Long before Prozac, before depression became a distinctive feature of those that go beyond the surface of things and venture into the world of existential questioning, before the poets decided that being depressed because of a beauty is far more productive than enjoying her, so before depression became trendy - well, the Universe had to have a pretty good reason to allow the depressives to survive.
It’s pretty obvious why the anxious personalities did – they were the only ones able to perceive the least probable dangers ten years before they appeared. The paranoids were spotting the evil intentions of the neighboring tribes and smashed them just in case, the antisocials do survive anyway, the histrionics were making the religious rituals far more interesting and they all had the schizotypal personalities to rely on when saints and miracles-makers were needed.
How about the depressed ones? Now, the Universe loves diversity and this is exactly why it kills a great part of his prototypes to allow others to be tested. And these fellows survived.
You see, these low-energy softies were not going to battle, nor were they joining the others in the rain dance. So they were willing to stay home and guard the possessions. (I’d also venture a bit further in the world of urban myths and say that, well, no surprise there are more depressed women than men.)
Next time I go around some booze I’ll reflect on the survival of those with attention deficit. I know, that’s called introspection.
Random Tripping in the Land of Aardvarks
