your progeny. It's the domains of social life. This is my advisors work. BUT ALSO it increases when you feel like you are doing something worthwhile. right? goal oriented behavior . . . having a meaningful goal, and approaching that goal. Victor Frankl. Now I would say, what is going to be meaningful to humans? 99% of the time, it's going to have to do with social factors. why? because in the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) one's inclusive fitness will be extremely contingent on one's success in the five domains. If you're not part of a group, your access to mates will be low. If you have no status you won't get it on. If you ain't gettin it on, you ain't reproducing. If you can't care for your progeny, they won't survive. If your friends take advantage of you (reciprocity), you and your family will suffer. The synthesis is my own. Perhaps I will get published; unless someone reads this and steals my ideas.

It all makes such sense. You know what it really explains? Why I am always looking over my shoulder playing disc. It's not good enough to play well, but someone has to see. If I am gaining no status, or acceptance into a group, or strengthening reciprocal relationships, then what's it worth? Very little. It's not what I think of me; it's not what you you think of me. It's what I think you think of me that bothers me. Eigth grade, Mr. Forrester, the gym teacher, taught health. That's what we learned. He was right. And you know what else it explains? Competitions. When people take shit seriously, even when it's something as stupid as freestyle frisbee, they organize competitions. Why? It's not good enough to say that they want to show that they're better than someone. Why do they want that? And that's not even necessarily true, in the case of shitty players who come knowing that they'll suck ass.

I hear your counterargument . . . heroin feels good, and it doesn't benefit anything. Heroin hijacks the brain's feel-good system, and runs it on overdrive. Had heroin been around in the EEA, perhaps the brain would have started using something else, to avoid the risk of self-destruction.

Ev. Psych is the future, man. I'm pretty sure of it. I am so happy I didn't learn bullshit psych, in the end. Perhaps not majoring in psych was the best thing I could have done. Now if only understanding all this stuff made life any easier.

I wish my paper was done.