is it better to be a human or a lizard?

Hey, folks, this is a little bonus episode that I originally filmed as a video for my YouTube channel as part of a series of these mini documentaries I'm trying to do once a month. And if you're hearing this right now, it means that you're not listening on Spotify, which means I can't upload the video on whatever podcast

Human? For sure? Why would you rather be a human? The human experience? I mean, would you rather be a lizard? I mean, obviously, I guess huh, Well.

I was thinking about it, right, because like there's a lot of suffering I think that comes with like just being conscious.

We're the only animals that like, like know we're going to die.

You get on this, Oh yeah, we're the only animals that know we're gonna die. It's an interesting burden that the human race suffers.

Yeah, but we get way cooler stuff because of it. That is true.

I got invited to the opening of a new gecko zoo that these two guys are running out of a basement in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It also happens to be right next to the Museum of Bones. This was shortly after I experienced an existential crisis that sent me spiraling into my own brain thinking about death and consciousness and the meaning of existence. As I looked at the lizards, I thought about the blissful ignorance that comes with being a dumb animal with no thoughts. They live a purely objective

Would you rather be a lizard or a human?

I want to be a lizard.

I want to be a covid animal with no emotions, well cared for. I'm yeah, e books, it's just hard power here for humans, poverty, hunger, unemployment, and also when at a hyper capitalistic society and everything's basically spectacle and as time grows one gets tired of it.

Humans are probably the least moral of the animals. They start wars, they they do crimes, they do things that animals don't. You know, they we don't we'll get into politics.

Is there anything at all that you would miss about humanity if you were a lizard, I.

Will miss like the process of studying and acquiring knowledge and also making things.

With my hands.

And do you feel as though the process of acquiring knowledge and making things and whatnot you would give it all up.

To be a lizard.

Just I'm okay with blissful ignorance.

Yeah, just living in my own little world.

And you would acquire that, but at the cost of all the gifts that your human consciousness gives you.

Again, like I said before, one gets tired of being sentient.

It's true. Being sentient can be tiresome, and it's made even more difficult by the fact that we're constantly inundated with an infinite amount of information about the flaws and corruptions of our species that the lizards are blissfully unaware of. But I did talk to a lot of people who believe that despite all the crazy shit it comes with, sentience remains worth it. What kind of cool stuff do you like about being a human?

Video games, good food, the ability to travel more than like a five mile radius?

What about art too? Do we know any animals that have art? I guess like there's like funny dog videos and stuff. Yeah, but the dog isn't taken the video. That's true. Would you guys rather be a human or a lizard?

When you stare at the lizard and you see how it like as like an absent mind, does that ever look appealing to?

Just have no thoughts. No, honey, no, do you enjoy the quality of your thoughts?

I do?

What kinds of things do you normally think about it throughout the day. We might respect money, but if.

You were a lizard, you wouldn't have to think about money ever.

Yeah, it's okay.

I was getting a little tired of talking about existential crap, so I took a break to go to this room where they had drinks and snacks. It was a good exercise of my human agency. What was his name again, Richie, Ritchie. Richie said that he wished he had a lizard brain. That's like a that makes a joke. Well, there is this desire to have a brain that is totally objective.

What he meant, essentially is that sometimes having a simpler life is a lot easier. With geckos, it's very repetitive, they're very habitual. So you know, when he said that, he just means that simplicity sometimes isn't a bad thing.

Do you ever have times where you genuinely do wish that you had like a simple lizard brain and you didn't have to deal with all this shit?

No, because if I had a simple lizard brain, I wouldn't be able to do this. With every struggle comes a lesson. With every struggle comes to newfound knowledge about something. You know, there's no such thing as success without struggle. That's called luck. That's not success. So being a human, it has his ups and downs. With the ups or I get to live out a dream.

I appreciated that this man used his higher human consciousness to embrace struggle and find a purpose that he would not give up to become a lizard, even if that purpose ironically involves lizards.

Limbers have a beautiful existence. But at the same time, do they know they exist?

As humans were innately aware of our own consciousness, Like, look at this guy.

You think he knows where he where?

This little man is right now that he's sitting on someone's hand coseplaying as a giant gig day gecko.

No, do you think that lizards are happier because they don't know that they exist?

Yes?

Because Dandrew's literally just here. If you're here and you don't know that tomorrow is gonna bring sad? Is what tomorrow is gonna bring? Any and what's smallw is gonna bring anything? This makes you automatically happen.

Do you think humans can develop the braining of a lizard in that sense of like trying to always be in the present.

You can try what.

You might have to get like motom eyes or something, because how are you gonna stop yourself from thinking about their future or even the past. The past and the future always hants us. So that's part of even human. But that's the beautiful point about being human. I love knowing that I'm here. It's beautiful that we actually know we have a past.

Let me know we have a future.

We are aware of our own existence, and that's both scary yet beautiful.

You would take the beautiful curse over the ignorant lizard stuff.

A million a million funds in the paints.

I liked this perspective that the knowledge we have of our own existence is a gift to be appreciated rather than a weird, scary thing to be burdened with. It's a choice of how you want to view it. Would you rather be a human being or a lizard?

Take a human more freedom?

Do you think consciousness is more freedom or more restrictive? Right, because a lizard has like freedom from a lot of the kind of difficulties the humans have.

You know, true, all you gotta do is eat and poop. That's it, right. Do you ever envy that lifestyle or would you still want to be a human? I think i'd be a humor. I could drive, Yeah, you can't drive as a lizard. Yeah, you can't drive as a lizard.

Have you traveled any places recently that you really liked that you couldn't have gone to if you were a lizard?

New Mexico it's kind of far, especially from here to get down there, and it travel a whole year, that's true.

Yeah, it would take a whole year. It's a walk as a lizard from year to New Mexico.

I guess the lizards don't even want that because they don't even lizards don't even know that New Mexico exists.

Nah.

Is there anything about being a lizard that you envy that you wish you could? Uh? Who you could do? Who she could be?

Lizard?

Ah?

I don't know, to be honest.

Never thought about that. I guess you don't have to think about it. I'm good the way I am no lizard.

After the event, I journaled on my phone about my conclusion from these interviews. While the human experience can be very challenging. It can be improved by having purpose, appreciating the little things I feel like. I read that Redemption two would be one of the reasons for me why I would want to be a human instead of a lizard.

Absolutely, there you go. If that's all it.

Is, choosing to view the bigger things as beautiful instead of scary, maintaining good quality of thoughts, and going to to New Mexico. And at the end of the day, I would also choose to remain a human. It is an honor