Cooperation is more than just "getting along" and being polite to one another. . . it is the reigning factor that gave (and gives) homo Sapiens their edge over other species. It's not cheesy nor is it "ideal thinking" - it's who we are. We work things out - help one another, solve problems, and find sustenance. When we made our debut in Africa as the latest & greatest in bipedal hominid technology, homo Sapiens formed small communities (tribes) where the men would band together and hunt game on multi-day trips, while women would generally gather tubers, nuts, seeds etc. In this way, the people all played their part to collect food for the entire tribe. Socially, the people within the tribe viewed one another as equals, finding camaraderie in their task of teamwork initiated satiation.
Now, biologically we are still the creatures we once were. We've got the legs to chase antelopes. . . the fingers that can pinch fruit off of a tree, and the olfactory unit that can smell to sense if that fruit is ripe for the picking. By standing up and using our hands as opposable-digit appendages instead of feet, our fingers learned to build and grasp tools for an advantage above animals who only have tooth & claw at their disposal. Through eating the meat we hunted, our brains were able to gradually develop more rich centers of information processing (the organic computer algorithms advanced rapidly). Perhaps certain fungi ingested gave capacity for abstract thought - the ability to associate an image with a sound (spoken word) or symbol (writing) was gained.
With our language brains and our new set of tools (literally new tools - as in tool themselves were new), homo Sapiens head north and hit some fertile land between what we now call the Tigris and Euphrates river. With the tools and mental capability to observe that a seed going into the earth makes more food-plants, farming begins. All the while we're doing it cooperatively. And then someone (let's call him Dadam) uses his tools and budding (albeit primitive) engineering skills to build a shelter which houses grain. Dadam is proud that he can store the tribe's grain in walls and a roof so it doesn't get washed away or eaten by wild beasts (as an inventor of one of the first buildings SHOULD be proud!). Dadam, with his sharp wits, realizes that the tribe can even take time off from farming the gain since they are able to store it up. Everyone works together in the busy season, and everyone takes a break in the off season. The granary is a smash hit and all rejoice in the drum-circle.
Now, Dadam is getting old and will soon die. He asks his son, Domald, to manage the granary when he is gone. Dadam shows Domald how in certain months the grain is collected and stored, and in other months it is distributed among the families in the tribes. People get enough to eat & rejoice in fellowship at the drum-circle rave every Friday night. Life is good and Dadam is proud at the little civilization he has created, he ponders, as he gets very sleepy lying alone under a tree. His heart beat syncs to the beat of the drum-circle in the distance, even as it is the final beats of his heart. His life-light flips off and he dies smiling.
Now Domald is running operations at the granary the first busy season with his father no longer alive in The Civilization formerly known as A Tribe. Even though Dadam always worked with the others in the field to plant and harvest the grain, Domald elects not to do such. He realizes that he can sit back and be lazy while the rest work. When the others ask why he won't join them in the fields, Domald points a hunting spear at them and threatens to hurt them if they don't let him alone. He guards the grain with his spear and tells the others that they need to keep bringing him the food, and he will doll it out to them each week in exchange for the work they do. The others are sad and upset that Domald won't join them and that he is pointing a spear at them like they are wild animals. They are particularly sad that while they rejoice in the drum-circle each Friday night, Domald wanders off by himself, hoarding a jug of fermented liquid along with attractive young women of The Civilization. Once again he has used the hunting-spear in hostile threat, but this time to force the women to cling at his side and obey his commands. In their hearts they don't want to live like this, but are frightened Domald will hurt or kill them if they don't follow his orders. The other men don't think Domald is right to treat the women like this and are also pretty steamed that their girlfriends are gone. The drum-circle has become a resentful sausage-fest, and the men begin to brawl instead of dancing as they did when the gals were around and Dadam lead The Civilization.
P.S. If you want a great read about an MIT grad who became weary with our slavery to technology, and thus went to live in an Amish community in an experiment to see "just how much we need" to be happy living this life, check out this book:
With our language brains and our new set of tools (literally new tools - as in tool themselves were new), homo Sapiens head north and hit some fertile land between what we now call the Tigris and Euphrates river. With the tools and mental capability to observe that a seed going into the earth makes more food-plants, farming begins. All the while we're doing it cooperatively. And then someone (let's call him Dadam) uses his tools and budding (albeit primitive) engineering skills to build a shelter which houses grain. Dadam is proud that he can store the tribe's grain in walls and a roof so it doesn't get washed away or eaten by wild beasts (as an inventor of one of the first buildings SHOULD be proud!). Dadam, with his sharp wits, realizes that the tribe can even take time off from farming the gain since they are able to store it up. Everyone works together in the busy season, and everyone takes a break in the off season. The granary is a smash hit and all rejoice in the drum-circle.
Now, Dadam is getting old and will soon die. He asks his son, Domald, to manage the granary when he is gone. Dadam shows Domald how in certain months the grain is collected and stored, and in other months it is distributed among the families in the tribes. People get enough to eat & rejoice in fellowship at the drum-circle rave every Friday night. Life is good and Dadam is proud at the little civilization he has created, he ponders, as he gets very sleepy lying alone under a tree. His heart beat syncs to the beat of the drum-circle in the distance, even as it is the final beats of his heart. His life-light flips off and he dies smiling.
Now Domald is running operations at the granary the first busy season with his father no longer alive in The Civilization formerly known as A Tribe. Even though Dadam always worked with the others in the field to plant and harvest the grain, Domald elects not to do such. He realizes that he can sit back and be lazy while the rest work. When the others ask why he won't join them in the fields, Domald points a hunting spear at them and threatens to hurt them if they don't let him alone. He guards the grain with his spear and tells the others that they need to keep bringing him the food, and he will doll it out to them each week in exchange for the work they do. The others are sad and upset that Domald won't join them and that he is pointing a spear at them like they are wild animals. They are particularly sad that while they rejoice in the drum-circle each Friday night, Domald wanders off by himself, hoarding a jug of fermented liquid along with attractive young women of The Civilization. Once again he has used the hunting-spear in hostile threat, but this time to force the women to cling at his side and obey his commands. In their hearts they don't want to live like this, but are frightened Domald will hurt or kill them if they don't follow his orders. The other men don't think Domald is right to treat the women like this and are also pretty steamed that their girlfriends are gone. The drum-circle has become a resentful sausage-fest, and the men begin to brawl instead of dancing as they did when the gals were around and Dadam lead The Civilization.
*******
This extremely brief & imagined (although based on what we know of late prehistory) story of humanity is to show you that cooperation is our default system. . .it is what feels right and what has given evolutionary success. In the first seed of civilization, we see Dadam erect a structure but still utilize it for the good of everyone. His son's anti-social decisions make Domald to look like a real jerk, and we see how Domald using violent threats & hoarding supplies / women disrupted the flow of life in The Civilization. Individuals like Domald are what Terrence McKenna referred to as "The Dominator" archetype. We're not sure exactly where or how it started as much is unknown about pre-Babylonian civilization in the Middle-East. I can guess it was something like the story of Dadam & Domald. This "Dominator" mindset manipulates other humans to achieve a seemingly better position for the individual flexing the threats. But looking back, as conscious beings who are where we are now - is this really what anyone wants?
Deeply embedded in your wiring is the desire to COOPERATE with your sisters and brothers so that everyone can have a blast at the Friday-night drum-circle (or nightclub, or bass-church!) after each week's work is through. When guns & ammunition are your instinct or game-plan during a sudden economically challenging time, you look like Domald sharpening his spear to control the granary's supply. Your ideas and actions are ruining the potential for everyone dancing joyously around the drum-circle when the work is through. This Domiator attitude created crooked power-systems like The Roman Empire, which we're still working on dismantling today.
This isn't a parable to compare socio-economic models of capitalism vs. communism (those arise from grassroots values & behaviors). It is a small picture of how the choice you make every second of every day in how you relate to your neighbors is the choice that rules the outcome of forces which we're all contending with collectively: natural disasters, planetary warming. . . invisible COVID super-beasts.
If Batman & Jesus don't need guns to save the day, than neither do you. In this future we're finding - let's not just be good but THE BEST towards one another. Share instead of hoard. Ask "How can I be of service?" instead of "How are you?" Bravely take the risk to be vulnerable so that you are open to compassion, care, and cooperation. How long do you really think you'll stay entertained guarding your basement with a rifle? Nobody will want to play Nintendo with you if you're acting like a hostile Domald. You'll have nobody to dance with either! That is not a sacrifice any of us should be willing to make. Keep your head up and channel your energy on staying healthy and helping those who need help in challenging times. Teach somebody something they don't know. As far as "just not knowing what's gonna happen," remember Michelangelo's wisdom that "GENIUS IS ETERNAL PATIENCE."
P.S. If you want a great read about an MIT grad who became weary with our slavery to technology, and thus went to live in an Amish community in an experiment to see "just how much we need" to be happy living this life, check out this book: 
No comments:
Post a Comment