Barter and Handshake

Diane Ackerman describes evolution as taking place by barter and handshake rather than proclamation. Humans, like all other animals change in tiny ways over millions of years to adapt to our changing environment. I remember a principle from embryology, "ontogeny recapitulates philogeny" which means that the lifestory of the individual mimics the lifestory of the species. It seems to me that our lives are a series of barters and handshakes. We cannot just will the world to be the way we want it to be but must make a series of small compromises in order to survive.

(Herb and spice market, Vigo, Spain)