Be Thankful
May 5th 2008 02:17
As a race, we've lost our way.
We've always been so damn clever - its not good enough to do something, or think of doing it, we've got to analyse it, make art about it. Prove, every single miserable moment of our lives, that we are MORE. That we DESERVE to be at the top of the food chain not because of our strength (which would have done it) but because of our massive BRAINS. We are more than animals, we may root like wilderbeasts but then we can go and compose a sonnet on it......So we must be more, right?
Did you know that cats can paint? There are books on it. Cats actually compose artworks based on colour and form and they get into it.
Did you know that ducks problem solve? Its amazing how technically a duck can think when he's after a juicy snail, or a hug.
Did you know horses plot? One horse alone can plot out a plan, but 5 horses together can blow your feedshed down.
Did you know mynah birds like music? Binky changes her radio station if they have the footy on.
Did you know dogs are into emotional manipulation? Mums dog refuses to eat dinner every night but still takes the bowl(full of food) and hides it under the couch for later.
These are all considered human attributes, correct? These are definitions by which we define our own humanity - which is becoming as hard to define as good and evil. We used to know what human meant - two arms two legs two eyes and a nose. But we dont use that definition any more, we use kindness (Hmmm?) intelligence (well, sometimes) ability to think (Hmmm? again) and capacity for love.
But now Im confused again. Most animals come under those definitions too.
But my point was, we've lost our way, and I'll tell you why. We are crying right now. We are crying about noise and light pollution. Air and water pollution that has rendered continents useless and put holes in the atmosphere. We think we're so damn smart but we've realized we arent and now we're back pedalling fiercely. If we are going to continue being the smartest race on the face of the planet, we've realized we shouldnt destroy it.
Let me tell you - any animal, any race, getting to the top of the food chain would have done EXACTLY what we have done. Theres no other way to do it, and I want to give you some perspective.
When you have cold feet, you go put on a pair of socks. Lets whizz back in time to BC. What did you do if you had cold feet then? Sweet fuck all. I mean, we had socks, but they weren't readily available to all for $2. You'd have to have an animal to spin them off, and even if you HAD said animal, you'd more likely need a shirt than socks. Just think about that.
So you get colder. Depending on where you live its reverse cycle AC a cheapo heater or a fire. Back to BC again - all there was was a fire. And not specifically engineered for heat fires either, just a hole in the wall - and thats if you were lucky enough to have walls - and all the wood you could find. If you couldnt find any, or enough, you probably died.
So, you decide you're hungry. Even the poor in every country can go stand in front of their refrigerator. Theres milk and juice and juice extracts, theres meat and cheese and sauce. We dont even have to bake our own bread. You pull the package of meat out of the freezer and thats the entirety of your hunting experience. No hiding in the trees down wind, no bolting across the plains praying for one clean shot because you and your family are SO hungry - you just open the freezer.
Feeling the afternoonies. Go make a coffe. How easy is it?! The kettle is boiled within a minute, and instant grounds and fine cut sugar and milk are all added within another 5 minutes.
Its my belief, that the incidence of mental illness is increasing in all western societies because humans are not in their 'natural' environment. Ok, some humans have taken to this modern world like ducks to water, but a great majority of us havnt. A lot of people who long for the 'old days' havnt really thought about this coffee issue - walking out 5kms to the well. Dragging the bucket back. Boiling the water takes a bloody long time over a fire. Then coffee beans, if you could afford them, had to be ground. Sugar was in logs or lumps and had to be broken off. Then you've gotta find the damn cow! I swear I put him in the north paddock this morning....
You'd be lucky indeed to have your coffee made within half an hour.
What we have failed to adress - in all our vast intelligence - is that we need both to continue. We are lost, only because we've realized that plowing forward has ruined the earth. We have everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - we ever dreamed of. Walk ancient man through a supermarket and he'd be in proud tears, imagining the beautiful and easy lives we have. Seeing how far we've come from throwing pointy sticks. Its all well and good, its given us more time to work on that intellectual stuff that we think is so important - because we need to prove we arent animals - But I think we have forgotten why we worked so hard.
See, we used to work hard because we HAD to. If we wanted to survive each day and be ready for the next year, we HAD to work, so very hard. But in the back of every single humans mind was - we will reach a point where we can just LIVE. We will keep on, keep this up, until we reach a point of technology where we dont have to work so hard.
We are there people. That ancient man is still crying but the tears have become bitter. You mean you dont have to hunt yet men are up before the sun rises? You work your children and women? Even bearing women must leave the nest for 8 hours for no good reason? Without the need to hunt why do you not paint and dance more? Why do you not thank the Gods for the plenty?
Why are you all so miserable, when your lives are no longer in danger every second you are alive?
Oh, thats right! We are all so miserable because we forgot, we forgot the point.
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET HERE AND THEN STOP!!!!!!
Not get here and look furtively about for another step.
Just ask the caveman. He thinks we're all nuts.
We've always been so damn clever - its not good enough to do something, or think of doing it, we've got to analyse it, make art about it. Prove, every single miserable moment of our lives, that we are MORE. That we DESERVE to be at the top of the food chain not because of our strength (which would have done it) but because of our massive BRAINS. We are more than animals, we may root like wilderbeasts but then we can go and compose a sonnet on it......So we must be more, right?
Did you know that cats can paint? There are books on it. Cats actually compose artworks based on colour and form and they get into it.
Did you know that ducks problem solve? Its amazing how technically a duck can think when he's after a juicy snail, or a hug.
Did you know horses plot? One horse alone can plot out a plan, but 5 horses together can blow your feedshed down.
Did you know mynah birds like music? Binky changes her radio station if they have the footy on.
Did you know dogs are into emotional manipulation? Mums dog refuses to eat dinner every night but still takes the bowl(full of food) and hides it under the couch for later.
These are all considered human attributes, correct? These are definitions by which we define our own humanity - which is becoming as hard to define as good and evil. We used to know what human meant - two arms two legs two eyes and a nose. But we dont use that definition any more, we use kindness (Hmmm?) intelligence (well, sometimes) ability to think (Hmmm? again) and capacity for love.
But now Im confused again. Most animals come under those definitions too.
But my point was, we've lost our way, and I'll tell you why. We are crying right now. We are crying about noise and light pollution. Air and water pollution that has rendered continents useless and put holes in the atmosphere. We think we're so damn smart but we've realized we arent and now we're back pedalling fiercely. If we are going to continue being the smartest race on the face of the planet, we've realized we shouldnt destroy it.
Let me tell you - any animal, any race, getting to the top of the food chain would have done EXACTLY what we have done. Theres no other way to do it, and I want to give you some perspective.
When you have cold feet, you go put on a pair of socks. Lets whizz back in time to BC. What did you do if you had cold feet then? Sweet fuck all. I mean, we had socks, but they weren't readily available to all for $2. You'd have to have an animal to spin them off, and even if you HAD said animal, you'd more likely need a shirt than socks. Just think about that.
So you get colder. Depending on where you live its reverse cycle AC a cheapo heater or a fire. Back to BC again - all there was was a fire. And not specifically engineered for heat fires either, just a hole in the wall - and thats if you were lucky enough to have walls - and all the wood you could find. If you couldnt find any, or enough, you probably died.
So, you decide you're hungry. Even the poor in every country can go stand in front of their refrigerator. Theres milk and juice and juice extracts, theres meat and cheese and sauce. We dont even have to bake our own bread. You pull the package of meat out of the freezer and thats the entirety of your hunting experience. No hiding in the trees down wind, no bolting across the plains praying for one clean shot because you and your family are SO hungry - you just open the freezer.
Feeling the afternoonies. Go make a coffe. How easy is it?! The kettle is boiled within a minute, and instant grounds and fine cut sugar and milk are all added within another 5 minutes.
Its my belief, that the incidence of mental illness is increasing in all western societies because humans are not in their 'natural' environment. Ok, some humans have taken to this modern world like ducks to water, but a great majority of us havnt. A lot of people who long for the 'old days' havnt really thought about this coffee issue - walking out 5kms to the well. Dragging the bucket back. Boiling the water takes a bloody long time over a fire. Then coffee beans, if you could afford them, had to be ground. Sugar was in logs or lumps and had to be broken off. Then you've gotta find the damn cow! I swear I put him in the north paddock this morning....
You'd be lucky indeed to have your coffee made within half an hour.
What we have failed to adress - in all our vast intelligence - is that we need both to continue. We are lost, only because we've realized that plowing forward has ruined the earth. We have everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - we ever dreamed of. Walk ancient man through a supermarket and he'd be in proud tears, imagining the beautiful and easy lives we have. Seeing how far we've come from throwing pointy sticks. Its all well and good, its given us more time to work on that intellectual stuff that we think is so important - because we need to prove we arent animals - But I think we have forgotten why we worked so hard.
See, we used to work hard because we HAD to. If we wanted to survive each day and be ready for the next year, we HAD to work, so very hard. But in the back of every single humans mind was - we will reach a point where we can just LIVE. We will keep on, keep this up, until we reach a point of technology where we dont have to work so hard.
We are there people. That ancient man is still crying but the tears have become bitter. You mean you dont have to hunt yet men are up before the sun rises? You work your children and women? Even bearing women must leave the nest for 8 hours for no good reason? Without the need to hunt why do you not paint and dance more? Why do you not thank the Gods for the plenty?
Why are you all so miserable, when your lives are no longer in danger every second you are alive?
Oh, thats right! We are all so miserable because we forgot, we forgot the point.
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET HERE AND THEN STOP!!!!!!
Not get here and look furtively about for another step.
Just ask the caveman. He thinks we're all nuts.
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Comment by tlcorbin
Raven
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
this post was inspired by the other night, I realized how I fidget watching tv. I cant seem to help myself. I realized, in all my previous lives, there NEVER would have been a time I just 'sat there'. There would have always been thread to wind, fabric to spin or cloaks to weave. Bread to knead, meat to preserve, herbs to dry and put in jars. Do you see what Im getting at? The inactivity of the modern world may well be the cause of mental illness, so many of us are 'used to' constant motion. Theres a sense of panic if you sit still too long. I think its an old survival reflex.
Comment by tlcorbin
Raven
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Comment by tlcorbin
Raven