Post No. 4: Reba the Amoeba

An Amoeba is a single-celled organism and one of the first life forms on earth. Amoebas are usually found in ponds and have the capability of limited movement. Scientists discovered an interesting phenomenon when observing amoebas moving around in a Petri dish. They discovered that amoebas always seek out nutrients in the dish and avoid the toxins. I like to imagine that one of them was named Reba. So just like the rest of her fellow Amoebas, Reba always seeks out the positive and avoids the negative.

What does this mean for us vastly more complicated and multicellular beings? Simply that all forms of life, even unicellular ones, naturally and automatically look to the positive and avoid what they perceive as negative. Then why do we humans sometimes do things that are detrimental to ourselves and others? Why do we not always choose a positive path like our friend Reba? It is because our big brains allow us to create stories in our minds about virtually everything. If we don’t have time to think we will respond just like Reba. For example we will always automatically and quickly move a hand if it touches a hot stove. The trick is to be aware of the stories we tell ourselves and see if they are positive or negative. Perhaps by being more self-aware we can be just as positive as Reba! 🙂