God

Ta-Wan

I've been away. My long break added to an already long break from writing and so it's time to post. Where this goes I'm not sure.

Blows dust from keyboard

Cough

When life became complex enough to move about as separate bits from the spherical rock it had been hanging onto, it developed ideas on self and other. Mechanical and necessary distinctions which grew into basics, such as the protection of self, to complexities, such as empathy with others. Further down the process (100's of millions of years, billions of iterations) life was producing such forms that depended, not only on 'Mom' but, community, Grandma, rapidly filling a big brain with useful values.

The large brained species child was favoured by evolution if, when someone said "Don't play with that" they didn't. Whereas those who experimented often were naturally selected out. Rebellion to this guidance was pushed upwards into teenage years or the years of wisdom and reason of the adult. Survival favoured those youngsters who would trust the words of elders.

To aid in passing on good information and having it stick, the elders made stories, gradually grander stories, until it came that "A powerful man knows your every thought and will punish you for failure to comply" and using this method they passed on all information from "Thou shall not question your parents" to "Though shall make sacrifice to God" - These ideas were never filtered for credibility but passed on now as ABSOLUTE UNQUESTIONED FACT - TRUTH by each and every subsequent generation.

When the various groups who had formed such communities met as they spread over the lands -- problems. These stories that had been made up to pass on information (some good, much bad) did not gel one community to the next. Suddenly "One life" which had evolved and shared cousinship over the entire globe was at odds with itself in its, to date, largest brained iteration, humans.

This slither of time where this problem is at its head, on the scale of the planets long history, is right now. People will fight for ideas passed down over generations. For a small feeling of community they will block out the larger extent of the human race, label them "other".

In the words of one person I've forgotten the name of: "Why wish to be in any group which contains any less than everybody?"

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.