by gerald » Sun Nov 28, 2010 1:24 pm
John your fractal observation about human events was very insightful. I would like to take it a little further.
Tom Cole made some very interesting observations in his autobiography titled "The Last Paradise". In the 1950's he was crocodile hunter in what is now called Papua New Guinea. In his book he describes his numerous experiences and other events that occurred in the 1930's, & 1940's.
At the time, that area had over 700 tribes having different languages and customs. These tribes engaged in various activities that we would call "uncivilized", such as spearing campaigns ( killing members of neighboring tribes with spears and arrows), head hunting, and of course the relatively popular and exciting dietary activity - the cannibalism of neighbors. Tribal "wars" were fought for territory, the evoking of one's own spirits against others, or just fighting for entertainment. ( In 18th century Europe some considered war "the sport of kings", also others, over the years, have written that "war was the most exciting part of life".) The indigenous people considered these tribal activities "normal" because it was all ways so. However, the Europeans considered this "uncivilized" and were going to civilize these childlike "primitives" This was accomplished by using the "Church" and "Civilized Laws", backed by technology and guns. In a few decades these stone age people were "civilized" thereby allowing the country to "develop."
In one of the interactions between modern man and stone age society, Tom Cole describes the scene of an airplane landing amongst a tribe who had never seen a plane, a car, or a wheel, with it's resultant fear, awe, and confusion. At the time, Tom said "the only thing that could possibly have a similar impact on modern European society would be the Second Coming of Christ".
If we look at the current state of the world today, aren't we a lot like those stone age tribes? ( OK, we are bit more sophisticated ) However, they had an OUTSIDE force "civilize" them, -- may be WE need an OUTSIDE force "civilize" us.
John your fractal observation about human events was very insightful. I would like to take it a little further.
Tom Cole made some very interesting observations in his autobiography titled "The Last Paradise". In the 1950's he was crocodile hunter in what is now called Papua New Guinea. In his book he describes his numerous experiences and other events that occurred in the 1930's, & 1940's.
At the time, that area had over 700 tribes having different languages and customs. These tribes engaged in various activities that we would call "uncivilized", such as spearing campaigns ( killing members of neighboring tribes with spears and arrows), head hunting, and of course the relatively popular and exciting dietary activity - the cannibalism of neighbors. Tribal "wars" were fought for territory, the evoking of one's own spirits against others, or just fighting for entertainment. ( In 18th century Europe some considered war "the sport of kings", also others, over the years, have written that "war was the most exciting part of life".) The indigenous people considered these tribal activities "normal" because it was all ways so. However, the Europeans considered this "uncivilized" and were going to civilize these childlike "primitives" This was accomplished by using the "Church" and "Civilized Laws", backed by technology and guns. In a few decades these stone age people were "civilized" thereby allowing the country to "develop."
In one of the interactions between modern man and stone age society, Tom Cole describes the scene of an airplane landing amongst a tribe who had never seen a plane, a car, or a wheel, with it's resultant fear, awe, and confusion. At the time, Tom said "the only thing that could possibly have a similar impact on modern European society would be the Second Coming of Christ".
If we look at the current state of the world today, aren't we a lot like those stone age tribes? ( OK, we are bit more sophisticated ) However, they had an OUTSIDE force "civilize" them, -- may be WE need an OUTSIDE force "civilize" us.