Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The thing that makes us different from our next nearest animal relative is imagination and curiosity. Without these traits we would not have pushed to see what was over the next hill or found a way to cross a lake or ocean. These traits have driven us to find new worlds and explore space, make movies and even set up societies with governments and moral codes based on religion and fear.
Lives are lived chasing an imagined idea, being the super sports hero, the most talented or beautiful actress or the most rich and powerful ruler. If you really think about it, do you know anyone who aspires to be mediocre.
When does the realization set in that the wow thing just isn’t going to happen for you? That must be pretty much on an individual basis and the reaction to that fact is just as telling. At one time the first born was the most likely to have all the assets of the family to help them achieve their goal and the others were just along for the ride. The bigger the family the more they were capable of making and the better the chances may have been the reason for large families, or TV had not been invented yet so they did have anything else to do, take your pick.
The following siblings had to be taught that the efforts to push the eldest forward were best for all and that playing second string was not such a bad place to be in. Look across Europe at all the various families that are related because they tried to keep the wealth and power in one family group. It did not stop them from fighting with one another; they just did it as nations instead of as individuals. Those unions produced diseases that we would have been better off without but that is an issue of the past.
The beginning of our world started as a big bang, an accidental collision of elements, take a guess. Life began and developed and eventually became human and look where we are now. Civilization started with someone telling a great story that developed over time into similar complex systems of social behavior. Knowledge has allowed some to move forward and holding onto tradition has held others back. The most upsetting of these systems is the one that is allowing ignorance to drag it backwards to a place of utter dominance and stupidity.