Why Believing Everything And Everyone Has Value, Without Exception, Makes Us Happier

Have you ever dismissed something as “useless”?

You might want to think again. Just because we don’t see the usefulness doesn’t mean it’s garbage. We just don’t yet know what its purpose is or where its value lies.

All the time, we learn that what was once “junk” is now treasure.

Scientists once thought that the DNA that doesn’t encode proteins was worthless. Pretty arrogant, given that Nature is the ultimate efficiency hacker, optimizing energy use for survival. If for millions of years Nature thought it was worth carrying all that “junk” DNA, it probably had a job to do. After all, Nature’s been around a lot longer than we have.

Turns out disease-causing variants lie within our “junk” DNA.

Non-coding DNA affects epigenetics, or how genes are turned on/off (gene expression) in response to environmental factors. Who’d have thunk it? 🙄 So why do we keep falling for our own hubris? We leap to assumptions and think we know everything.

Loaded language (“junk” vs. “non-coding”) creates prejudice.

So when I read yet another article finding out that something once deemed useless is important, e.g. may cause cancer, I vow to stay curious. I always question the “useless” label.

Everything and everyone is interesting, without exception.

We just have to find out how and why. When we have this mindset, we become happier. We learn new things (dopamine!). Our brains stay more flexible (curiosity allows for neuroplasticity). We connect better with others, because we’re curious, not judgy or self-conscious.

Let’s erase “junk” and “useless” from our vocabularies. Let’s stay curious and enjoy the delights of the world around us.

Kadumago, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons