In the Next Life, Canto I, stanzas 11-14

I am getting drawn further into this business, it seems. First I gave Jeff Grund permission to post the Next Life on Facebook one stanza at a time to troll for interest. I thought it could do no harm, as the story was generating no revenue parked in a .doc file. Then he started sending me changes. I have no objection to that; I am not required to accept them. Then he said it is hard for people to follow his posts, and it would be easier to read if I put it in a blog. Well, I suppose I can play along with that, as long as I do not get dragged into one of those social networking sites. Now he says I should include his silly annotations in the blog because he is afraid people will not read them as Comments. He has not explained to me why I should be concerned about that. If readers feel they need them, they ought to be able to find them. In any case, the part I am posting today has none of those notes (he must have found all of it sufficiently transparent), so I have another day or two to think about it. Meanwhile, I am obliged to include this little preface so you will know where to find the earlier annotations. Readers who do not wish to be bored may disregard this paragraph.

Now that we have that out of the way, here is today's bit. If you have trouble understanding it, please read the preceding paragraph for information about whither to direct your complaints.

Could modified selection be the key?
Some values might have made their holders act
in ways that gave the holders’ progeny
a start in life that other children lacked.

Let’s take a value, then, down to its core.
What mechanism causes one to feel
that some things rate, and others even more?
Could it be tangible? Could it be real?

Well, if it is, we’d find it in our heads—
arrangements of the nerve cells, things like that—
a pattern that repeats, with varied threads,
depending on the neural habitat.

These patterns are translated into speech
or other symbols—we have many kinds,
which we can use to influence and teach.
We spread the patterns to each other’s minds.

© 2010 Louis A. Merrimac