For: Jean-Philippe Ranger
PHIL 1600-003
Assignment 1: On Human Nature
Submitted September 8, 2006
Title: �Departure from the Canopy�
It is difficult to leap backwards in evolution to the dawn of man, almost as difficult as it is to place him here in this time, but somewhere between these two states is the essence of his nature. Human nature is difficult to just pin down, because as humans we exist on innumerable different levels of awareness seemingly simultaneously, and are regarded in many different ways by observers and historians. Oftentimes it is only us that study ourselves, and as such make little more than a personal headway into the abyss of existence. This process of observation seems to be dictated by the number at which we are looked at, or what size population we exist in, as towns, cities, or societies as a group. This grouping tends to influence what functions are present in our nature as humans. We have become more socially like insects than apes in the past century, and this has affected our nature without question
The present is a huge mass of us. We seem a plague to everything but ourselves, with our own wars clich�d as a part of our nature. Our growth as a population has meant the decline of seemingly every other notable species of a mid-to-large size�aside from what is raised as stock. When I gather my thoughts to include our reach around the world, I see humming colonies of electric lights, and the infinite hive-network and ancestral knowledge base of the Internet. Like ants, there is the division of the workforce into specialists, and the transference of goods across the world seemingly without worry or delay. Still within this bustling mass of bodies, there is the relation to the original tribe, which I assume to stem from the family. Maybe it is a safety mechanism in the brain, or the nature in which we interact with mass mediums, like television and all other extensions of storytelling, but I think that, in the event of a collapse of this incredible state of growth, we will fall back on primitive animal safeguards. While this insect-like existence of humanity can be seen as our current social nature, it is still the base ape that is intact inside and seemingly the root of human nature.
The first men awoke in treetops, ate fruit from the branches of fruit trees, and moved through the canopy with ease and grace. It is so hard to connect with these guys because we rely so much on spoken and written language to express the dynamic depth of our thoughts, and these men had neither. Instead, I believe they had a reason to climb down and walk away from the forest. Whatever the reason was, it had an incredible impact on the development of human nature. I am not so sure though, where the line between every animal�s nature, and our own is drawn. I have to move ahead of this departure from the canopy and into the reign of faith, and guidance from the spirit. The birth of the dream�the one awakened from and remembered, even if in abstract metaphor, caught the attention of our ancestors and moved them. It seems that it is our nature to connect with these dream ideas, as evident in our ability to communicate with language and picture. This ability to tell stories is vital to our existence, as is the development of a family tree that reaches deep beneath us. To be aware of generations passed as if they are a presence in our world, gives a means to understand how a god can be sensed ethereally, and lights the fire of religion and spirituality. Through stories passed from generation to generation, we learn of this realm of spirit, and it pervades our current hive-like existence as a part of our nature.
Today, like most days I remember, I awoke to begin my day in a vast network of business that brought the world to my senses. I saw people from every corner of the globe, and thought nothing of it. I purchased and ate a variety of food that would have crossed miles and miles to be brought to me, and I took a handful of vitamins and supplements to help sustain my healthy body and mind. I interacted with the vast net of collective information online, and corresponded with family and friends all over the country through my laptop�s interface. I rarely, if ever, thought about my place in the world�either as a large mammal/ape, or as a spiritual body and power in a vast universe; as an organism in a vast chain of energy transference, or as an image of a holy god guided through experience by the hands of messenger angels, and playing a vital part in a painful war between good and evil. I just did what I felt like doing. I guess that would be my own experience, outside of my kinship with humanity. Although I have thought about each of these truths for periods of time, they seem to have passed through me as I have grown from them. They are included in my youth nature, and maturing nature, and now my nature is to set in place skills and habits that will propel me beyond yesterday and today into a blind and blinding future, shaded with dream. My course will bring me to new ways of understanding my fellow men, and myself and of interpreting the world around me in as much as it reflects me.
PEACE - Tristan
before || after
