The WWE

My friend's sons love the WWE. For those of you who aren't quite familiar with this acronym,you're luck. But,it's the World Wrestling Entertainment. The matches are all scripted but the genre of entertainment/sport is incredibly popular. People will pay big money for the autographs of well known wrestlers. People enjoy watching as people beat up on one another. It reminds me of video games where the purpose is to kill one another. It also reminds me of an ancient Roman Colosseum where gladiators fought each other until death.

Why is that people enjoy watching others beat up on one another? This might sound like a leap of logic, but is there a relationship between this type of "competition" and the quest for the newest technological tools. My father loves to say that the difference between the man and a boy is the price of his toys. Why do so many people strive for the most expensive toys? Is the idea to one-up each other? If so, why? Does anybody really need a telephone that many of us have sitting on our hips that's actually a tiny computer? I'm glad I have one but do I need it?

Today in my current events newsletter I wrote about evolution. Is it possible that our quest to one-up each other has something to do with survival of the fittest? If this is the case, I have several question: There is a great deal of difference between the lifestyles of today's generation and the lifestyles of those who lived 5000 years ago, during the closing centuries of the Neolithic era. Change is happening far faster today than ever before. In 5,000 years what kinds of technology are people going to have? What is "one up-manship" going to look like five thousand years from now?

I might be in a down mood tonight, but I think it's fair to ask these questions. It's necessary to think about the answers.