text: There was once a village where everyone got along. It was an idyllic existence with little to no stress. See, this village was located in a temperate climatic zone and blessed with abundant natural resources, all the villagers had to do was walk into the surroundings field and harvest their fill. Cattle roamed the golden fields freely, and the rivers and streams nearly overflowed with fish. The villagers would watch the sun set every night, and when the last hues of red faded from the sky, they would revel around a bonfire stoked with wood from the nearby forest. &nbsp; *Life was simple.* &nbsp; Then a climatic aberration occurred, dropping the temperature to much below anything in recent memory. The deer and cattle either migrated or froze to death, and the wolves began to creep out of the forests. As all the plants died in the freeze, the villagers began to starve as well. Sickness swept over the village, wave after wave. Those who were not ill had to chase wolves out of the village nightly, but the wolves grew bolder every night. As with everything in life, the hardship was ephemeral. Temperatures rose to their long-term averages, along with the net primary productivity of vegetation. Cattle and deer returned to their ancestral habitats, and the wolves were seldom seen again by the villagers. &nbsp; *But they did not forget.* &nbsp; The newly appointed village leader had seen his family perish from illness and starvation. His predecessor had been dragged into the darkness by wolves. He promised the decimated village that the terrible events would never be repeated. Under his mandate, the villagers began to stockpile a decent proportion of their harvests. Accordingly, villagers began to search for methods of preserving perishable foodstuffs; they would never starve again. The villagers also began to craft spears, and eventually projectile weapons. A wall of timber was constructed around the village, and village huts and tents were replaced with larger, wooden buildings; the wolves would never dare to return. With these preventative and protective measures in place, innovation was inevitable. Gradually, the villagers became more efficient at collecting timber and began to build bigger structures. With the increasing scale of activity, organization came to be paramount and villagers were assigned specific tasks during the light hours of the day. Floods became more frequent, and the villagers were forced to venture further and further from the village to collect the necessary materials. The distance became so inconvenient that certain people were assigned these tasks as well. The village flourished, reaching an unprecedented size. With each passing generation, the villagers began to associate themselves with others who shared their daily tasks; after several decades, the villagers had multiple bonfires every night. As the village grew, so did its leadership. Each village leader could not hope to keep track of the daily going-ons of the village, and depended more and more on his or her trusted advisors. The advisors, inflamed with the ambition of becoming the next village leader, pushed their respective demographic sectors to produce more despite the absence of any immediate threats. &nbsp; *Growth became an end in itself.* &nbsp; With the passing of older generations, village divisions became the norm. Without question, the villagers would file out of their homes every day to join their companions in their daily tasks. As a natural result, their lives became centered around their daily labor, and it became frustrating when other villagers seemed to have easier tasks. Instead of looking to better the village, the leader and her advisors were forced to settle constant disputes among the laborers. In the time they had, the village leaders looked to improve existing methods and procedures to make the lives of the villagers easier, a never-ending pursuit. Unknowingly, they exacerbated the contention that underlay the village. &nbsp; *Although the village flourished, everyone was never so unhappy.* &nbsp; As the sun set, coloring the horizon a brilliant rose, the villagers sighed in relief. It was the end of another day. They crowded around their respective fires, ignoring the sullen wood collectors who dumped the wood on the ground and retreated without a word. The leader and her advisors observed the fires from a distance. The village leader felt pride blossoming in her chest, the village had grown considerably and was a sight to behold. She turned her gaze to the stars, which were partially eclipsed by the rising smoke. A flash of light streaked across the sky, and disappeared in an instant. Eyebrows raised, she looked to her advisors. They were completely absorbed in an argument amongst themselves about whose bonfire was bigger. The feeling of contempt flashed through her mind. Then that of loneliness.