OMFGWTAF! Are these rotten festering scroatbags serious!?!? The first time I heard this BS i thought – no way, they didn’t just drop that dirty bomb of distraction.
Well, after several hours to process, and do some online “research” – it seems this is a real event. They dropped the bombs and killed kids and teachers. KIDS AND TEACHERS!!
Then – more bombs. One twisted crackpot religious lunatic killed.
Then – our brave servicemen killed and our rotting corpse of a potus praises statues and fukkin curtains. WTAF!!
But it just cant be…I must be fukkin dreaming. Nobody in this country would actually say something so incredibly lame…maybe from north Korea…or one of those other backward, dictater-led countries that do not seperate church and state like the USA does…or once did anyway…our founding fathers are spinning in their graves.
…but what about the constitution? Isnt that a binding…sacred…almost religious document? Now it seems that those who once preached to uphold the constitution at all cost no matter what, no matter who dies…now those same people are just choosing to ignore it…WTAF!
Oh…and never mind the huge and in fukkin BOLD fact that we…our entire culture…has absolutely zero…ZERO…evidence – that ANY of the mystical gods, angels, and SO MUCH other random BS in the Bible and other evidence-lacking dusty ancient sacred books and mouthpieces of the multitudes of religions and denominations – have ever even existed at all. In all likelihood all the stores in all the old books are simply lessons and myths to help ancient folks make sense of the world and culture around them. These old books are only reality inside the readers own head.
When I was young I was taught that in any important decision, one should put evidence first, and the decision second.
The reverse of that is a decision without supporting evidence, and those who use this misguided strategy are in search of one of two things:
An emotional response possibly seated in a personal desire or need.
Or
Greed and control seeking hubris.
Hubris is insanely dangerous.
To make decisions without factual, logical, supporting evidence is insane.
It seems that these people – that some of us have placed into power – are absolute fukkin deranged lunatics.
For them to actually say the unbelievably and stupendously stupid things they have said about bringing about the “end times,” or “armageddon,” or whateverthefuk – with the most outrageous of them all that his orange magasty DJT was sent by jesus/god et. all. – is totally and rabidly barking mad.
I still keep pinching myself hoping to wake up from this bizarre nightmare…but no, apparently I am awake and this IS reality.
So many human lives cut short, so many civilizations turned to vine or dust covered rubble, so much knowledge has been lost, destroyed by religiopolitical cult leaders claiming their way is better because they claim that an imaginary god figure said so – often through the mouthpiece of a fat, bloated, king, president, chief, or bigman…and even more bizarre and inexplicable – they followed the imaginary god/king’s made up commands and destroyed so many real and beautiful things that actually physically existed…and they did it all believing they were correct and in the name of their chosen leader or god that they could not even see. Pure and simple deranged insanity.
Sadly it seems history is repeating itself.
It seems that the dangerous cults of religion are trying their best to bring back holy wars at the cost of…everything moving forward.
The toxic religious trauma this is going to instill into everyone alive today will be immeasurable.
Speaking of religious trauma – for the first few decades of my life I was traumatized by the religion i was born into – Christianity. From a very early age I was totally confused by all the bizarre talk of loving each other, taking care of others, including the weak, the old, the poor and homeless…but then followed by and absolutely terrifying to a young child – follow me or burn in hell, horrifying end times BS, Jesus this and Jesus that, the heaven and hell, fire and brimstone, rivers of blood, multiheaded beasts, 666, demons, devils, nostradomous, nukes, the cold war, yada, yada, yada. All this twisted mystical hate and fear filled BS really traumatized my young brain and truly wrecked my evidence based decision-making process…for many years.
The only way I was ever able to dig myself out of that twisted religious death worshipping cult was to remember what my amazing mom taught me about evidence supported decision making and critical thinking.
This is why I choose to not follow any religion. This is why I choose to follow the evidence wherever it leads and use the methods and tools of science and my own brain to make decisions for myself and others.
The only “religion” I respect is Buddhism – and its not even a religion, its a practice based on peace, kindness, and self discovery.
In my experience, most religions very rarely uses evidence to support their decision making process. But dusty old words from an ancient book written and rewritten by countless authors and kings and then taken out of their historical context…sure, why not. Examples: 911 and Iran – so many parallels.
In fact, it is often the exact opposite, with the evidence from the last 2026 years suggesting that more blood has been shed in the name of religions than in all wars ever waged on planet earth. The rivers of blood have already been shed and if there is an actual hell, we are now living in it and DJT and his mindless minions are the devil and his demons.
These people are absolutely fukkin insane.
Oh, remember the E. Files. Remember all the violat3d young girls, women, boys and men, the redrum and canabilism, the pain, the endless lies, and the disgusting hate. If there ever was an antichrist, these people running this once great land are the embodiment of that mythical sentiment.
I have written at length about the topic of religious trauma, and what it took me to shake off the sticky, gripping, toxic tentacles and hugely heavy anchors of religion. It is one of my longest blog posts and it helped me sort through my thoughts and finally get out from under the thumb of the religio-political mind control system that many of us in the US were all exposed to beginning at day one. If you are struggling with what is going on in the world or within your own mind, then feel free to read my post through the below link, feel free to share, and I wish you, and all of us luck, love, and peace with whatever comes our way.
https://naturesteves.home.blog/2024/07/01/religiopolitical-trauma-sucks/
Knowledge conquers fear.
Do only Good and Pretti things.
Be the change.
Choose wisely.
One Love.
Peace.
Tag: adapt
Today’s Taboo = Tomorrow’s Troubles
I was told as a kid – at home and in class – that there are some things we just do not talk about with others. I believed my learned elders and did just that…and you know what…that just made things worse.
I have a scientific mind. I need to ask questions, I need to know know how things work. I will not accept things without evidence and/or evidence supported theories. This is why I started asking the big questions when I was a teen. This is also why I often found myself in debates with those who choose to never ask questions and just believe what their authority figures would tell them.
When I would find myself in these situations, I would always respectfully and calmly draw from the peer-reviewed evidence (or the huge lack of evidence), as well as real world examples, to make my point during conversations about these topics. Almost without fail a truly strange thing would happen: I would often get rapidly and aggressively shot down with heated emotions, wild eyes, hateful words and phrases, and even personal attacks, bullying, and mockery.
These unusual responses would totally turn me off from the conversation – I learned a very long time ago to never poke angry bears, they will never listen to reason. More than that their responses totally threw me off track and made me wonder what was going on in the other person’s mind that, rather than have a rational conversation about a difficult topic, they would choose to be so easily triggered and resort to attacking my genuine questions and commentary, and even me personally, with so much venom and vitriol. It was truly odd to experience as a teen, but even more bizarre to experience as I aged. Yes, I have even encountered this type of attack from some humans i once considered friends and family – some I still have contact with, others, not so much. In today’s post-truth world, attempting to have these conversations with some people is like walking on broken glass, egg shells, and hot coals, while masked*, hevily armed, thugs point guns at your head while waving crosses, and flags – all at the same time. *identity concealing, not germ stopping – these hateful thugs would never voluntarily wear a PPE mask.
When I was young, almost all the adults in my life had far more restraint with their reactions around other adults and especially children. Today however, things have changed and it seems that some adults have lost the ability to restrain themselves, they seem to be walking around with big fat (cow) chips on their shoulders just asking someone…anyone, to try and push it off so they can slip into full-on enraged screaming Chimpanzee attack mode. Why are they so brittle? What are they missing that our parents had? Respect? Self control? Empathy? An education? Common sense? All of these things?
Sadly, my real world experience says all of the above.
Some personal examples;
(Note: these examples are each followed by a small sampling of the bizarre and often unthoughtful and even hateful comments that I have received from easily triggered reactionary individuals.)
Evolution by natural selection –
I don’t believe in evolution! My preacher and my family said I can not hear this blasphemy!! It is not real. I did not come from no fish or monkey!!
Anthropogenic climate change –
No!! It is not happening, its cold outside, and look, i just made a snowball – therefore it is not real…its a manufactured problem invinted by the chinese working with the WOKE leftist greenies to take our jobs and force us to drive electric cars!
The definition of theory –
There’s no real evidence to support any WOKE theories.
Renewable energy –
Not viable, does not work, takes American jobs, kills billions of birds, causes cancer, solar panels steal energy from the sun making the world colder, wind turbines stop the wind making it hotter…yada yada yada woke woke WOKE!
Fossil fuel subsidies –
More lies made up by the evil WOKE leftist greenies.
Fossil fuels –
They were put here by our god for us to use. If we don’t use them, we are going against God’s plan. The stuff that comes out of my car’s tailpipe is clear so it can’t be harmful. Coal rolling dosent hurt anyone and this is a free country so I can do what I like!! Drill baby drill!!
Pollution –
There is no air/water pollution because the air/water is clear !! That smell in the air is harmless and it is the smell of money!!
Electric vehicles –
They will never work, they are a passing fad, they are WOKE democrat cars, their batteries are tossed into landfills, they catch on fire all the time, they generate a dangerous EM field that makes you sterile, they are stealing our jobs!!!
Space exploration –
What a waste of money, space stuff does nothing for us here on earth…and youtube told me that space is not real and the earth is flat.
The age of the earth –
You are wrong!! My god said it is 6000 years old, so it is!!
Science –
I dont believe in science. Its part of the WOKE leftist liberal aganda!!
Religion –
My religion is the only one and my god is the one true god and you will burn in hell for eternity if you dont convert to MY religion!!!
Human rights –
My people are the chosen ones!! My rights are more important than yours!! Its my birthright and my way is the right way, the only way, and no outsider or immigrant will step on my rights and my god given freedoms!!!
My god painted them all brown to show that their blood is not pure and they do not matter.
LGBTQ+
They are all wrong, dangerous, and WOKE!! Their pronouns and choices do not matter, my sacred book and my favorite politician says they are all sinners and they will all go to hell!
Gender –
You are wrong – There are only 2.
The holocaust –
It did not happen.
COVID pandemic –
It was manufactured in a lab to reduce the population, it was a plandemic. Wearing a mask does nothing, it only shows that you are weak. Masks reduce your oxygen. Masks are WOKE!!! I don’t see any particles/droplets in the air so I do not believe they exist. My god will protect me – those who get sick and die – they were living wrong.
Vaccination –
Vaccines are full of toxins and will damage your brains!! Bill Gates is putting microscopic tracking devices inside vaccines to track our movements!!
Vaccines are evil!! Vaccines will shorten your life!!!
Natural disasters –
Earthquakes, tsunami, and volcanoes happen because god is angry with certain people and he is punishing them.
Wildlife conservation –
WOKE!!! Wildlife are dumb animals. They were put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.
Nature conservation –
WOKE!! Nature was put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.
Air/water conservation –
WOKE!! There is so much air and water, we don’t need to worry about it. It was put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.
Snake conservation –
Snakes are evil, it says so in my holy book! Kill all serpents!
Guns –
!!!2nd amendment!!! Dead school kids are unfortunate, but you will not take my guns!!!
Thoughts and prayers. !!!2nd amendment!!!
The Government –
Before trump: the gubment is keeping us down, down with the gubment!!
During trump: praise our savior trump – or die! Do as I say or die! Look like me, act like me, think like me, vote and pray like me – or die.
Recycling –
Recycling is stupid, it is so WOKE!!!
Recycling takes people’s jobs.
Star Trek –
WOKE!!!
Taking care of the planet –
WOKE!!! No need to take care of the earth, it is imperfect. It was put here for us to use, so we can use it up, it does not matter. Heaven is perfect.
Homeless people –
Just get a fukin job already you lazy strung out bum!!!
_______________
These are just a small sampling of the oddly disturbing, highly emotional, comments I have encountered from both students and adults over the last 40 or so years of my adult life on this strange wet rock floating in space.
Concerning these topics, topics we all should have been taught to have calm, respectful, evidence-supported conversations about, in my experience, it seems that many humans today cannot even have respectful conversations about anything real, without going off like a gun with a hair trigger. Why do they choose to act like this? Who, or what hogwash has implanted itself into their minds to cause them to react with such malice, instead of calmly using their rational brain to actually think? It seems obvious that many humans today simply cannot think for themselves, they need others – father/authority figures real or imaginary – to make their decisions for them.
Could it be that they have been poisoned by their fairy tales?
Fairy tails about imaginary gods, promised lands, freedoms, money, politics, dreams and picket fences, etc. Bizarrely, many of these individuals know inside, that their old fairy tails are invalid examples as teachers of reality, yet for some reason they continue to self-medicate themselves and their offspring with all these highly addictive religiopolitical fairy tale toxins (as well as all the legal and illegal varieties of OTC and Rx medications, herbs, and potions) – because it is the easy way out.
In taking the easy way out, they are choosing to not use their amazing evolution-derived meat computer mega-brain to critically analyze all the avaliable peer-reviewed evidence and make up their own minds…yet they will loudly cry and pray to their gods and policy makers why their personal life, society, and the world, are having so many problems. Their gods are too small, their rulers are too fat.
When no answers come (or the answers are inconvenienant so they choose not to accept them due to their lifetime of cultural conditioning – aka “indoctrination” in some circles – into their family’s religiopolitical cult of choice), they often choose to refuse/refute/redact facts, evidence, and knowledge in favor of pointing blaming fingers at the “other” – when their own personal choices and/or the choices of their tribe are the true root of all their problems.
Even more disturbing is that the functioning systems and infrastructure that make our society and lives even possible – science, engineering, technology, trade, energy, farming, etc. – have been politicized to the point where they have become tools used by greedy charlatans, bent snake oil salesmen, twisted pedophilic dictators, and malignant freaks all seeking religiopolitical power, control, and riches while their scowling, talking head minions distract over who is right or left, winning and losing, wrong or right…not what is real, factual, and supported by actual reality and incontrovertible physical evidence…such as their fellow human beings being deleted with extreme prejudice – live on several cameras.
Critical thinking in a dieing virtue.
Growing numbers of the population have lost the ability to have respectful, knowledgeable, peaceful conversations about almost anything and everything that really matters, and instead they resort to meaningless rambling small talk, or no talk at all.
I am guilty of this as well. I have distanced myself from these important conversations because I have encountered so much angst, attacks, and hate from so many people over these taboo topics. Most of my intentional distancing has been in the last decade and, while I know this hermitlike tactic is not productive for face to face communication, there comes a time when one must protect one’s sanity over the alternative.
This is why I write. It helps me winnow the wheat from the chaff. It helps me sort things out and share my thoughts in a peaceful, thoughtful, respectful way. I know that some who read my words will disagree with me, but that is OK. We are all adults here. If you are angered by my thoughts and words, maybe you need to ask yourself why? Why are you so angry? I had to have this conversation with myself long ago and the answer I found was this: unless i have done something genuinely in error, unless i have harmed them or their loved ones, their anger is theirs and theirs alone. It is not my problem, it is theirs. It comes from their mind, not mine. I have my evidence-supported facts in order and do not need to become venomously heated to defend the facts – the evidence stands on its own and needs no defense.
Yet, for whatever the reason and despite the piles of peer-reviewed evidence on whatever the topic may be, the anger remains. It is this anger and hate that and this creates division.
Sadly, this division among people often leads to fractured relationships, misunderstandings, anxiety, fear, and sometimes even hate of the “other.” For some, this seperatist mindset can lead them deeper into the territory that I call the “lunatic fringe.” These are fringe dwelling factions of misguided people that see anyone and anything outside of their chosen way of life – their tribe – as a threat to their existence. Example: ICE and the radical right facist-leaning mal-administration currently in power in the USA, as well as the far left lunatics that would use harmful tactics to get their points across.
Let us not forget the white christian nationalist/evangelical christo-facist types – they are a special kind of crazy, a crazy that is boardering on absolute insanity. If christ were alive today they would call him an imposter and crucify him because of his empathy, love, and generosity toward the sick, weak, poor, the immigrant and infirm.
Some deep thinkers are calling this a “post-truth” world, and with the rise of AI and deep fakes, I predict that things will only get worse before they ever start to get better. However, concerning AI – it is we humans that invented this technology using science and engineering, and it is we humans who are choosing to use these technological tools for hateful, nefarious, greed, and control-focused reasons…instead of actually using them to solve the big problems we all collectively face.
Post-truth, obviously – and as far as I am concerned, we are also living in a post-humanity world where many fearfull people have lost their common sense, empathy, compassion, kindness, peace and love for their fellow human beings.
Common sense has been deleted.
Knowledge is being deleted.
Critical thinking is being deleted.
Art is being deleted.
Kindness is being deleted.
Empathy is being deleted.
We have become our own most limiting factor.
IMHO The only way we will ever hope to survive as a species is if we can find a way to kindly and respectfully communicate with each other about these topics again, and maybe then will we re-awaken our lost humanity, and our lost hearts.
Or we will continue down this easy but dark path and extinct ourselves while blaming everyone but ourselves.
Choose wisely.
Do only Pretti Good things.
They walk among us.
Yes, they walk among us. EDIT 1.12.26 – and now they are running our government…
I met one once, he was wearing a tinfoil hat and totally convinced the gubment was following him – so he lived in a motor home, always on the move – a nomad terrified of reality.
He and others like him see conspiracy and deceit everywhere. From governments following their every move using bird-shaped drones to, flat planets, hollow planets, chemtrails, faked moon landings, planned pandemics, vaccine tracking devices, secret control groups – and today’s not at all secret death squads aka ICE, reptilians and/or all-powerful vengeful but entirely invisible god-beings and devils pulling strings from behind a curtain of clouds or magma and yada yada yada.
It is all really bizarre. And really scary.
Some of them seem to be attention seekers, some are profit seeking charlatans such as DJT and all the Alex Jones types, but sadly, others are truly missing something and I’m just not sure what it is and what will help them or if they even want help. It is a really very sad and growing mental health issue that needs to be addressed.
IMHO science, good critical thinking skills, and a bit of good ole common sense all work together to help us filter out the hate, fear, and all the crazy, and learn and understand how reality works.
In nature, most of the time life is really quite slow, methodical, and downright boring (have you ever watched grass grow) but absolutely necessary and remarkably beautiful for those who can see it – with an occasional natural disaster and pandemic tossed in to spice things up a bit – but this is our reality and yes, birds are real, (I ate a chicken leg for lunch and it was not a robot chicken (LOL).
Just to set things straight: we landed on the moon – 6 times – the earth is round, the government is staffed by real humans and recent events suggest that none of them have a clue how to govern…anything…and they are only in it to make bank.
Chemtrails are water vapor, sasquatch, nessie, santa, and god do not exist until evidence supports their existence. Evolution by natural selection is real and so is anthropogenic climate change. The power of peace, positive change, love, and compassion comes from the people. Seatbelts, masks, and vaccines work, and science is the best thing we have ever come up with to help us understand the reality in which we exist and then engineer ways to adapt and evolve to make it through whatever challenge nature randomly throws at us.
Knowledge conquers fear.
Do only good things.
Be Peace.
More on the Birds aren’t real project: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_Aren%27t_Real
VOTE…while you still can.
Please get your butt out there and VOTE.
Pray to whatever god(s) you believe in – or lack thereof.
Think good thoughts.
But let us remember that these religiopolitical/societal experiments in governing ourselves are just that – experiments.
Over the last ten thousand or so years of human civilization, there have been many societies that have risen and fallen, and just as many experiments in governing the populace. So many political organizations, religions, kings, queens, gods and goddesses have been invented, worked for a time, and faded away or fell flat on their faces only to disappear into the pages of dusty unopened books, the sands of time and/or the rock strata, and some, like ours – are novel and are still in the testing phase.
Just because this experiment is the one we are testing and living through today – does not mean it is the only way or the best way to govern a society and its people – in fact, recent evidence suggest that this experiment may be failing on many fronts.
If this grand experiment does in fact prove to be a total failure, it will need to be ended and relegated to the history books as yet another example of what not to do.
Therefore, it is not productive or helpful to believe this ongoing experiment is the end all be all best way to govern a large population of people, and therefore, as it is only an experiment in governing – it is not at all helpful to yourself or others to get all bent out of shape when someone you know or love chooses to support another “team” and/or if your chosen “team” loses its seat at the table.
Nor is it at all helpful to harm others or their property with your actions or words because, in all probability – in a century none of this will matter and the world will have moved on in its never-ending orbit around the sun and the thinking members of its population will have adapted to meet the challenge…or not.
There are only two choices in the game of life: adapt or die.
Improvise, adapt, overcome, evolve, survive, and thrive.
Make good choices.
Do only good things.
One Love.
Unless.
Peace.
Part 2.
If your “team” (political, religious, or sport) doesn’t win the game and in response, you are choosing or planning violence, hatred, intimidation, spreading evidence-lacking FUD, and/or harm/damage/vandalism to citizens and/or their property, and/or wildlife or nature – then the simple fact is this: you are not a patriot of whatever country or religion you choose to reside within.
If you support or promote past or future violence, hatred, intimidation, spreading evidence-lacking FUD, and/or harm/damage/vandalism to citizens and/or their property, wildlife and/or nature – then you are not a patriot.
What you are is a bully and a terrorist and a danger to society and to everything your religio-political affiliation stands for.
Don’t be bully.
Don’t be a terrorist.
Don’t let the fairy tales you have chosen to believe in, poison your mind and make your decisions for you.
Wake up.
Think for yourself.
Grow up.
Get help.
Be a good human.
Make good choices.
Do only good things.
If you know someone who is exhibiting these troubling symptoms – please report them to the authorities ASAP – it just may save a life or lives.
An Observational Rant
I honestly don’t think some humans care at all how others view them when they are in public…and maybe they do not even realize they are in public.
What follows is some of my over half a century of observational evidence of this bizarre and problematic phenomenon:
“Adults” who are loud talkers insulting/bullying/demeaning the person(s) they are with in some bizarre attempt to draw attention to their target(s) with the goal to make some lame point or expose/humiliate, when in reality they are making themself look supremely infantile. Here’s an idea: grow the frak up you 12 year old little brat!
People talking loudly into their mobile communication device as if increasing the volume of their voice will make the person on the other end of the “line” hear them/understand them better.
Here’s an idea – noone anywhere wants to hear your incoherent, chimplike hooting, no matter how important you believe you are…and your device has a super sensitive microphone that can detect a whisper, AND the ape on the other end has a volume control and will turn you down when you get annoying. Be respectful you filthy, matted, hairball.
People watching videos/things on their mobile devices at max volume (or any audible volume) in a resturant, waiting room, bus, train, plane, ship, etc…this is happening 20′ from me as i type these words.
Here’s an idea – be respectful of others and get some earphones/buds you obnoxious drooling troglodyte!
Parents/people loudly yelling hate/ obscenities/absurdities at their unfortunate offspring.
Here’s an idea – don’t have offspring if you cant control yourself and treat them with the respect they deserve. Are you purposefully trying to lead by your awfully hateful example and make them a carbon copy of your disgusting hateful self?!
People talking loudly at each other across a span of space occupied by other humans (ex. train, plane, bus, waiting room, resturant etc.). Here’s an idea: walk closer to each other and converse at a reasonable voice being respective of the others in the room. Whatever it is, it is not all about you, you miserable stinking troll.
People who crowd up to the elevator door as if upon arrival it will be magically empty and is there only for them. Here’s an idea: push the call button and stand back you impatient wank walker.
People who blow their nose in a crowded public place such as a resturant – even with a napkin or handkerchief, this is just disgusting and nasty.
Here’s an idea – have some respect for others around you, step into the bathroom or outside and blow your festering air hole all you like you putrid steaming snotnozzle.
Impatient bully types who just have to be first in every line, que, or intersection.
Here’s an idea you greedy tantrum tossing tool – have some respect for others and wait your damn turn.
People who disrespect our only planet by littering, defacing nature with graffiti, poachers, and those who exploit nature for personal gain without any consideration for future generations…
…and so many more. If you have encountered similar lack of respect from the seething masses of humanity then feel free to add your own examples in the comments.
Heavy Thought Time
To create a life is rather easy, people do it all the time.
To create good people, that is possibly the most difficult thing we will ever do.
We have all heard about the nature vs nurture debate, and from where I stand as an observer of nature, I see many deep connections between all living things everywhere I look – connections that run like fungal mycelium throughout the deep-time tapestry of life.
These ancient genetic connections are incredibly apparent to me because I see them in myself. I was adopted as a newborn and spent the next several decades with wonderful, loving parents who nurtured and cared for me, giving me a comfortable home, an education, and most of all, the ability to think for myself. They let me choose my own path – they did not force on me any specific religion, politics, or any other worldviews – they let me choose for myself who I was to become. They were the nurture side of the coin that I received in this coin toss called life.
On the nature side of the coin: From a very young age, my curiosity about the natural world around me was incredibly strong. I have always had a deep empathetic nature and a deep connection to animals, nature, wildlife, and the silent teachers that exists in the forest, an endlessly flowing river, the rolling ocean waves, and the deeptime knowledge that exists in every rock, tree, mountain, water drop, and in our own DNA – these are teachers that only some of us can hear. Due to these deep connections to the natural world I always wondered if I had inherited this intense love and focus on nature from my biological family.
Then, in 2018, I used the tools of science to find my genetic family and my suspicions were confirmed – my love of nature was indeed genetic – my father and all my family members were great lovers of nature and all things wild and wonderful. My father and I shared so many things in common – even down to things like favorite foods, TV shows, music, vehicles, wildlife, it is really astounding how many deep connections we share.
So for me specifically, the nature vs nurture argument is no longer a debate – i am a product of both of these things.
From my point of view, and from my lived experience – I believe that at birth we carry within our genetic code, a singular sequence specifically written by the experiences of our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and far far back into deeptime, to a time before we gave ourselves names, before we harnessed fire, before we were even human. This ancient code sequence is the nature side of the coin. It is a hard written instinct stamped into our DNA by the experiences of all our ancestors. This ancient code is expressed, like it or not, by our consciousness. But what the heck is consciousness anyway?
In an attempt to answer this age old question we need to flip the coin back over to the nurture side again and ask – what about our consciousness? Where does it come from? What is it that allows us to look in the mirror and say “Hello me, i recognize that i exist…i think therefore i am.”
Where does the consciousness originate? Some say it is all in the mind…and maybe this is so. However, I sometimes wonder if it comes from outside the body…another realm of existence that we have yet to identify. Maybe we and all life on earth are part of this unique and massive energy field…this Singularity…and we are greatly limiting ourselves when we think that we are separate, apart, alone individuals. But in reality…a reality we have not discovered yet because we are not yet ready, not evolved enough to experience that reality and understand it…maybe we are all connected deeper than we could ever imagine. Maybe when our body exhausts itself and ceases to exist, maybe our unique consciousness – our soul – retreats back into this unknown realm, this undiscovered country, to rejoin with the rest of the whole where it then shares its lifetime of experiences with its “peers” afterwhich it is reset, and then born again as another lifeform on earth…or another planet in the vast cosmos – and the cycle continues.
I do not believe in omnipotent beings – a god or gods – and therefore i do not believe a devine creator being gives us each a unique consciousness – at soul – at birth. I have this hypothesis that at birth, our consciousness is a blank clean slate…like a new computer waiting to have is blank but eager to learn storage drives filled up with all our unique photos, music, stories, history – the unique things we save close to our hearts and minds – the things that make us, us.
Maybe we are all born with this same basic, “blank slate” consciousness. Maybe this blank slate consciousness is exactly the same for everyone – it is a carbon copy of whatever the first one was, whatever the first human being was. Then, as we live and grow and are exposed to our family, friends, society, the media, religion, politics, science, culture, war, love, hate, bullies, hippies, laughter, passion, sickness, trauma, etc – maybe it is only after this exposure to all these unique outside experiences and influences, coupled with the genetic expression of our instinctual nature knowledge passed down from our unique evolutionary lineages, does our unique consciousness truly becomes ours, and only ours. It becomes unique to each human due to the unique experiences each of us has experienced as well as the deep genetic connections we brought forward in time from our unique ancestrial DNA.
Maybe the “me” and “you” parts of our thinking brains are exactly the same until they experience life, the universe, and everything around us during our first few years of life – and then we become the unique individuals that we are – we become the you and the me that we see in the mirror.
If all this is so, then to guide an innocent young human into adulthood as a parent, teacher, or mentor, is possibly the greatest responsibility one could ever hold.
Choose wisely.
Think before you speak.
Be a good human.
Do good things.
Another Thought Experiment
If a highly advanced, long-lived, extraterrestrial species from another galaxy landed on Earth today and told us we were all part of a long-term planetary biology/evolution “lab” experiment designed and implemented several million years ago in the attempt to discern the direction biological evolution would take under the unique environmental conditions offered by this planet and its star…
…and/or…
If Jesus (or any other religious prophet) returned and/or appeared – and he was a dark skinned, barefoot, long haired, “herb” smoking, robe wearing, bisexual, “hippie” “dude” whose pronown was “whatever man” and he was asking all of us to destroy our walls, weapons, governments, religions, superficial labels and divisions, and all coexist and live in harmony…
Recent events suggest that many people who call themselves religious would probably deny the flesh and blood evidence standing in front of them, and cry “demon,” “witch,” ” infidel,” “imposter,” – and then try to crucify and/or dissect them.
Sadly, the fearful, preconceived notions of what many believe their god and/or extraterrestrial visitors should be are far too limiting and microscopically small, to allow them to see the grandeur of the cosmos as it actually exists, and all the amazing possibilities it may hold.
We are our own most limiting factor.
Ancient Clues
The more I learn about archeology and anthropology, the more I discover that primates and violence seem to go hand in hand.
Sadly, this fact, encoded in our DNA, and in the DNA of every human walking the earth today going all the way back to our humble beginnings on the African savanna – is a deepset part our our own evolutionary history.
It may be that our unique primate opposable thumb+big “thinking” brain combination – while an incredible engineering and survival tool kit – has a great and fatal flaw.
That great flaw often leads us to believe things and then do things, not because they are true and supported by evidence, but because we want them to be true, we need them to be true, possibly to satisfy some ancient need, or qwell a fear that exists only in the past. Sadly, it seems that for many Modern humans, believing something is true is easier than working to find out if it really is true.
This great and fatal flaw may in fact be the undoing of our species, leaving us as just another fossilized animal deposit in the rock strata of deep time.
Honestly, I hope I am wrong on this, but the evidence from the last few hundred decades suggests otherwise.
Looking at the fossil record of our family tree we see that every single one, every one – every early human save for us, only exists, no longer in the flesh, but as ancient fossil remains recorded in the rocks. May it be that these ancestors of ours are extinct by their own hand?
Maybe the fatal flaw was their downfall?
Maybe the fatal flaw will render us extinct as it may have done for them? I hope not. We have so much potential.
Or maybe it was their strong, evolutionary survival instinct that lead to a hyper-selfish focus on surviving which, over time, selected for early humans with a lack of empathy – with only a drive and focus to acquire that which it needed to survive while pushing its own kind out of the way. Millions of years ago it was competition for food and brute strength that kept the bullies alive.
Today, it’s not food, it’s money and power thry need. The vestigial fatal flaw is directing the uncaring bullies to compete. In their minds, they are still fighting to survive – it is all their DNA will allow them to do. Instead of adapting to adopt an empathetic sharing nature that would benefit all members of their family, and species – they chose self over society.
Empathy, is one of the most important aspects of what it means to be human. Without empathy for others of your kind, you are just another smart, strong, competitive predator. Maybe it is empathy that is the answer, maybe it is the genetic key that unlocks the next level in our own evolution.
Will we level up…or will we damn dirty apes choose to fearfully continue to bar our teeth and bash each other’s skulls in just as so many countless human primates stretching back millions of years into the past have done before?
Only time and the rocks will tell.
It is not over
This thing is not over.
Some of us will get through this thing with science and common sense leading the way and sadly, some will not.
As I learned in the Boy Scouts: be prepared.
1. Listen to the experts – they know more than you – that is why they are the experts.
2. Keep your distance – especially from strangers.
3. Wash up well.
4. Keep wearing that mask.
5. Get that shot and then get the booster.
6. Ignore/report/block/delete the ignorant anti-science and anti-common sense conspiracy “theories” and “natural cures” being fabricated/spread/sold by the covidiots, crazy meme trolls, greedy charlatans, and religiopolitical fanatics crapping their steaming fresh clickbait turds all over the internet.
There are only two options in this thing we call life on planet earth: adapt or die. Science, technology, and good old common sense are the ways we humans improvise, adapt, overcome, evolve, survive, and thrive.
Choose wisely.
Stevo's Personal Blog 