Bumper Sticker

I saw a bumper sticker on a car today that read "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention". We'd probably all be better off if we weren't paying attention. Centuries of bumper stickers have enriched our lives, and now we cannot go day to day without noticing the tailgaiting jerk behind us, the woman screeching into her cell phone, or the waiter who thinks he's Gods gift. After all, in the words of Thomas Gray, "Ignorance is bliss".

But for better or for worse, we no longer have the gift of oblivion. So many inconsequential details have made their way into our lives, and it's incredibly difficult to ignore. We pay attention, and the result is misanthropy ranging from the vague to the acute. We seem to take delight in comparing our irritations with others- take the blogging movement, for example.

This annoyance, however, isn't particularly good for us. Researchers have said that physiologically speaking, anger has many different effects on our body. But moreover, it appears to be something we crave- as much as sex, as much as food, as much as drugs. Aggression engages the brain's reward pathways and involves dopamine.

I don't understand why we act the way we do. But maybe it'd be easier to accept it that way.