Have we evolved

Yes we have

When I consider what has changed since I was born, which was in 1974….

If I wanted to know something about something, let’s say when I was sixteen, There was no internet. Computers were still performing only basic functions. I was still writing things for school in a typewriter and if the library had no books on a subject …. That was it. 

Whatever was on the tv, we had to watch when it was broadcasted. No way to view things at a later stage, or record things. Let alone make our own recording and make it available to watch for all the world as is possible now. 

When writing a book, one needs to have a final copy, before printing. Now, one can write online, for all to read and add or change the text whenever one wants too. Let alone adding sound pictures and video to your message. 

If you wanted to write to someone one first needed to have met the person and exchange an address. Now one can find almost anyone online and send this person a message. 

If you don’t speak the language there is the option to use online functionality to translate. 

And in addition to information, all of the money transfers can be done online as well. 

Selling and buying a house does not even require to even meet the person you are selling to or buying from. 

If we go back even further, ….. and look at other aspects of society….

In a classical role of the male and female, women were spending all day to clean, wash clothes by hand, prepare food and buy ingredients. 

With the fridge, the washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, CV (instead of coal or wood burning to heat the house) the basic household has become way more efficient. 

The same goes for the traditional male activities like farming, building a house, …..

With agricultural machines a single person can work the land, harvest by means of huge machines that required a large number of people in earlier days. 

Ordering concrete, shooting nails, electric wood saw machines ……. 

Looking back many thing humans have been doing, and are still doing take far less time and effort because of the introduction, invention of new technology

We can grow most food all year and are less dependent on seasons. We import foods from other places and have much more diverse and this potentially healthier diet. 

And although so many things have changed, in some areas we seem to not allow ourselves to evolve in some areas. Although ending a boxing match with a kill is generally considered unacceptable, and in many countries children are being taught that they live in a free country, with equal rights for men and women, there is a general hesitance of leaving behind the concept of a controlled class society. 

Like Krishnamurti said. It is an insane world. The insanity is mostly due to the fact that on the one had there is a lot of talk about what we can and can not do, in order to live or reach a state of civilised interaction and coexistence. Still When push comes to shove….. there is a persistence of a need for war to ‘get there’ and a need for more rules, regulations, taxes and other control mechanisms…… that only seem to have an adverse effect and do not resonate with the wording. A more civilised, more educated society would by means of pure logic require less rules, less regulation, less secrecy, etc 

Evolution in other areas of our lives

Zijn we geëvolueerd?

Ja dat zijn we zeker. 

Huishouden

Kijk bijvoorbeeld naar het huishouden. We zijn veel minder tijd kwijt hele dingen waar men vroeger een hele dag mee bezig was. Taken in het huishouden als wassen, het huis warmhouder, inkopen doen, koken zijn veel minder werk. Het stoken op kolen 

Je zou eens een paar dagen moeten leven als in de tijd voor de elektriciteit. Kijk dan eens, hoeveel tijd en energie een mens kwijt was aan de meest basale activiteiten die nu met techniek en vooral elektriciteit in een handomdraai zijn gepiept. 

Ik vermoed dag het nog een uitdaging wordt voor de jeugd, om zich daar een voorstelling van te maken. En zo onze, en dus hun geschiedenis te begrijpen. Dat als je een afspraak maakt met iemand, dat je er dan op dat moment moest zijn, anders liep je elkaar mis, en je had niet de mogelijkheid met elkaar contact op te nemen. Ik raakte wel eens vrienden kwijt tijdens koninginnedag in Amsterdam. Een drukke stad vol met mensen. Tenzij we een plek hadden afgesproken waren we elkaar voor de rest van de dag kwijt. We konden elkaar pas weer bellen als we thuis waren. Met een telefoon aan een draadje, die je niet kon verplaatsen. 

Boeren en voeding

Als ik kijk naar hoe veel voedsel een boer nu in zijn eentje, of met beperkte hoeveelheid personeel kan oogsten elk jaar met hulp van de technische middelen die hij tot zijn beschikking heeft. Het aantal boerderijen, het aantal medewerkers per boerderij is in de afgelopen jaren afgenomen. Tevens is de opbrengst enorm gestegen. Met behulp van kassen, lampen en andere technische middelen worden het hele jaar door enorme hoeveelheden groente gekweekt op een zeer klein stukje grond. 

Tegenwoordig wordt de warmte van grote computer serverparken bepruikt om de kassen warm te houden. Niet alles is positief aan het verhaal, want een aantal aspecten van de zogenaamde vooruitgang hebben de voedingswaarde van veel producten doen dalen en zeker als we kijken in de vleesindustrie is het dierenwelzijn er zeker niet op vooruit gegaan. De flats met bijvoorbeeld kippen, die het daglicht nooit zien krijg ik de rillingen van over mn rug. Niet de vooruitgang waar ik trots op ben. 

Kortom, met de middelen die de mens tot haar beschikking heeft is het niet nodig dat er ergens op aarde honger wordt geleden. 

Het delen van kennis en informatie

Moraal

It was a question the first arose when reading Marcus Aurelius. What an amazing mind/spirit. Why do people living in this time seem so far away, from ‘truths of life’ …’discovered, described such a long time ago?

https://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/eece6303c019bf07b0d5285afbfdc7b1?q=Marcus

I was struggling with that question. Why did people not seem te evolve. The were there people so much more intelligent, enlightened almost such a long time ago. Why are we not able to evolve, as a species? 

It bothered me, while at the same time, we did progress in many ways. I was born with a cesarean. It is long after Marcus Aurelius that the first woman survives a cesarean. 

‘1794: Elizabeth Bennett delivers a daughter by cesarean section, becoming the first woman in the United States to give birth this way and survive. Her husband, Jesse, is the physician who performs the operation.’

1794 ( funny I was born in 1974)

In addition it is quite clear we have evolved. Killing the loser of a boxing match because the viewers have text messaged a thumbs down, is an unacceptable fantasy. The life of a human being has become more valuable. And although there is still is such a thing as slavery, it is all but something that people find agreeable. 

So on moral something did change. 

Nature and domination

A lot of other things have changed as well. The air where we live is much cleaner than 250 years ago, when our house was build. The place was called black nazareth. In most cities people were burning coal, and the air must have been thick with smoke in the winter months and in summer, when people were cooking. 

The canal in front served as an open sewer. Now for the past few years our children have been swimming in the canal and they only get a skin rash of the chloride in the swimming pools, nothing from swimming in the canal. 

Beer used to be a cleaner something to drink than water. 

Society

An aspect of society that did not change is that we are organised in a pyramid type structure. And in most countries there have been so called class societies. Mostly dividing people in two classes, and in some countries a more divided system of more classes. 

An although for many years, especially in the west there is supposed to be no discrimination. People are supposedly free people, and in many countries people have are free to travel the world, in times like these one should, could seriously question such assumptions and statements. There seems to be either een ‘verwrongen’ perception of the word free, or it has been a lot of marketing on the surface, but underneath the old class society system has still been the modus operandi. 

In addition, there is supposed to be a lot of democracy in many countries on a local level, and at the same time it is becoming more and more clear that the word seems be steered by a small group of people that have plans made which are being rolled out on a global level. Whether it is the ‘dwangmatige’ approach to a health crisis, or the plans for a new economy of how to deal with a supposed environmental problem. 

Not just in the political arena, but also in business and areas like entertainment global organisational structures that are pyramid, or triangle shaped have emerged. 

And although this naive author was expecting a downsizing, of organisations when there was a general consensus  that some organisations were ‘too big to fail’ (not my words) these organisations were not cut into pieces that were small enough to fail, which in my view would be a very sensible thing to do, the ‘market’ seemed to have an opposite perspective and these organisations got bigger instead of smaller. 

The only problem with bigger, that when being one big pyramid, when it does fail, it can only go one way. Just like any and most empire did. Like the saying says, all things must come to an end. And the end of something that can not grow ant bigger, is to become smaller. 

Do not confuse wit these words with what I wish to happen. This is pure logic. 

And yes, in many ways I do think in all areas of life there are economies of scale. At the same time maybe there should also be a saying for something that is oversized. In a way nay of these structures could be perceived as monopolies, but for a strong reason are not. 

In addition to this issue of the structure and size there is the issue of class society. It presupposes a non equality of humans. Whether through birth and thus bloodline thinking or other ways that society allow for people to become extremely unequal in for instance what people own, whether people are allowed to travel, etc. In many ways when looking at the universal human rights, I do not think there is a country that currently does well on honouring those in relation to all its citizens. 

And although I personally thought that I was living in one that was very close, with a ceremonial monarch, the past years have made me come to the conclusion I was successfully fooled in many ways. 

When I heard the words of Alan Watts saying: ‘The universe is not a monarchy’, I immediately understood what he was saying. 

So I have come to the conclusion, that earth still has to experience the first day of real civilisation. History books (or maybe Herstory books) will remember the people (most probably those currently leading the class society but initiating a change, allowing for humanity to really become of equal worthiness) that will allow for this change to happen. 

So yes, we have evolved and still we have some way to go. It will be a very small step, with huge consequences.

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