The Case for the Homo Erecti

Much has been said and written about the development of the human species, but little on how to solve the human conflict within the beast. Its as if the human animal, developed brain and all, is afraid to confront itself and what it actually is. And since the invention of the political correctness syndrome, life for the homo sapiens has gone from livable to chaos in a matter of an instant - Nothing is sacred but that which is held sacred by the masses. The Homo Sapiens is the only species on mother earth that can promote and exterminate itself all in one smooth action.

Studies indicate that the human animal is still very much a beast within; the primitive fight-or-flight reflex, the survival of the fittest, the propensity to commit atrocities, the testosterone machismo, the estrogen insecurities, etc. As much as what the human animal denies it, as much as what it reverts back to instincts.

The rational powers of intellect that are characterized in the human animal is what separates it from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is postulated that it’s this very intellect that causes the human animal untold suffering. The fact that “something’s are true whether we believe them or not” becomes a bone of contention during human interactions: Dialogues are actually monologues as mindsets are seldom changed during so-called discussions. Its is usually ‘compromise’ that wins the day - An entente cordiale.

(Socrates discovered that skillful dialogue could elicit or awaken the dormant wisdom within each human being, but Socrates also died (executed as a matter of fact) for the right to seek, the right to awaken his fellow Athenians to their ignorance. A human enigma by any standards.)

The age of equality between the sexes has also brought untold injustices upon the human animal. Never has there been a subject filled with more controversy and capriciousness as that of equality of the sexes. Equality does not exist in nature. Each sex has its role to play and the game is played accordingly: The male bird will find himself at odds over his mates reluctance to accept his toils but, in the end, he does succeed. The female will settle down to rear their progeny in total acceptance. Our developed brains will reason that such perversities are taboo in the scheme of human interactions, but in the end, the need to pro-create wins hands down.

The art of civilization is another past-time that has amused humans for eons, especially those in power. Civilization attempts to create conditions that will render peaceful human interaction a possibility. It achieves this by rules, laws and legislation. The strange phenomenon is that true freedom has ever been achieved by legislation: Someone, somewhere, will always put itself before the rest, thus creating conflict which then requires the services of fallible human-law-enforcers to uphold by the application of, usually, outdated legislation. The human psyche of self-interest does not care for laws and rules of others. It wants and it needs!

(As a matter of interest; the word ‘civilization’ only entered our language during the 18th century.)

Religion is another problematic invention of the human animal: It is unthinkable that humans, with their elevated intellectual powers, came into existence through the evolution of a single cell organism that lived in a just-right primordial soup. There has to be something higher, more powerful and more intelligent – an omnipotent being. Both paradoxes, religion and evolution, are viewed by many as opposing religions or dogmas. The common denominator is that both concepts cannot be proven, one way or another, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

(An interesting note is that Religious fanaticism has robbed the human species by around eight hundred years of intellectual and technological development.)

And then there is death, the great equalizer. A condition that is revered by many but despised by all. And when it comes knocking, all hell breaks loose – usually by apportioning blame on some poor sod or condition. Yet, it’s the destiny of every single living organism. Again the problem seems to stem from having a developed brain: It is unthinkable that one spends much of one’s life learning and gathering information just to be buried in a wooden box (or some other preferred means of funeralism.) Animals do not suffer the same malady. They live and die without regrets. For a species that is afraid of death, the human animal is a great warmonger (maybe bringer of death is more apt.) It does not need boundaries or disputes to go to war. It simply just creates problems by using clever disguised words, rationale and spin doctoring. The rest is history.

A great thinker once said that if the human species can learn to grow past its “puberty” stage, the future would then be a long and prosperous one. This was said in light of the fact that, in the scheme of things, the human species is exactly at the same developmental stage as that of a pubescence child; and not forgetting the hormonal imbalances.

Is there a case to be said for the Homo Erecti? Will its capacity for love, compassion and rational thought elevate it above all negative conjectures, or will it be ruled by self-interest?

Progress (like development) demands that forward motion take place, not stagnant rhetoric, where one evil is replace with another. Doing what others have done before in the belief that one can do it better, is not progress: it is blind arrogance (or is it ignorance.) It is like building sand castles on the beach; the end of the day it is still only sand.

At least the sex is great.