Thread: What Value was ongoing Life to 98% of our Ancestors?

. Sufficient un to the day. Todays needs are todays wants. Tomorrow or next week or next month never bothered the brain or thinking power of Ancient Man. Or Woman. They all died young before they had time to gather their thoughts and envisage an existance outside their own. No Books to write things down. No recorders. Each new Generation born as ignorant of Life and Living as a stone lying on the ground. And so it was for a million years. Self perpetuating ignorance. If it were not so why did it take so long to advance intellectually? No standing on the shoulders of Giants here. Sometime along our journey to the Future High Priests evolved. They developed a limited overview. An inner circle with access to accumulated knowledge of a limited nature. Enough to implement a policy of discrimination and intimidation of their Tribal People. Control became the new intelligence. Control hopefully could ensure survival of the Tribe. In these modern times does all this sound familiar to you? Are we still being Dumbed down? And when the next generation is born, what will they bring with them? Perhaps a Genetic improvement to facilitate steep learning curves? Greater perception of new Technology and implementing same? Living and developing longer, ensuring a more rapid advancement of the Human Condition? Lets hope so. westwind.

I understand this Thread. It's beautiful. I feel justified just by being alive. My perception is that this Thread has somehow not struck a chord. The silence is deafining. It's an important appraisal of where we have come from and what took us so long to arrive where we are today. And, what's more important, where can we expect to be tomorrow? This is a brave new Orwelian World facing us, there is no going back, and believe me it will be the survival of the fittest and the new Intellectuals who will be driving us forward. If you somehow don't fit the new mould, there will be just nowhere for you to go. No passengers like now, only Drivers. So get aboard, and be determined to invent and embrace new technology, and help shape a secure disciplined Society. westwind.

Do you think we are ruining those old instincts to align ourselves with what is useful today? Do you think there will ever be a time when those fading traits will become necessary again?

I enjoy the passion in your post! It is very exciting to think how lucky we are being born in this time and place!! Education will definitely be the wave of the future but we have this mentality, and rightly so, that everyone needs education. As a result, those smart are being dumbed down to the standard required of baseline education but its certainly bringing a greater number up beyond what is normally capable. People in the past were feuled by passion (self educated people like Rosseau) or they were aristocracy receiving a high standard of education compared to the masses. I think a lack of education may very well ruin all the advanced of mankind. I suppose it remains to be seen if we have actually advanced at all with all of this knowledge. Ultimately, I see the only hope in developing a way to use this science/ technology to benefit mankind rather than a money-making tool. Commerce is exciting and has expanded civilization and our thought like nothing else but I also think it may be used to stagnate us as well. For now though, were lucky to have born into a time when everything is booming! We have a more complete understanding of the world than any of our ancestors could have imagined! Thanks for inspiring me with your post!