Q&A: Are Human Beings just sophisticated mammals?

By John Horton, M.D.

When I was a pre-med at Colombia University, the professor of zoology there was very interested in evolution. He made a strong argument that birds can be considered more evolved than humans – because of their social structure, tremendous diversity and ability to adapt to all sorts of geographies. He contrasted that with the chaos and seemingly un-ending conflicts among human beings.

Is there a human wisdom that is so perfect that it does not need to evolve?

By John Horton, M.D.

After two and a half years at Dartmouth College I was doing well, but had no sense of direction. I had noticed that no one around — students, faculty & alumni — was content.

It really stumped me. I didn’t see how I was going to be content. Nor did any of my academic studies point to a possibility of contentment.