A cozy lifestyle for those who can
We humans living under the deadly threat of Covid could wisely follow the living habits of our European ancestors of half a million years ago.
They were dealing with a totally different but equally deadly enemy — frigid winters.
They survived the extreme cold by hibernating for months.
Amid the scourge of Covid, many people in the world, especially those in the wintry Northern Hemisphere, have already hunkered down for the long haul. Many cannot of course. Doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, essential workers in several industries etc., but for those of us who have, dare I call it, the luxury of staying inside, why not? Save lives, save humanity.
That’s what Neanderthals did more than 400,000 years ago. Fossils recently unearthed from an ancient mass grave in northern Spain showed that they slowed down their metabolisms by sleeping through severe winters and thus adjusting their bodies to survive the frigid conditions with little food.
Seems like a way to survive Covid. The pandemic is the curse of the age, but, as a Buddhist might say, it is what it is. We have to deal with it. And beat it.
Just about all of us would love to break loose, cut free, kick up our heels, but doing so at this time seems like a mug’s game. Covid takes advantage of our freedom and moves in like a bushwhacker, making us sick, the next person sick and so on down the line.
Unlike our ancient ancestors, we humans today, shut in our caves, have the huge advantage of being able to have food and booze and books, whatever we want delivered. No going out. Hibernate. Heated caves, moreover. Cozy.