Changes

Looking at [[primitive]] human [[history]] from this angle, there are a lot of somewhat unique personal [[beings]] running around intrinsically--as all [[animals]] are--ferocious, just to [[survive]].  Think of a mother rabbit facing off and even attacking a fox that is after her kits.  Even fish are territorial.  By the time you get up to human beings that ferocity and territoriality has always been, and still is, a cause for almost endless [[war]]fare and [[Conflict|strife]].  See if you can [[appreciate]] the [[evolution]] of [[civilization]].  It’s how all these unique [[personalities]], running around [[Relationship|inter-relating]], had to slowly find ways of being [[civil]] with each other.  That is the [[Foundation|basis]] of civilization, this--hopefully--increasing civility.  As you look around the world today, you still have a ways to go to [[perfect]] this.

Looking at [[primitive]] human [[history]] from this angle, there are a lot of somewhat unique personal [[beings]] running around intrinsically--as all [[animals]] are--ferocious, just to [[survive]].  Think of a mother rabbit facing off and even attacking a fox that is after her kits.  Even fish are territorial.  By the time you get up to human beings that ferocity and territoriality has always been, and still is, a cause for almost endless [[war]]fare and [[Conflict|strife]].  See if you can [[appreciate]] the [[evolution]] of [[civilization]].  It’s how all these unique [[personalities]], running around [[Relationship|inter-relating]], had to slowly find ways of being [[civil]] with each other.  That is the [[Foundation|basis]] of civilization, this--hopefully--increasing civility.  As you look around the world today, you still have a ways to go to [[perfect]] this.

   

   

By having an [[appreciation]] for the [[unique]]ness of each [[individual]]--that fundamental [[reality]], you can get an enhanced appreciation for all the [[stages]] that people have had come through to get to where they are now.  Your modern explorers have captured in [[media]] some of the still existing [[primitive]] tribes on earth.  If you’ve watched some of these shows on National Geographic or so forth, you’ve noticed that when the explorers with their camera crews approached some of these final holdouts, the first thing they saw was the tips of the natives’ spears, and fully-drawn arrows, pointing at them, not only with a ferocious [[aggressive]]ness but also with sheer [[terror]] at these strange [[alien]] [[beings]] with all their fantastic [[technology]], coming into their territory.

By having an [[appreciation]] for the [[unique]]ness of each [[individual]]--that fundamental [[reality]], you can get an enhanced appreciation for all the [[stages]] that people have had come through to get to where they are now.  Your modern explorers have captured in [[media]] some of the still existing [[primitive]] tribes on earth.  If you’ve watched some of these shows on National Geographic or so forth, you’ve noticed that when the explorers with their camera crews approached some of these final holdouts, the first thing they saw was the tips of the natives’ spears, and fully-drawn arrows, pointing at them, not only with a ferocious [[aggressive]]ness but also with sheer [[terror]] at these strange [[UFO|alien]] [[beings]] with all their fantastic [[technology]], coming into their territory.

   

   

So consider all these stages from the most primitive all the way up to the present day and see if you can appreciate and [[marvel]] at the enormous [[civility]] that has been evolved just to enable you to live your fantastically [[complex]] lives.  Think of all the intricate inter-[[relationships]] in your modern [[societies]].  There are those of you who have never planted a seed, never watched a carrot come out of the ground, or ever butchered an [[animal]].  At the same time, how many farmers have made their own tractors, right down to the spark plugs?  How many of you have worked on the roads that are tying you all together, or strung the telephone lines, or now--fiber optic cables?

So consider all these stages from the most primitive all the way up to the present day and see if you can appreciate and [[marvel]] at the enormous [[civility]] that has been evolved just to enable you to live your fantastically [[complex]] lives.  Think of all the intricate inter-[[relationships]] in your modern [[societies]].  There are those of you who have never planted a seed, never watched a carrot come out of the ground, or ever butchered an [[animal]].  At the same time, how many farmers have made their own tractors, right down to the spark plugs?  How many of you have worked on the roads that are tying you all together, or strung the telephone lines, or now--fiber optic cables?

   

   

This is one [[essence]] of [[appreciation]], just looking around and marveling at this enormous, world-wide, complex interaction.  Think too of the specialization.  It wasn’t too many centuries ago where [[wealth]]y individuals who could [[Reader|read]] and [[Writer|write]] and have a [[library]] of even two hundred books--maybe one tenth of one percent of the [[population]] then--were considered to be well-rounded in their studies.  Can you feel some sense of acceleration here?  A few decades ago you had an [[expression]]--[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_shock future shock], where, with various social [[revolution]]s taking place, there were those folks who quite [[honestly]] said, “Slow down!--I’m not ready for this yet!”  Yet there’s another apropos saying: the cat’s out of the bag.  No matter how [[Nostalgia|nostalgically]] you may want to bring back some previous, less [[complex]] time, you can’t.  There’s a fundamental [[difference]] between such nostalgia that simply blurs over in pure [[sentimentality]] some previous time, and the fullness and completeness of true soulful reminiscence.  One small example: how many of you want to go back a century to the dentistry of that time?

This is one [[essence]] of [[appreciation]], just looking around and marveling at this enormous, world-wide, complex interaction.  Think too of the specialization.  It wasn’t too many centuries ago where [[wealth]]y individuals who could [[Reader|read]] and [[Writer|write]] and have a [[library]] of even two hundred books--maybe one tenth of one percent of the [[population]] then--were considered to be well-rounded in their studies.  Can you feel some sense of acceleration here?  A few decades ago you had an [[expression]]--[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_shock future shock], where, with various social [[revolution]]s taking place, there were those folks who quite [[honestly]] said, “Slow down!--I’m not ready for this yet!”  Yet there’s another apropos saying: the cat’s out of the bag.  No matter how [[Nostalgia|nostalgically]] you may want to bring back some previous, less [[complex]] time, you can’t.  There’s a fundamental [[difference]] between such nostalgia that simply blurs over in pure [[sentimentality]] some previous time, and the fullness and completeness of true soulful reminiscence.  One small example: how many of you want to go back a century to the dentistry of that time?

===='''''[[Evolution]]'''''====

===='''''[[Evolution]]'''''====

(Inexorable evolution)

(Inexorable evolution)