We are naked without tech. It is regarded as unnatural and disturbing to appear publicly without tech. It’s illegal.
In case you haven’t noticed, tech’s presence, power and importance grows continually while our biological core remains relatively stable. That means… more about this later. It’s time for the next level of Homo sapiens’ definition.
#6. Homo sapiens are the latest and greatest creation of intelligent living energy, empowered with language, enhanced with technology, and organized in dynamic sociality.
Sociality
Together = to gather; to unite, assemble, join, party. This is the basis of sociality, being social, getting together, gathering in groups, forming a community. The roots of the word social grew in the concept of following, in the sense of following alongside, shoulder to shoulder on a walk or journey together; family, friends, lovers, colleagues, comrades, citizens. The sociality of Homo sapiens characterizes another unique aspect of our species.
Herds, flocks and packs display limited collective action and social behavior. Bees, ants, and termites form greater collective organizations, but nothing compares to the social capabilities of Homo sapiens, who can gather in formations of varied size, type and duration. They get together at different jobs, cultural activities and political enterprises. A handful can get together to eat, discuss or play, and thousands can gather at sports events, concerts or demonstrations. Millions can coordinate their efforts in national endeavors and dozens can mingle at pubs, parties and funerals. Two can get together to make a baby or meet at a divorce court. We form and dissolve social configurations daily. We socialize with such ease that we’re practically blind to the sophistication and dynamics of our social skills. The frontal lobe of the brain is wired to manage our extraordinary sociality, which therefore appears as natural to us as walking, talking or slicing a cucumber.
Our unique social ability to play can be compared with our primate cousins. An ape can be taught to throw an object toward a target such as when pitching horse shoes. They can however never manage to play the game, to throw in turns or keep track of the game’s progress, which is child’s play for us. Apes lack the special frontal lobe of the brain that coordinates the simple, for us, logistics of playing a game, not to mention the complicated daily maneuvers where constantly changing social configurations make demands on the proper behavior for each one.
Society Building Creatures
Homo sapiens are society building creatures. The major societies are made up of communities formed of flexible groupings. Each group interacts through norms and requirements on multiple levels. The social stage cues us to the words, actions and gestures to perform in the play of sociality, and to adjust the performance to match the players we interact with. What to do and don’t do, say and don’t say, to different individuals in different circumstances at different times. Homo sapiens must adopt behavior to the home, school, job, bank, pub, party, bus, match, shop, beach, restaurant, etc. And the circumstances change at each place. Behavior must be altered at school, for example, to match the norms in the classroom, the corridors, the gym, the locker room and the lecture hall. And the variables of behavior must be fine tuned in each place depending on the status and character of individuals involved.
“They say the play of life is a tragedy. We know how it ends, you see.
But there’s no director, script, rehearsals or plot and each actor thinks they play a major slot. That’s a farce to me.” DA
Extraordinarily spectacular
Homo sapiens sociality is at least as extraordinarily spectacular as their technology and language, but it rarely gets to occupy center stage when the drama of Homo sapiens is being viewed. It occurs as a natural and normal function of daily life. We give little thought to this unique phenomenon despite life’s inability to demonstrate anything remotely similar. Even serious contemplation struggles to capture an adequate appreciation of Homo sapiens’ extravagant sociality.
The basic definition of Homo sapiens:
Homo sapiens are the latest and greatest creation of intelligent living energy, enhanced with technology, empowered with language, and organized in dynamic sociality.
That almost sums up the main characteristics of Homo sapiens, but lacks the dot over the i. It doesn’t mention fire. We use fire. Such a simple statement. Is fire technology? An innovation? This external and portable source of energy multiplies the power of intelligent living energy. Mastering fire equipped our species with a sensational ability otherwise unknown in the archives of life. Extra light, heat and energy. Anytime, anywhere. Surely that qualifies for a mention when defining our species.
The sum of the basic definition:
Homo sapiens are the latest and greatest creation of intelligent living energy, enhanced with technology, empowered with language, organized in dynamic sociality, and equipped with fire; an external source of energy.
Summary – Part 1
Homo sapiens possess extraordinary qualities and abilities.None of these—technology, language, dynamic sociality or mastery of fire—can be demonstrated in any other life form. Because these qualities and abilities interact and are dependent on each other, they should be viewed as components of a single system.
This system has the strength to process so much of the resources and energy of the world, that we are changing the conditions to which we have evolved. Can the super intelligence at the core of our system manage the strength it possesses? Why have we progressed and progressed to find ourselves struggling to avoid being classified as an endangered species?
Let’s use our intelligence and find out!
There’s confusion, there are thoughts,
many shoulds, many oughts.
There are desires, there are needs,
a few flourish, many bleed.
There are truths, there are lies,
There are heroes, there are flies.
There are hawks, there are doves.
There is hate, there is love.
There’s a force within us all
It has no voice, but has a call
It has no shape, but it’s a power
It has no time, but now’s the hour
Life’s impatient. Yours or ours?
Alone with tears, or together with smiles,
hugs and flowers?
Da
Part 2 – Civilians
The three Stages of Homo sapiens socioeconomic configuration
Civilians
The standard definition of civilian means non-military. I give a new meaning to the word civilian to denote the structure of our society that replaced farming society. As far as I know, no word has become standard to describe Homo sapiens modern socioeconomic configuration.
The Three Stages of Homo sapiens
Fire
The process of learning to master fire some 1.5 million years ago (the time line is disputed), baked the last advanced ape into the first pre-Homo sapiens. The importance of being able to make and control fire cannot be overestimated.
When Homo sapiens appeared on the scene of life less than 200.000 years ago, they were equipped with all the abilities, qualities and emotions available to the citizens of today. They were hunter-gatherers up until the transition to a farming way of life, which lasted until the present civilian society.
Hunters – Farmers – Civilians
The three stages of Homo sapiens socioeconomic existence differ from each other by how they are organized to struggle for survival; how they gather, produce and distribute resources. The socioeconomic organization determines relationships, beliefs, technology, culture, economics and politics.
“It’s impossible to follow the golden rule while dancing round the golden calf.” DA
Stage 1 – Hunters
The complete Homo sapiens evolved as hunter-gatherers and continued this way of life for approximately 96% of their existence.
Stage 2 – Farmers
While pockets of hunters still exist, their pattern of life was replaced by an agricultural way of life that started some 12.000 years ago. Farming formed the foundation of society for 4% of Homo sapiens existence.
Stage 3 – Civilians
Our present civilian society is less than 200 years old and represents the maturity of Homo sapiens. Despite the spectacular changes that have already taken place, this way of life has barely gotten under way, and accounts for less than 0.001% of Homo sapiens existence.
I draw the three stages of society with broad brush-strokes to capture their essence, and take liberties with percentages and numbers. Like a late Picasso sketch of a bullfight where a few lines capture the essential movements of a great drama, I try to sketch the essentials. Farming society, for instance, encompasses a variety of social orders: herders, nomads, fishermen and companies of thieves; kingdoms no larger than a golf course and empires stretching across thousands of kilometers. Whatever the differences, farming the land and breeding animals formed the foundation of society. Despite princes, priests, prostitutes and potters, the overwhelming majority of the population were occupied with working the land, whether slaves, serfs, workers or free farmers.
A large portion of the world can still be classified as farming societies, but civilian society dominates the course of events while pulling all other people into its sphere.
Hunters
The hunting group was a self-contained unit. They acquired and produced all of their needs and consumed all of their resources themselves. Besides hunting they fished, gathered honey, nuts, vegetables, roots and fruits.
The group was associated with a tribe which in turn was part of a clan or even a nation. The largest grouping rarely amounted to more than a couple of thousand people.
Farmers
A typical unit of a farming society housed between two to ten individuals. More than ten was possible, but not less than two. One person can’t run a farm, not for long in any case. Where hunters had ties as far as the clan, the farmer was part of a village that was part of a kingdom that was part of a nation. Farming produced hundreds of times more than hunting and could therefore support many times more people. A clan might boast of thousands of members, but a nation could sum up to millions.
Actually, the clan could never have boasted of thousands. They couldn’t count. It would take a few thousand years of farming to count past three. But stay with me! I am touching down on a few key facts in a world of information as I rush towards the mature civilians.
“I’m not very good a math,” said he.
“Then count on me,” said she.
DA
Civilians
After 12.000 years of farming society we’ve just started living as civilians. Civilian society has been operational for less than 200 years, a blink in the eye of history. It can seem as though more has happened in this time than in the previous thousands of years. It has! I’ll soon explain why.
A basic unit in a civilian society contains 1 to 5 individuals. The maximum can exceed 5, but less than one is obviously not possible. Production in civilian society is handled by a single individual, who leaves the living quarters to take part in society’s machinery at a job. After completing the job period, the individual returns to the living quarters to consume alone or within a cohabiting group.
Civilian society is open to the limits of all Homo sapiens. Each civilian works at a specialized task in a local community, which is interconnected with communities throughout the world.
The somewhat dated story of the Orange Man can explain the essence of civilian society.
The Orange Man
He offered me a piece of an orange.
“You eat oranges?” the old man asked.
“Of course.”
“How do you get hold of them? Oranges don’t grow here.”
“In a supermarket or kiosk.” How long has the old buzzard been in the apartment?
“Where do the oranges come from that you buy?”
“Algeria, Florida, Italy … lots of places.”
“No matter where they come from, someone must have picked them from a tree. Someone. And what does that someone do when she has picked some oranges from a tree? I’ll tell you. She puts them in a box. How did the box get there? Who cut down the tree that the box is made of? Who drove the tree to the sawmill? What carpenter banged the box together and where did he get his nails from? When the box is full of oranges, it’s loaded onto a truck. A TRUCK! Steel, glass, rubber, copper, plastic, chemicals, petrol, oil. Who went down into the mine to gather the ore to be melted to steel in the great factory? Who cut scares in the trees to gather sap to make the rubber for the tires? Who blended the acid to go into the battery? Who got the material to make the chemicals? Who formed the electric wires?
Barrel Bomb: The Cataclysmic Close of Campaign 2016
*
“Surrounded by colorful decadence
and weighed by chilling insolence
a voice of purity
creates clarity
singing of light’s defiance.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
Let’s start with the stupidity champion, one of the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Ginsburg. She remarked that Colin Kaepernick’s protest (not standing during the National Anthem) was “dumb and disrespectful”. She added that athletes have the right to protest “if they want to be stupid.”
This is supposedly one of the wisest people in the nation, a supreme representative of justice. Supposedly! If this woman is one of the wisest, the nation would have to be one of the stupidest in history. Creatures living off whale shit at the bottom of the ocean have more sense than this representative of supreme justice. I was taught in grade school not to use an empty word such as dumb. It says nothing. ”What’s dumb”? My teacher would ask us. ”Use words! Explain what you mean!” Supreme Ruth G. must have missed grade school.
She must have missed the part of development when the two halves of the brain join together at puberty as well. Kap’s protest was ”disrespectful”? Pray tell, Ruth, what’s a respectful protest? How should we respectfully protest against the murder of unarmed people and children, and the lack of consequences for the murderers? As Ruth hasn’t commented on the murders Kap is protesting, we must assume that she considers sitting down during a national song to be a greater crime than murder. Stupid!? If stupidity were whale shit she’d be living at the bottom of the ocean. Need further proof?
She also claimed that athletes have the right to protest ”if they want to be stupid.”
Translation: The ”right” to protest (for athletes) is determined by their desire to be stupid. If the athletes have no desire to be stupid, they have no right to protest.
Please don’t point out what Ruth meant to say! We expect supreme authorities of justice to say what they mean.
We shouldn’t be surprised by the stupidity of the highest authorities when considering that they are a part of the ruling strata of the land of hypocrisy. The stars-and-striped hypocrites got Russia kicked out of the the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to be replaced by Saudi Arabia.
Saudia Arabia! On the Human Rights Council! The head-chopping, women-suppressing, mass-butchering Saudi Arabia on the Human Rights Council! Why not put a Mafia boss on the Crime Fighting Council or a pedophile on the Youth Guidance Council? How about putting a KKK Grand Master in charge of the Black Lives Matter campaign?
Saudia Arabia on the UN Human Rights Council! If you think that’s stupid and hypocritical, don’t forget who put them there. That’s a reminder for the ignorant people. Most of the people of the world already know who the champions of hypocrisy and stupidity are.
*
“When reality exceeds satire
comedy turns tragic.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
You need no mouth to speak with life. It’s been smiling within us since the first light,
a nano-tiny ring dancing with a wave of warmth, receiving the blessing of energy’s kiss.
You don’t understand these words because you speak not with life, but a reflection of synthetic creations. What good is billions of years of information, if you choose to listen to the powers of the day, vicious specks of arrogant insignificance, instead of the wisdom within you, the experience of life in spectacular forms under nature’s capricious conditions, telling you all you need to know to find out anything you want to know.
You have no idea what I’m talking about. I know. I’ve been trying for 4000 years. I’ll never succeed and I’ll never stop trying. Am I not a greater fool than the herds of obedient victims rushing—well-dressed—toward the cliffs of eternity? Of course I am.
Were it not for my conversations with life, I’d be ashamed of my foolishness. I wear instead an internal smile and relish the kiss that life lovingly plants on the gratitude of my soul.
*
“Nonsense can contain wisdom
despite the nonsense of the wise.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
”Cross my heart and hope to die.”
A pledge of children in days gone by,
a promise pure as freedom’s cry.
Now we are drenched with lie upon lie
pouring down from powers on high.
Again and again and again and again
we’re told they will deal with the fevered sky
that keeps getting hotter by and by.
Sigh.
Everyone knows why.
Sigh.
Everyone knows we’re all gonna die.
Sigh.
Unless we stop hoping gold elephants will fly.
Stop following the dictates to buy, buy, buy.
Start chipping their grip with try, try, try.
Stop whining and cackling about me, me, my
and get our eye
on we, we, we
to focus our I
and realize Together is both How and Why.
Cross my heart and hope to die.
*
“The people in control are out of control
telling us that if we vote for their clowns
they’ll fix the problems their rule is causing.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
a
I don’t know who started it or how, but we live with the results. The resources of the earth, those that have been in the ground for millions of years and those that have accumulated by the process of life for millions of years now belong to a handful of people while millions of the people of the earth, the earthlings, have nothing. Nothing! (Millions have a little bit, but they must obey the dictates of those who have almost everything.)
How do we justify a few people owning and controlling the resources of the earth? Because they have the money says the conspiracy. How did money get to be more important than plants, animals, water, clean air, minerals and people?
Our religious authorities tell us God, heaven, pray, blah, blah ….
Our political authorities tell us Democracy, vote, vote, blah, blah …
Our cultural authorities tell us Deep, interesting, existential, blah, blah …
Our financial authorities tell us Necessary, progress, profits, blah, blah …
Our military authorities tell us Defence, security, bomb, blah, blah, bomb, bomb …
Hello! Is there an authority out there who can tell us why a few people can own and control the resources of the earth and are allowed to cause starvation, conflicts, killings, destruction and despair throughout the world while destroying the conditions for human survival?
Hello! Can anyone hear me? Hell oooohhhh …
*
“Some things are so obviously wrong
that it’s obviously wrong to mention it.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
The persistency of the AIPAC lobby myth claiming that little Israel determines the foreign policy of the mighty US merits closer attention. How can this nonsense about a tail wagging the dog occupy so much media territory? And why?
The latest, and largest, ”aid” package to Israel gave ammunition to myth of the US homeland’s subservience to the Zionist colony. A requirement for receiving this ”aid” however forced Israel to abandon its own production of aircraft and buy from the US military instead. The billion dollar bundle, in other words, would wind up as profit dividends for the US weapon industry stockholders. Why would Israel, if it could determine US policy, crippled its own industry to favor Yankee board members? It wouldn’t of course, so this aspect of the deal is best not mentioned by the tail-wagging-dog mythers.
A similar incident occurred at the beginning of last year.
___________________
Washington is not cooperating in the war against Boko Haram but is actually sabotaging the (Nigerian) government. The US has refused to provide arms to Nigeria and has blocked a recent sale of helicopters from the State of Israel.
/—/ Twenty-four hours after .. John Kerry met President Goodluck Jonathan … pledging … to work with Nigeria … to end activities of the Boko Haram terrorists … the US stopped Nigeria’s purchase of Chinook military helicopters from Israel to fight Boko Haram. The sale/transfer of such aircraft required a review by the US, to determine its ‘consistency with US policy interests,’ Obama administration officials told The Jerusalem Post.
– Abayomi Azikiwe, Pan-African News Wire, 2015-02-05
______________________
Did you get that? Israel cannot do diddly-dong without ”consistency with US policy interests”. When the US tugs at the leash the Zionist dogs had best heel if they know what’s good for them. Numerous examples can illustrate who holds the leash and who does the barking. I’ve dealt with some of these in the previous AIPAC Lobby Myth articles. Let’s return to the original question, How can this nonsense about a tail wagging the dog occupy so much media territory? And why?
Powerful interests, like in billionaire powerful, see to it that their army of disinformers gets this message out. Think tanks, academic programs, ”charity” organizations and other channels amplify the views of these giga-rich benefactors. The intellectual strata of society is saturated with big money pumping out the opinions of the 1%. These ideas are then backed up by trolls, pawns and generally disillusioned individuals. Many coals of hate, racism and prejudice glow at the base of America. It does not take much of a breeze to get them glowing. When required they can be made to burst into flames.
The top disinformers wrap themselves in authority and gather trust by criticizing official policy, the government or other aspects of the empire. They find fault with aspects of the prevailing order to maintain the rule of the prevailing order, which they contend can function well with some adjustments. Some of the criticism coming from these seemingly independent pundits can be sharp and informative, at times excellent. This makes their messages all the more believable.
Paul Craig Roberts is one such example. He’s written many excellent articles exposing aspects of US power, corruption and lies. But he regularly promotes the AIPAC lobby myth and has recently jumped into the election circus running interference for Trump. He never criticizes or tries to expose the real rulers of the empire. Could this be because of his ties to the Koch’s Cato institute?
Another recent article by Chas W. Freeman, Jr. also illustrates this criticism of the nation while promoting the Israeli-tail-wagging-the-dog myth. Like Roberts, Freeman has an impressive list of merits to pin on his coat of authority: ambassador, Assistant Secretary of Defense (1993-94), author AND senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. This institute started by a former chairman of IBM and later merged with (billionaire) Taubman Center for Public Policy incubates political scientists to hatch as promoters of the perspectives of the 1% and defenders of the prevailing order.
Because of the contradictions and competition within the ruling strata itself, such ”progressive” opinion peddlers can supply valuable insight into the policies of other power brokers. In general however the views of decorated word warriors struggle for the agenda of some billionaire backer.
Now, why the myth of Israel controlling US policy? Three reasons.
1. It takes the heat off the US. It’s the fault of the Israelis/Zionists, not the empire. People boycott Israeli products, but not USA products. Israel’s apartheid regime appears independent or even divorced from the US, while in reality, it couldn’t survive without red-white-and-blue money, logistics, weapons, diplomatic cover, etc.
2. By having a powerful military outpost that isn’t officially a military outpost the bloated defense budget can swallow even more money given as aid. Israel functions as a piggy bank for the weapons industry. These billions in aid every year wouldn’t go down as America military spending. The AIPAC lobby forces the US to give it money. Yeh, right!
3. There may come a time when the Israeli asset becomes a liability for the sinking empire. How easy it will be to throw it overboard. The masters will be forced to confiscate a few of the billions stored in the vaults of Israeli financial supporters, but hey, a ruler’s got to do, what a ruler’s got to do.
We however do not have to swallow the nonsense shoveled through the media. A
citizen has got to do what a citizen has got to do.
*
“Beware of foxes claiming to protect the chickens from wolves.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
Andreas Fuglesang explains in his book ”about understanding”* how the strength and health of a society depends on the flow of information throughout the community.
People in modern societies process information poorly. We merely amplify the messages that pour down from the heights of wealth and power. Our clothing promotes the brand of one corporation or another. We function as walking advertisements for the products we wear or the places we’ve been, or a school, country, team or event that has zero information value to the other citizens we encounter. We rarely use our clothing to express our own concerns or wishes, but parrot instead what money’s masters want to get said. We’ve been driven so far that we think it’s cool to be an advertising post. Free speech is embarrassing, disturbing and truth is definitely out of style.
*(I very strongly recommend Andreas’ book. It can be read for free thanks to the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation: about understanding)
“Your silence is golden to the people gathering gold.”
Dartwill Aquila
Many Christians, especially in the USA and particularly of the Evangelical breed, perform as cheerleaders for Israel. These Zionists zealots probably have a picture of Netanyahu hanging beside Christ at home. Stupid!? If stupidity were oil, they’d be part of OPEC.
It’s not these Christians I’m considering but normal church members including those who don’t attend very often, the solid citizens of our community. Many of these otherwise bright people, some of whom are moral role models, house a belief that Christian morals are somehow exceptional.
Moral principles (ethics, concepts of right and wrong) make up part of Homo sapiens’ nature. Although the principles vary somewhat between nations and cultures, most of them belong to human universals and are common to all people whether living as hunters in a jungle or as urbanites of a metropolis.
Simple prejudice believes that people (nations or races) differ in moral standards. It’s nonsense and contrary to the idea that all people are equal in the eyes of God. Simple prejudice can be a minor offense mercifully pardoned in consideration of ignorance (= lack of knowledge). It’s not stupidity.
Stupidity is the selective blindness that inflicts all too many people, Christians included. History provides many and glaring examples that exclude Christians from any moral honors. The slaughter of Cathars, Huguenots, Sicilians, Mennonites, Irish, Armenians, and others as well as witches, Indians and “pagans” have left bloody pools along the roads of history. The 100-years War, the 30-years War, the World Wars, the Vietnam War and many other wars have been Christian enterprises. Inquisitors, slave-traders, KuKluxKlaners, mafia, Nazis, Fascists, dictators, serial killers, pedophiles, rapists and flocks of corrupt politicians have been (and are) Christians.
Christians are not alone in engaging in immoral activities, and they are not a particularly bad or evil people. Claiming however to be morally better than any other people spits in the face of reality. It’s the we-are-different/special/superior/chosen type of racism.
It’s stupid!
Three points to contemplate:
1. Academic research has shown that the correlation between religion and character is weak to non-existent.
2. No Christian moral expresses anything not covered in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
3. A child whose head has been crushed under the rubble of its bombed home has no possibility of turning the other cheek.
“Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes
and can fit a pimp, prude, priest, prince or president.”
Dartwill Aquila
The herd of rocks waited with inorganic patience
as life fell around them
spread upon them
grew behind them.
Despite their strength
and solid dependability
they could do nothing
but wait
to be covered with life
and listen to roots
talking in the darkness
about the light.
*
“Everything exists within a context
of a greater context.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
Sperm
I send my words like eggs to your mind
for your sperm-like thoughts to mingle with mine
so that we may parent the ideas our time.
*
The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.
System Humanity 