Excuse the long rant, I felt compelled to express my many thoughts.
Affluence and Evolution
According to evolutionists, genetic mutations occur randomly. Some mutations happen to be beneficial (promote survival), others detrimental. The ones that are beneficial have a better chance of being passed down to the next generation. The ones that aren’t have a worse chance. It’s a truism, a tautology. So, what if we find ways of getting around bad mutations, with state of the art healthcare for the mentally and physically inferior. Does that mean diseases of the mind will multiply at an accelerated rate, until our species is but a shadow of it’s former self? A degenerate, vile beast, hopelessly mentally, emotionally and physically warped beyond recognition? Does that explain why our culture is becomming more and more degenerate, stupid and sociopathic? Or is that the fault of non european jews, spics and other foreigners immigrating to our lands? Are traits that are more conducive to death rather than life, becoming more prevalent, more dominant in our society, and if so, is this more to do with our biology than it is our culture? Traits like rape, stupidity, bi polar disorder, manic depression, phobias (irrational or unproductive fears, some innate and learned fears can be useful, if they’re legitimate), suicide, schizophrenia, cancers and the like?
Pandora’s Box
No doubt our culture is not what it once was, not to my chagrin however, I hate our pre sixties culture, I’m happier with the way things are now, although I still hate them. Another explanation is, apathy, discontent. All the things we once thought were good, have turned out to be the opposite. We’ve become more jaded, more cynical, haven’t we? It seems as soon as science cures one disease, another rears it’s ungly head. All the junk food, transportation vehicles and elevators have made us quite obese. A lot of people are dying because of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, ect. Now, we spend most of our time in front of the TV, computer and videogames, but is that good? Many suspect that cell phones and computers are incrementally, gradually damaging our brains via the free radicals and electro magnetic waves they emit. Is science and technology really all they’re cracked up to be? Atom bombs, global warming, genetically modified foods, environmental neglect, destruction, deforestation, oil spills, obesity, drugs, drugs, drugs.
it seems arbitrary how we make this one legal, even though it can cause heart failure or people to committ suicide, but outlaw marijuana. I know I’m by no means the first person to make that observation. So many drugs now, I took an allergy pill the other day on an empty stomache, the nausea was so bad i had lay down and take a day off work, but boy did I get the best sleep of my life, It felt like I had just injected myself with heroin. So many anti depressants, and other terrible drugs out there, they probably do more harm than good. Better off just smoking a joint, or boozing it up the old fashioned way.
Yeah, maybe we’ve just become so disillusioned we’ve give up on this modern world. I hear scientists talk all the time about how they’re on the brink of discovering the fountain of youth, a panacea, and I laugh. Let’s face it, science kills. Perhaps Zeus was right to chain Prometheus to a tree. Philosophy, for that matter, kills too. What good has philosophy brought us. Perhaps we were better off with faith. Sure, we’re more “reasonable” now, but to what end, what end. We’re always back at the drawing board. Since cogito ergo sum, or whatever, no philosophical progress has been made, and now philosophers have given up even looking for. Is philosophy itself a kind of excess, a disease? Superfulous, perhaps we could do better without. Philosophy is, after all, depressing, isn’t it? And science, well science continues to march on, but to what end? Now their smashing atoms for fun. How long before tear the fabric of space time and unleash something terrible and irrevocable catastrophe upon us?
Are we as a culture doomed? Are we headed towards a new dark age? Perhpas civilization is to blame. We may have opened up to many of pandora’s boxes, too soon. Maybe it’s time we cut out some of the fat. Most of these technologies we’ve discovered may be doing more harm than good. Maybe faith, emotion, mentalism, spiritualism and rationalism are ok. I, for one am looking forward to the dark ages, if they’re indeed comming, and I think the numerous problems I listed above are a sure sign. Perhaps we won’t plummit as far back as the middle ages, we may retain a percentage of our technologies, some of the more useful ones, then again, maybe not.
Scientists are always telling us that what we need is more science, more knowledge, more more more, they forget that knowledge is what got us into this mess in the first. Maybe ignorance is better. I think it’s time we start reevaluating many of the basic assumptions we made in the previous few centuries. I suppose we already are. That’s what some of the so called anarcho primitivists and others are discussing. They’re views are not practical though. Unless there’s a global catastrophe, it will take generations for us to lead a more primitive, sustainable and harmonious existence. I think each individual will have to decide for themselves, how much civilization is really good, or necessary. I for one don’t drive, I find I can get by just fine without a car. I don’t take drugs, natural, recreational or otherwise, although I drink on occasion. I rarely watch TV, but I’m on the internet quite often. I find you can get by without many of the things society deems essential, just fine. I’m thinking of moving to a smaller town as well. Maybe start some sort of back to nature cult. Civilization, both social and technological seems a bit overdone to me. Is it necessary to wash your hands twenty times a day, put on clean underwear every day, cook your meat even. I find that I can eat a certain amount of raw meat without becoming ill. Is shaving really necessary, I guess it depends on what sort of job you have. If you don’t work with the public like me, than the answer is probably no. Is it wrong to beleive that mind can shape reality and not just the other way around. Is it wrong shit in public? Is it wrong to fuck your dog. See, I’ve been asking these kinds of questions lately. Why must we inhibit ourselves, our nature so? Well, there are times when we should, but I think we’re overdoing. We can’t live like dogs, instantly satisfying our every whim, urge and impulse. The key is to find the right balance. How much regulation of ourselves and our environment is really necessary? That’s the question we should be asking. We shouldn’t just assume that more regulation, more technology, more knowledge, more analysis, more tinkering and toying with both internal and external nature will always be beneficial. I think we’ve gone in one direction for long enough, it’s time for the pendulum to swing the other way. Humans beings aren’t the same as animals, well, with the exception of crows and parrots perhaps (they’re smart), a certain amount of social and natural technology is advantageous. But too much becomes harmful both to ourselves and our environment.
So there you have it. I’d like to see a return to a more primitive, magical, pagan, mystical, impulsive, barbaric society. This is happening already to an extent, probably by a combination of biological, cultural and environmental factors. I do believe civilization is cyclical, it has it’s seasons, like any other epiphenomenon. I think we are approaching a sort of mid life crisis right now, where we are questioning all the industrious activity of the previous three or four centuries. Philosophy is in decline, man is in decline, but perhaps that will give nature time to recover. Endless growth is insane. Biological devolution, degeneration may be natures way of balancing things out. Soon we’ll be heading towards our senior years. Eventually we’ll be overtook by a more primitive, ambitious people than ourselves, maybe the Mexicans, Chinese or Hindus, but their civilization will never rise to the heights we flew, for there won’t be enough resources left to build out of. Yes, I don’t believe in linear time anymore, I beleive in cycles. I beleive we may have been here before, not just as in Greece and Rome, Egypt and Babylon, but maybe before that even… Atlantis? The Yoniguni Monument comes to mind. I suggest you investigate it for yourself.
the uncarved block.
