Evolution, Dwelling, and Free Will

So, here we are with all this grey matter.  We evolved all this ability to think through a whole lotta "what if's" in order to feed ourselves, take care of our tribe, and avoid those predators in the night.  But, now, life doesn't offer us those existential threats so we invent our own.  We dwell on some trivial detail.  We keep ourselves up at night dwelling: "Why did my boss send that email?", "Why did I say the wrong thing to that person?" etc.

All that predisposition to use our brainpower to avoid life threats now squandered on trivialities of modern existence.  I have, for years, found that very sad and would dwell on the negativity of this feeling about the modern condition.  Woe is me.  Woe is us! (Imagine the rebranding of Toys-R-Us as a store for existentialism: "Woes-R-Us"!)

Recently though, I had a bit of an epiphany.  Why not turn that excess cognitive bandwidth over to dwelling on irrationally positive feelings?  How lucky I was to catch my favorite song on the radio!  How beautiful the snow on the naked tree limbs and that I have the time to stop, catch my breath, and admire this view!  How wonderful that this student came by to share a personal story and we had a very real human-to-human moment in the midst of a very constructed and hectic school day!

It's like my favorite Bohr quote about Profound Truths:  "A profound truth is one where the opposite of the statement is also true."

Modern life has provided space for me to dwell on and fret over the negative minutia.
Modern life has provided space for me to dwell on and enjoy the positive minutia.