Saturday 14 May 2011

The CaveMan Theory

Evolution. A wonderful term, essentially meaning to complicate things. The more complexities you build on or in to something, the more evolved it becomes. Take the human being for example. We have, according to popular science, evolved from microbial organisms, into what is a now a very complicated chemical construction, so intricate, that to this day, even with all our technological marvels, we still struggle to map the human brain effectively. Quite complex indeed.
The human race, in its infinite complexity, has also created countless constructs. These include: time, ownership, belief, truth. And as time has gone by, we have evolved these. Some of the constructs have undergone major evolution. Take for instance the philosophical construct. From cavemen worshiping the sun, to tribal stories, tales and myths explaining the origin and meaning of life, to ritualistic theological practice. The more man contemplates the soul, the more he discovers and postulates. Resulting in a staggeringly large array of philospophical and theological constructs today.
Not all constructs have evolved though. Religious practice remains predominantly archaic, with the odd rebellious attempt at evolving being sporadically made. Our perception of time is only now beginning to truly take shape, and we’ve been contemplating it for over 10 000 years. This leads me to the conclusion that, for some of our constructs, there is a heavily laden “Caveman” mentality attached. Where the lack of evolution within the construct has rendered it moot in an ever-changing world.
The specific application of the Caveman theory I’m using here, is on the construct of ownership. Of all our constructs, this, in my opinion, is the most damaging. The early caveman lived a life of danger, wariness and possessive hoarding of all things within it’s reach. The male claimed ownership of his cave, his mate, his kill and his kin. Fortunately, the lack of evolution on the familial construct, is a rare case of positive stagnation. Equally fortunate, is that, finally, after millenia of opression, the female sex has begun to shake the bonds of ownership. This leaves the kill and the cave. 
When we look at the modern westernized human, we find a unique creature, capable of creation and destruction with equal voracity. He wards his cave from dangers, demarcates his land and stands proudly banging his chest saying: “Mine” He then goes out daily to make his kill, because he is top of the food chain, and all the earth is his market. For Caveman, growth was an end in and of itself.
10 000 years after we first decided to own things, we’re still at it. Claiming ownership over all and sundry, we have even gone so far as to make up things we can own. My personal favorite is intellectual property. The idea that your thought’s have material value just makes me cringe at the caveman mentality. or better yet, flags on the moon. This ownership gives us the perception that we have the right to deface, demolish and destroy, because, after all, it does belong to us, and we can do what we want with out property!
How long before we decide to build on a construct that is so very obviously false and destructive? And what is the next step in the evolution of ownership. If anyone were to ask me, I would say that there are several option, but that the only positive step forward is: We own the whole planet, and the same applies to everyone. This takes the concept of ownership to the maximum limits within my view. It combines ownership with a more admirable construct… that of sharing. Together, the two constructs create a larger, and more positive construct, an evolved form of both. one that is beneficial to all.
Do you have an opinion?

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