my theory is that despite our capabilities of reason, many of us still are ruled by our base animal fight or flight instincts - especially when something we feel connected to or love is threatened. unfortunately, when fight or flight is coupled with reasoning the fighting gets much more massive and destructive than teeth and muscle and turns to grand scale annihilation and way too many innocents being claimed for something other than sustenance. i honestly believe tribalistic government was far more civil than what occurs today. tribes generally fought for land they directly needed for it's food and environment to avoid starvation and the elements - common day it seems governments fight more out of greed and superstition and an overblown sense of entitlement.


so i guess i don't think we've truly evolved into something "better" - just become more complex. the complexity causes this phenomenon where we can "reason" just about anything to be justification for combat... i.e. we need oil to keep our economy secure or we could end up starving, so we need secure military posts in the middle east to keep that oil within grasp, and if someone threatens the oil or the military posts then in some grandiose roundabout way they are potentially taking dinner off my plate so we must stop it at whatever cost.
unfortunately, the same logic operates the same way for the opposing combatants (truthfully, they're probably much closer to starving than we'll be anytime soon, and the oil is just as vital to their economies, and military posts are much closer to their homes and therefore much more directly threatening, whatever conclusions are to be drawn from that) so their will fight drive will likely exceed ours (but not their global resources or technology!). then there are the million other factors like "holy land," and "wmd's" to take into consideration. there's a "reason" around every corner to justify the base instinct if we weave an encompassing enough web.


course, i may just have a very bleak view of modern times. undoubtably evolution took place in something this complex and grandiose, but i can't find myself thinking we've evolved into something "better". i'm waiting for someone to say - hold it, survival of the fittest requires us to be increasing our survival in order to evolve, not coming up with 40 billion new ways to justify threatening it.


the nice thing is - reason also brings around communications, breaks down barriers, and allows for all types of arts and ideas to be expressed. whether or not the conflict it creates is worth it seems a question i can't touch with a 6,000 ft pole.


pardon the ramble - it's a topic that my mind muddles around in often.


here's to using our reason to do something productive instead of destructive!
 

well to be certain, you're not alone in feeling such anxiety. I am wise to what a great sign of change is about to intrude. I'd rather my life be fortified in the innocence of myspace dramatics and the like. however i, among others who've chosen the path of preparedness, have chosen to keep our empathetic nerves open to the endless destruction of... well... i guess let's just say we're at about 7 months till people start going to community college to learn basic survival skills. (i won't be insulted if this response doesn't show up i jst thought it appropriate for your topic)....i guess you might be interested to know that much of my personal depression since about 13 has been somewhat indirectly related to such things. my astral nervous system seems to stem to the center of what is "to come" as they say. but... i also know i'm not the only one who feels "it" coming. i'm just choosing to acknowledge it.....anyhow the overall point i guess was for myself to vent secondly, but to let you know that you're not alone firstly... i guess. just in case you were wondering. although dancing around specifics makes one jive to coltrane... or some such useless comparative metaphor.(ughh... why'd you mention it, mate? haha i was perfectly happy pretending great advances in grapes curing cancer and the physics of levitation were the most relevant news topics of today. that and the purple squirrel of the U.K.
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"Entire nations in the past were built upon the backs of the poor and uneducated. Is today really any different? Have we really evolved? Until we dramatically alter the scope of what we desire as a collective whole, we will continue to stare into the void of our lost potential."....Beautiful and spot on - sounds like you had an epiphany my friend!....Lots of love,....Tony