tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post3106776226025034498..comments2022-10-28T00:55:23.215-07:00Comments on Prax Americana: WordGames: Power and UtilityC.J. Caswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10105689230744789436noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-14912231329196293322014-02-23T22:12:58.655-08:002014-02-23T22:12:58.655-08:00Interesting. I'm working on a structuralist de...Interesting. I'm working on a structuralist description of the development of humanity, and this should fit well. The key point is where we go from a tribal species (groups of under 200, Dunbar's number, limited language) to a macro-scale society, which must have happened at some point between the Oldowan tool kit and the beginnings of agriculture. Speech makes all the difference, as language governs everything, a necessity in an intrinsically alienated society made up of thousands in the first urban cities. Thanks for this; I'll check out Auel's work.C.J. Caswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10105689230744789436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-85796212477064128662014-02-23T21:10:24.153-08:002014-02-23T21:10:24.153-08:00Dear Sir; The past presented in J. Auel's Eart...Dear Sir; The past presented in J. Auel's Earth's Children series is hierarchical. It is the only perspective available at this time. The research behind the fictional presentation is extensive and compared to living archaic cultures remaining yet today. This series of six books details stratification of dozens & dozens of characters and seems fair as a basis of current societal rankings. The perspective is different from many others presented in academic circles. It fits very well with persons prepared to honor our ancient ancestors as more intelligent, more capable, more harmonious than most are and have become as imposed upon by forces, corporate & others, that do not have our best interest at Heart. Most persons are likely comfortable propagating a Race of beings compliant with those forces. None the less it seems these hierarchical intelligent societies of the last 200-300K years are likely based on others nearly as intelligent owing to the development broad speech capacity with the dropping of hyoid bone at that time. <br /> If I may, it seems that there are three to five evolutionary developments where intelligence grows and then declines:<br />3-4 million years ago, the rotation of the Pelvis. <br />UNK years ago, the expansion of the brain, maximum social limit increases to 150 persons<br />UNK years ago, the domestication of Fire. <br />UNK year ago, the use of implements<br />300-200 K years ago, the hyoid bone drops, maximum use of constants and vowels<br />40 K years ago, the development of domestication of plants and animals.<br />7 K years ago, the domestication of slave classes<br />since then intelligence continues to grow, but the species seems to diverge. <br />Much more recently, as written in 1992 a certain fascination with a Culture of Death. <br />Thanks<br />Smiles, Robert. johnrobertpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00910107979693376427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-67900610233531618092014-02-23T14:33:06.389-08:002014-02-23T14:33:06.389-08:00Robert,
Thank you for the complimentary words. You...Robert,<br />Thank you for the complimentary words. You can call what I'm after harmony, and I actually strongly prefer that word. Harmony gives a reader faint whiffs of Asian philosophy along with a solid technical reference to music, so it's far superior to the usual Western word for a similar ideal in most people's heads: peace.<br /><br />Peace is nonviolence, rest, a lack of aggression. And thus, peace as an ideal is a handmaiden to entropy. It's very Christian thinking, to want peace above all else, and I'm not interested in joining that bandwagon. Nor am I interested in perpetual conflict; war brings a society into harmony, and it's bound to come up every now and then, but just as effective as war is expansion into new territory, growth, investing oneself in the expansion of capability, just like an individual learning a skill. To talk about harmony is to talk, not about resting people's energy, but focusing it in a singular direction, to see your interests as inseparable from the aspirations of the people next to you, to share a vision. <br /><br />A society needs to stress itself. That stress drives it towards lining all parts up towards maximum effect, like different notes in a chord. Harmony doesn't reduce the power of the individual notes. It optimizes them. We are a complex society, and complex societies did not evolve towards leisure. They evolved to deal with conflict, like everything else that's alive, Nietzsche's will to power applying:<br /><br />http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/09/cliodynamics_war/?mbid=social12270364<br /><br />Notice the tagline on this blog. The main point I'm probably going to forever trying to make here is simple, but it needs to be said:<br /><br />Harmony is hierarchical.<br /><br />There's nothing tragic about this, as far as I'm concerned. But most people seem to hate it, so there's a lot of work to be done. It's probably not in line with your notions of The Caves and the attitude does not favor the simplicity of the past over the potential sophistication of the advanced culture, but harmony still works as a expression of the ideal state.C.J. Caswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10105689230744789436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-85117804395863504952014-02-22T07:40:45.836-08:002014-02-22T07:40:45.836-08:00Dear Sir; Not pretensions. Rarely has another stud...Dear Sir; Not pretensions. Rarely has another student of History written as well as your self. The perspective of The Past referred is Glacial. Beyond Antiquity. Our Ancestry from time(s) unwritten, only lore myth and cave drawings are available for discernment of Who We Are and Where We're From. <br /> The Caves. I am only aware of one source of information that leads My Self to inquire if you have a similar perspective available for discussion. There was a time when resources abode the then infinitely fractional population of Humans, Who knew not either the domestication of animals or plants, yet had long known the domestication of Fire; And, lived lives with Intelligence equal to our own that exhibited what your writing Longs For: Harmony. <br />Smiles, Robert. johnrobertpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00910107979693376427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-59896332190927882462014-02-21T18:40:22.909-08:002014-02-21T18:40:22.909-08:00"So, current culture and a hoped for future c..."So, current culture and a hoped for future culture of inter-planetary colonization are un-founded upon the experience of knowing where we come from." <br /><br />It's hard to tell what you're saying here, but if it's a perception that there's a lack of knowledge as to humanity's experience with colonization in the past, you're simply wrong. This species is at its best when it pushes boundaries, and if Columbus doesn't do it for you, then maybe learning about Zheng He would. Now, if this comment is some kind of reference to the bad things that have come from colonization, or more generally with Western power in the past on humanist terms, then simply put, I'm not a humanist. The risk of pain and even death does not disqualify the need to grow and reach for higher accomplishments and states of existence. Nor do I see how the supposed sins of colonizing cultures in the past are relevant to space travel, where there are no victim societies to oppress. What other lessons should I be learning from the past? Should I be following the teachings of Plato or Aristotle as to the nature of the good without questioning it? I have a history degree, I've looked into the past extensively, and I haven't the slightest fucking clue what it is you think I should be saying.<br /><br />Unless the comment was just a really pretentious version of an ad hominem attack with no further elaboration at all. You tell me.C.J. Caswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10105689230744789436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053627019760211350.post-10512704727853246342014-02-21T16:38:57.383-08:002014-02-21T16:38:57.383-08:00quite a few mistakes. Where to start? Perhaps, the...quite a few mistakes. Where to start? Perhaps, the author's perspective would serve. Not certain, but the knowledge of antiquity appears to be lacking. So, current culture and a hoped for future culture of inter-planetary colonization are un-founded upon the experience of knowing where we come from. <br />Smiles, Robert. johnrobertpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00910107979693376427noreply@blogger.com