Fame In the Brain

So many theories of human nature to choose from

So many competing agendas spinning illusions

So many incentives not to let the truth come

Six million ways to lie, choose one

Humans aren't just culture-bearing blank slates

Our psychology has an innate landscape

So don't treat a mountain range like a pancake

That's like tryin' to stop a bleeder with a band-aid

As a rapper I'm just tryin' to get a fan-base

And it won't happen if I suck like a lamprey

I'm not a scientist, baby, I just translate

So don't trust me "˜cause I'm on a fame campaign

So how does it feel to be classed with other species

Of mammals, and find yourself with an order, family, and genus

Like bats and rhesus monkeys? If your reaction is squeamish

Remember, just "˜cause I said it, you don't have to believe it

I said "Xenophobia can be traced back to diseases"

You could say "But I hate immigrants for good rational reasons"

Perhaps then we've reached an impassable disagreement

But that's why the scientific method is genius

Ooh the scientific method, it's the scientific method

You can try to just reject it and deny that it's impressive

But you'll find that it's an excellent device to get your message

So if you find evolutionary psych just offensive

You can whine and just try to say "oh, it's violent and it's sexist"

And accuse evolutionists of biasing their efforts

That's called "non-compliance with the scientific method"

You can say my information is wrong, or maybe not

Maybe my interpretation of information is wrong

But c'mon, all I'm really tryin' to do is make some songs

I'm just tryin' to get a whole lot of people singin' along

Why? "˜Cause I find that when I'm thinkin' my thoughts

And verbalizin' them, when I say it just right they get caught

Up in your mind just like a virus, and since I was the source

You recognize me and that's how I get the things that I want

Humans aren't just culture-bearing blank slates

Our psychology has an innate landscape

So don't treat a mountain range like a pancake

That's like tryin' to stop a bleeder with a band-aid

As a rapper I'm just tryin' to get a fan-base

And it won't happen if I suck like a lamprey

I'm not a scientist, baby, I just translate

So don't trust me "˜cause I'm on a fame campaign

For me the manipulation of words is just a game

But it's a game that's influential in some interesting ways

"˜Cause when I listen to lyricists and hear just what they're saying

It's like their aim is to infiltrate the filters in my brain

In a way you could say that's the definition of "fame"

Not a physical state, just an impression that remains

Encoded as information in the conscious mental plane

A repetition of a repetition that proliferates

But the pattern of proliferation isn't arbitrary

It's an honorary version of Charles Darwin's theory

Of differential replication, but with your thoughts and queries

"˜Cause when people talk, notice how the uptake varies

So hip-hop songs are domesticated commentaries

That evolve by solving problems in conflict areas

They carry us along, kinda like dromedaries

Domesticated by Arabs in response to water scarcity

All these cultural variants reproduce in our minds

But our minds were designed by evolution to blind us

To the truth if lies help us reproduce and survive

That's why falling out of love is always truly surprising

And that's why I love rap, but I'm a student of science

"˜Cause science is the only system that humans have devised

That lets us step outside of our huge thick biases

And view the world as it is unfalsified

Humans aren't just culture-bearing blank slates

Our psychology has an innate landscape

So don't treat a mountain range like a pancake

That's like tryin' to stop a bleeder with a band-aid

As a rapper I'm just tryin' to get a fan-base

And it won't happen if I suck like a lamprey

I'm not a scientist, baby, I just translate

So don't trust me "˜cause I'm on a fame campaign