Subject: Homo interactus.
The assumption that mankind is special a sort of biological anomaly, set aside from the common or garden animal kingdom which whilst being part of Darwinistic evolution somehow managed to categorise itself as special, imbued with the special powers of developmental which gives us some sort of control over our destiny.
From the time of the Ancient Greek civilisation systems of thought allowed us to build and reference previous hypothesis to refine or discard according to logical analysis. The assumptions we made regarding our fellow man allowed morality to become ingrained, to a greater or lessor degree and with it also the assumptions regarding life and after life which developed into the religious instinct.
One of the problems has been, over the millennia, different environments have allowed what we call civilisation to flourish or, conversely stand still and the assumptions we make about our ability to become the masters of our species is very patchy.
The tautology which tells us how we advance and keep advancing also assumes we hold all the answers and that our future is assured but perhaps, like the dinosaurs who must have seen them selves as pretty invincible, we are also on a path to extinction.
For instance our absorption in petty, self centred governance must be a cause for concern. The Brexit negotiations provided such a powerful goal to pursue for its own ends but has been caught in the tangled web of narcissistic self interest such that the nation is at risk of 'self harm', and yet nothing seems to bring the warring parties to the table for the common good.
Perhaps self destruction is the most important part of evolution in its elemental search for improvement. As we continue to pollute the environment and strip it of its riches, perhaps eventually a new life form will emerge, 'homo interactus' where the "self" becomes buried inside the knowledge that the sum is greater than the parts.
The assumption that mankind is special a sort of biological anomaly, set aside from the common or garden animal kingdom which whilst being part of Darwinistic evolution somehow managed to categorise itself as special, imbued with the special powers of developmental which gives us some sort of control over our destiny.
From the time of the Ancient Greek civilisation systems of thought allowed us to build and reference previous hypothesis to refine or discard according to logical analysis. The assumptions we made regarding our fellow man allowed morality to become ingrained, to a greater or lessor degree and with it also the assumptions regarding life and after life which developed into the religious instinct.
One of the problems has been, over the millennia, different environments have allowed what we call civilisation to flourish or, conversely stand still and the assumptions we make about our ability to become the masters of our species is very patchy.
The tautology which tells us how we advance and keep advancing also assumes we hold all the answers and that our future is assured but perhaps, like the dinosaurs who must have seen them selves as pretty invincible, we are also on a path to extinction.
For instance our absorption in petty, self centred governance must be a cause for concern. The Brexit negotiations provided such a powerful goal to pursue for its own ends but has been caught in the tangled web of narcissistic self interest such that the nation is at risk of 'self harm', and yet nothing seems to bring the warring parties to the table for the common good.
Perhaps self destruction is the most important part of evolution in its elemental search for improvement. As we continue to pollute the environment and strip it of its riches, perhaps eventually a new life form will emerge, 'homo interactus' where the "self" becomes buried inside the knowledge that the sum is greater than the parts.
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