Before you go any further in the Manual, I need to clarify a few things. The first, and most important, thing you need to remember while reading is this: I’m a human too. I have spent my life listening to other humans and learning everything I can to prove that Everything is Connected. However, while I have a wealth of knowledge, I am human so I don’t know everything.
As a human, I have a point of view that’s very different than yours. Throughout Your Human Manual I’ll use perspectives that I’ve adopted and words that I’ve learned.
Our language is limited which means some words can mean multiple things. While this is good for art, it’s bad for learning. I will explicitly define my terms and might even reclaim a phrase, or two, to make sure we’re completely on the same page in terms of concepts. When you understand a concept, you can apply it to all sorts of things by substituting variables.
These concepts span multiple disciplines of human study, further proving the interconnectedness of the world. Some concepts, like waves & interference, only apply to the natural world but explain more complex processes. Institutionalization applies only to human societies but is fundamental to understanding many more concepts.
Other concepts, like hierarchy, resource allocation, and empires, focus more on life and human creations. These are concepts you probably already know, but now you’ll know them in my terms. Concepts like feedback loops and spectra can apply to natural phenomena, biological processes, and even parts of our society.
Understanding the basics of your entire world makes the complicated easier. It’s helpful when a few basic concepts can apply to everything. If you can understand probability and natural selection, you’re going to have a great advantage in this world. Natural selection is a broad concept with many applications, and it’s commonly misunderstood. I’ve broken this concept into three parts: competition, diversification & niche exploration, and domination & mimicry.
With a grasp on the basic concepts, you’re ready to learn about our progress in the universe. We are here now because of everything that came before us. All of human history, all of life’s history, even the configuration of matter around the universe allowed us to exist. It’s all pretty amazing but what makes it even better is that we’re aware of it.