The Unknown

I was watching a show on the supernatural tonight and I started thinking about what makes us so drawn to the unknown.  Why do we watch things with such interest even as the hair is standing up on our arms and our hearts beat in alarm?  Are any of the things we feel linked to our past ancestors?  Some would say yes, others, absolutely not.

So are we any different from the pre-historic men and women of so long ago?  I'd like to think so but what is it that causes a man or woman to get angry when someones tries to take their mate away from them?  That urge to pee, if you will, on our partner?  That urge to bare our teeth at those that are a little too chummy with our loved ones? 

Of course I can think of an ex or two that I probably would have thrown at someone if they had showed interest in them- years ago.  In those cases the urge to fight, to protect, to keep them- probably was not there. 

In that same vein what makes us want to maybe snatch that last piece of pizza up, especially when we're real hungry, when maybe our other half is giving that last slice the eye?

Some would say that's just greed. But let's go back to our ancestors.  During the time maybe when there was little food to be found.  When the need to maybe eat a lot, kept them from being hungry, maybe a little bit longer?  I'd like to think, hopefully, that we've evolved from that place, that stage in time. 

But just to have food for thought, watch the protective guy or gal next time someone is staring at their mate too long, or being too flirty.  Watch the reaction next time you want that last piece of pizza and your dinner guest grabs it first.  For just a second did your bare your teeth at them?

So maybe the unkown is cause for more thoughts.  Are we like the ancestors of our past?  Is that why the unknown draws us like a moth to a flame?  Were our ancestors drawn to the unknown even as they may have been frightened of it?  Hence the protectiveness, lips drawn in a snarl? They were, like us maybe, protecting what we have from the unknown, which may even include ourselves.