Seems timely.
Please read:
We in the modern age operate under the dangerous misconception regarding our heritage. If one should ask the average citizen whether or not they believe humans are more evolved than our ancient ancestors they will more often than not express the belief that we are indeed far, far superior.
Surely we are more sophisticated and more capable of reason than the hunter gatherers of 13,000 BC. More civilized than the marauding Vikings of 1,000 years ago. We imagine these peoples as ignorant, primitive, barbaric. We are not those peoples.
In fact Homo sapiens--modern humans--share an inherited gene pool with the earliest hominids like Australopithecus who lived 2.5 million years ago. We possess no significant physiological differences than Cro-Magnon or the Neanderthals. Nor does evidence suggest our tendencies toward the barbaric have lessened over time.
On the contrary, present day humans are capable of the same self destructive behavior, the same crimes against humanity, the same violent power struggles as our ancestors. We appear to be doomed by our DNA to repeat the same destructive behaviors our forebearers have repeated for millennia. If anything, our problem solving skills have actually diminished with the advent of technology and our ubiquitous modern conveniences.
And yet, despite our predisposition toward fear-driven hostility, toward what we anachronistically term 'primitive' behavior another instinct is just as firmly encoded in our makeup. We are capable--as our ancestors were--of incredible, breathtaking acts of kindness.
Every hour of every day a man risks his life at a moment's notice to save another. Forget for a moment the belligerent, benevolent billionaires who grant the unfortunate a crumb of cost-free cake.
I speak of pure acts of selflessness. The mother who rushes into the street to save a child from a speeding vehicle. The person who runs into a burning building to reach a family trapped on an upper story. The man who can barely swim who dives into a lake to rescue a drowning stranger.
Such actions, such moments, such unconscious selfless decisions define what it is to be human.
Should the oceans rise,
Should the sky come falling down,
Should the islands tremble beneath us,
See our better nature blossom.
Should the sun rain fire,
Should Hell on Earth freeze over,
And our inner beast wake hungry,
See our better nature feed them.
Should the sun rain fire,
Should Hell on Earth freeze over,
And our inner beast wait hungry,
See our better nature feed and calm them.
Find a way through, around, or over.
https://puscifer.com/
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