Charles Darwin postulated about natural selection. His The Origin of Species introduced the world to evolution, though Darwin never used that term in his book. Unfortunately, he was wrong when it came to man. We have not evolved. Various species adapted or became extinct. Man is the exception to this rule.We are the same beings who roamed the earth for millennia. Our technology has advanced. We domesticated animals, planted crops, invented tools, transformed said tools into weapons. We communicated with grunts, hand-gestures, created language, pictographs, cuneiform, alphabets. We sent messages with hollowed logs, smoke signals, reflected light, letters, electronic signals through wires, electronic signals through the ether.
Our things have evolved, but our bodies and psyches remain the same. Amongst the technological trappings, we are the same aggressive, pugnacious creatures who dwelled in caves.
I could easily embrace existential nihilism, but cannot because often in my life I've encountered the awe-inspiring spark of humanity. Be it literature, art. music, or just one human being's gentleness and kindness to another - we are capable of the extraordinary.
That is the individual, not people. Man is an amazing creature. Mankind is a mob moved by malicious, malodorous motives. As single entities, we create beauty such as David, Don Giovanni, and I and the Village. As groups, we create such savagery as the Inquisition, the Holocaust and the Killing Fields.Just look at the political farce playing out in the United States. Instead of looking for solutions and trying to work together, we are "carrying signs that mostly say 'Hooray for Our Side'" to quote Stephen Stills. We rally round demagogues and employ divisive tactics. This is a microcosm of the world's turmoil.
We are still howling primates, jumping up and down, hurling feces at each other. The feces have evolved into hateful words and weapons of mass destruction, but the flingers are the same, old simians. As ever - BB
"I got disappointed in human nature as well and gave it up because I found it too much like my own.” - J.P. Donleavy
