"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find you cannot eat money."
Cree prophecy
These are the beliefs that we think we Know:
Based on some old rocks the earth has been here for at the very least 4.5 billion years.
Based on the radiometric technique that our sun is 4.6 billion years old and that it will live another 5 billion years.
Based on current known fossils that 200,000 years ago Homo genus appeared, and that it is only 50,000 years ago that Modern Man as we know today evolved.
12,000 years ago humans had spread out throughout the entire world and it is only 10,000 years ago that hunter-gatherers and class distinction developed. 8,000 years ago we had an agricultural revolution, and 6,000 years ago the first proto states developed. We spent 5,000 years in antiquity, this ended when the Roman Empire which lasted 191 years fell, however ancient Antiquity itself can be divided into sections, and the Middle Age into our current era that was in the 15th century...making it 5,000 years that we have been developing into what we are.
Dinosaurs dominated the earth for 185-160 million years. We often claim Dinosaurs were unintelligent, but our basis for this is that their brains were too small. Many of us know that brain size does not determine intelligence and what we consider intelligent is very limited. For instance there are those of us who look at a tree and do not think it is intelligent, when in fact the tree is very smart. Humans breathe out carbon dioxide, trees take in carbon dioxide, the plants take in carbon dioxide leaving oxygen in the air for us to breathe, plants grow pretty flowers to attract bees to it, it doesn't kill or fight the bees, it draws them in so that they can pollinate, they grow delicious fruits just for us to eat so that we can throw the seeds out if we eat them into the earth, or onto the ground and grow another tree. This is why natural trees which have not been genetically modified and neutered by humans for profit, grow plants. It is for survival that they create a symbiosis. Sometimes we try to claim that animals that act on instinct and not "consciousness" as we know are not intelligent, but do not accept or realize that we ourselves function on instincts and that our motivations are animalistic and simplistic in their nature, and the major thing that separates us is the tools we use to survive--since we do not have the speed of a cheetah, or the strength of a bear, we have had to rely on the "intellectual" to survive, but just like everything else we are controlled by our hormones and instincts.
We don't know if dinosaurs were intelligent in the way we think of intelligence today, we don't know if they devoured their lands, or if the conditions just happened to be right for them for 185 million years before they died, and we really don't know beyond theories how they died, though we do know that there were environmental disasters that played a serious role in their demise.
Based on the lifespan on the dinosaur and our knowledge of how long we have been here, 200,000 years is not that impressive, especially if of those 200,000 years it is only 6,000 of which we began to develop more advanced forms of organizations...we are still very young indeed, and have a long ways to go...we are still in our infancy.
Civilization:
Our civilizations can be broken up into what we call ages which are often divided into parts. In any cases these Ages (which are the sum of their parts) are often followed by major collapses which we call Dark Ages, each Dark Age often follows a new Age. The most well known dark ages of Europe occuring after the collapse of the Roman Empire from the 5th-15th century, after which the Middle Ages arose in the 15th century. And the Collapse of the Bronze Age after which classical antiquity arose.
One pattern to take note of is, after the end of the greatest civilizations during the bronze age they fell, and from that arose classical antiquity to which Rome dominated, when Rome fell, from that the Middle Ages arose, and out of the Middle ages modern day society formed. And inbetween each of these fallings is always a period of noted darkness. The Bronze Age collapse caused those who lived along the agean sea and middle eastern societies to collapse, this collapse was in large part not just regional but also due to how interconnected they all were. In the past dark ages have been largely regional. Today with the growing globalization and interdependence we have placed and networked upon each other, a coming dark age due to the collapse and turmoil of one system will affect us all, and just like the ancient world.
Many people who study history and many religions and philosophies are no stranger to the concept of a collapse coming, while people differ in whether from it will arise something better, there is a pattern that collapses and mass death often follow a new era that seems more advanced and put together than the last era. What we know is that even if during the transition oppression and mass death take place, it cannot and will not last. Perhaps the reason for this sudden transition and shift has been through the express of internet, it is an informative age and this has brought many of us together while splitting others apart.
Societal Collapse (or Decline) is a phenomena known to many of us, and more about that can be read here: Societal Collapse. We are entering a new age, some of us believe that this decline or collapse will be a positive awakening, others believe it will be apocalyptic and catastrophic, some say it will be the end of humanity others say it is a beginning. No matter how we look at it, all these answers are correct, it will be destructive, it will be enlightening, and it will probably be even dystopian for a while as we transition into a new world. At any rate the truth remains that even if there were a nuclear holocaust and major environmental disasters, the earth has lived through much more hell than anything we could ever imagine and it takes a lot more to kill her. We are children in our early stages of infancy, we have not been here long. Though we have a long way to go, we are moving and learning from our mistakes, and with this growing awareness and oneness coming, we are making one step towards growth. In the wilderness, destructive fires start in nature on their own to encourage new growth. From the ashes rises the Phoenix, we are not exempt from these laws of nature, in the grand scheme of things it will get worse before it gets better, but it will get better. Even in the worst case scenario that we all die, from chaos arises peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment