The Life of a Human

Chapter

1

Essay 1.1 - Communication tools and portals.

Essay 1.196 - I am an American.

The schism in American and Western Civilization… the wars in the Middle East not as the flashpoint in the philosophical battle between East and West, but an internal schism in the West (not independent from the East).

Mexico and the United States

Geographically, politically, economically, militarily, culturally,

Latin America and the United States

Economically, politically, governmentally, militarily

Canada and the United States

Economically, politically, governmentally, militarily, geographically,

The People of Turtle Island across time…

- Indigenous

- Inuit

- Innu - French , Acadien - Quebec - Canada

- Algonquin - North - British - Ontario - African

…. - Dutch - New York - Asian

- Blackfoot … … - U.S.A

…. - Central - European - American

- Aztec - Spanish - Mexico

- Mayan - Latin - Guatemalan

… - Cuba

- Quechua - Portugese - Brazil

- Tikuna - South

(overlay other animals)

Essay 1.3 - The current human population on planet earth.

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Currently; the human population on planet earth is 7,700,665,367 and it net increases by about 100,000 persons per day. There are sometimes a few people floating around in outer space at any given time too, but right now we are all within the earth’s gravitational pull.

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Essay 1.20 - Human sex.

Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson:

So come, my friends, be not afraid. We are so lightly here. It is in love that we are made, In love we disappear. Tho' all the maps of blood and flesh Are posted on the door. There's no one who has told us yet What boogie street is for. O crown of light, o darkened one, I never thought we'd meet. You kiss my lips, and then it's done. I'm back on boogie street.

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B. Curry

How is cultural evolution changing the way we procreate? If bio-technology progresses to a point where we are able to externalize human reproduction, what effect might that have on us as a species?

F. Dyson

If we abolish motherhood, we change human society in a fundamental way. I hope this does not happen. The mothers of the present generation are showing remarkable wisdom in reducing birth-rates all over the world, so I trust them to continue keeping population growth under control without any compulsion. I read that the average family size in Mexico decreased from 7 to 2.5 in the last fifty years. That is a remarkable achievement. All you have to do is educate the women, and the problem [of over-population] is solved.

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[insert] Paper on why humans have sex.

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Essay 1.173 - Love in a time of grad school.

S.E. Ford:

How many times I was told don’t go to grad school.

Despite everything I anticipated about the negative impacts on my mental health, present and future relationships, and bank accounts, here I find myself, in grad school. I still want to be here.

I learned quickly that all the scary things I was told weren’t just true - they were worse than I could have imagined. Life continues to go on around me. Long days of readings and lab work makes me feel stagnant - like I’m frozen in time while everyone I knew from before is hurtling forwards toward/into their futures. 

“They” are getting married and having children; have stable jobs and incomes; are buying houses and cars and Nintendo Switches and going on vacation. Maybe I didn’t want or value any of those things before, but the fact that those things aren’t in the cards for me right now cuts deep. Deeper than I’d ever care to admit.

I compulsively make lists.

They’re everywhere: in my sticker-covered day planner and lab book; on sticky notes; on my arm, in ballpoint pen; and on my phone; and in “the cloud”…

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B. Curry

How do you view religious stories? Are they antiquated and out of date, or is there some way we can re-frame them to better serve us today? 

F. Dyson 

Religion has deep roots in our species and we would not be human without it.

As my mother used to say:

Push religion out of the door, and it will come back through the window.

Religion is like literature and music and poetry, a precious part of our culture. I am totally opposed to any attempt to re-frame religion. The cure would certainly be worse than the disease.

Essay 1.187 - A-meme 🙏.

B. Curry

If culture now dominates the trajectory of our evolution, developing an understanding of how we are affected by memes is going to be one of the most important endeavours of our time. Do you have any fears in this regard?

F. Dyson

Of course, we should be afraid of propaganda and advertising. The best antidote is to keep open many channels for diverse opinions to be heard. But there is no way to avoid risks. Being an intelligent species is a risky game, and we do not avoid risks by suppressing unpopular opinions.

Ben:

The majority of the conversations I have these days are done over the internet, and written using symbols; I don’t use my literal voice to speak.

That’s only partially because we’re writing a book using social platforms on the internet… it’s also because sometimes I’m too anxious to have these conversations in real time, face-to face - I prefer the internet time… time with pauses and breaks, and silence… to think, to really think about what’s happening and about what I’m saying. It’s time that the internet gives us - precious time.

We’re social creatures. We wouldn’t survive without a connection to our communities. 
We communicate with our surroundings and amongst ourselves in the following ways: 

1) Verbally – contracting muscles in our necks creating sound waves to vibrate air, which propagates and amplifies through our mouths and projects outwards audibly (to certain species).

[ insert r/coolguide to mouth sounds]

2) Gesturally – moving, miming, waving, or otherwise signalling and motioning with our hands, head or other body parts, visibly (to certain species). 

3) Pictorially – using tools/medium to paint, scratch, scrape, write, and mark objects. 

We use these visual and auditory methods of communication to express our thoughts and ideas to other animals that are able to interpret motion and sound (energy) and to the universe at large. If a tree falls in the woods and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Not really, because sound is a ~byproduct/function/phenomenon of listening (a human experience).

Communication allows us to transcend time and space and build upon the ideas of our ancestors, which has lead us to what we are now: an animal that wields the power of technology, religion, science, time and an ability to coordinate and mobilize (at least, in theory) all ~8 million of us. That’s a lot of potential.

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