They met each other while they were volunteers on archaeological excavations in Israel. At first, they just spent time in the common circle of volunteers, keeping each other’s names in memory: Jack and Lily. Two young people in mutual attraction soon found out that they lived in cities situated relatively nearby.
Then she began to approach him, when he was lying on the ground, resting after the tiring day of fieldwork. Lily would lie besides the young man on artificial grass of a yard circumscribed by houses where volunteers lived. The girl was attracted to strength that Jack’s body with larger robust bones and muscles illuminated.
While they were discussing similarities and differences in their life experiences: films, books, travels, they were getting used to each other’s presence, manners of speech and gestures. Being together simultaneously with perceiving sounds of nature – high-pitched whining of jackals exotic for ears used to city noises, singing of invisible birds – increased levels of dopamine in both young people. Consequentially, joint stargazing became a habit recorded in neural pathways.
On one evening Jack and Lily had a philosophical conversation:
– You know, I nearly canceled the whole trip altogether ’cause my Mom got very ill. Fortunately, doctors didn’t diagnose anything life-threatening, – Jack said thoughtfully, sensing Lily’s head on his shoulder. The weight of this head with burnished dark hair was stimulating sensory neurons to deliver signals to the brain that instead of provoking attempts to get free from the pressure caused the increase in levels of oxytocin.
– That’s great, – Lily replied. Then she added after a short pause, – I was also hesitant about coming, – she smiled, trying to catch Jack’s eyesight, – my friends were trying to change my mind: “why would you spend half of the summer in mud?” – Lily laughed, while her hippocampus was recreating the faces of her friends.
– I think, it’s our destiny… There is a meaning behind the fact that we both had obstacles. It means we should be together, – Jack suggested. The dim light from the far stars was hitting his retina and traveling to area VI of his brain. Was there any meaning behind the appearance of the universe?
Lily was not responding for a while. At first, she was blithe about his hint on having feelings towards her. Then, she perceived the meaning of Jack’s words and compared them to her own world view:
– Well, I doubt there’s a meaning out there…
Then the conversation faded away…
When the season of excavations ended, Lily and Jack kissed one last time before parting. Alas, their romantic relationship started to decline rapidly after separation. Jack was relying on somebody to bring them together, however, no coincidences happened any more. On whatever concert of popular music band or other excavations Jack went, Lily did not. Online conversations between them were happening less and less often. Lily felt that Jack’s efforts to support their status of a couple attenuated, and she assumed that it was partly because of his waiting in vain for an external force. Lily did not want to reflect meanings, she wanted to construct them. So, after sending a break-up message to Jack, she started a new relationship.
Did this decisive action trigger Jack to reconsider his world views? Let’s ask his ancestors, the early humans, who performed rituals in attempts to reflect meanings of the external world. Their believes into the ability to have control over nature slowly pushed their cognitive evolution forward. Their world views are fossils in the layers of coeval outlooks. No wonder, Jack blamed Lily of sinfully disobeying the Higher Order and put a lot of effort into exhibiting a flawless behavior in his every day routine.
