8 Comments

1. Lester says:

   I was taking a walk with my wife this afternoon and a slightly built middle-aged guy approached us and insisted in a accent that sounded Eastern European that the world was going to end in three days.

   “They are going to bomb us with a nuclear weapon and we’ll all be dead. Three days.” He held up three fingers to back up the truthfulness of his claim.

   I didn’t bother asking who “they” were or why they were going to bomb us because I didn’t want to encourage him. My wife and I politely thanked him for the information and proceded on our way.

   The man didn’t seem mentally ill, just earnest in his insistence. He was neatly dressed and quite fit. I would expect this kind of confrontation in Manhattan, but not on the main street of the middle-class suburb in which I live. I began to think that he knew something that we didn’t. Maybe he was in on the plot to destroy us all. Maybe I should have reported the incident to the police or Homeland Security. Or maybe he was just reacting to the constant threats that seem to assail us on all fronts: North Korea, al-Qaida, British Petroleum.

   I had forgotten about this srange incident until I saw Dave’s photo of boys engaged in war games. The photo is kind of cute, especially with the smaller, younger boy brandishing the weapons and in hot pursuit. But it’s also frightening when you think that this natural male aggressiveness only gets more dangerous as boys turn into men.

   A couple of hours ago, I read an account of a 78 year old French engineer who was trying to build a school in North Africa, but was beheaded by al-Qaida. Apparently, the idea of a school was upsetting to the local Islamic terrorists. French President Sarkozy promised to seek revenge. I responded by making a short video about the beheading and other recent atrocities in the name of Islam and put it to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” (amolizgeven.wordpress.com)

   The well-meaning, but naive lyrics coupled with images of extreme brutality and hatred makes you think how hopeless it is to dream of peace. Maybe this guy on the street is right and we only have a little bit of time left before we destroy ourselves.

   July 26, 2010, 10:52 pm

2. dave says:

   Yes. The initial look may say, isn’t that cute. Kids pretending to be swordsmen. Who knows what’s going on in their heads; or who they’re pretending to be.

   We often pretended to be cowboys and Indians. The Indians were, of course, always the enemy. Later we grow up and learn a bit about history, and genocide.

   But as kids, we are just pure reflections of society, and driven by genetic impulses which portend the future.

   As far as destroying ourselves: we would have done it long ago, if we could have. Now we can, so it may only be a matter of time.

   I’m going to smoke my cigars and stop eating meat. These may seem contrary impulses, but they’re not. Neither one has to do with health. I don’t really have anything against eating meat, so long as I was forced to hunt and kill it. I don’t like the idea of mass slaughter of animals.

   July 27, 2010, 7:08 am

3. Lester says:

   Read an interesting article in Scientific American this month. Apparently, modern humans were on the verge of extinction about 200,000 years ago during one of many ice ages, but they got through the evolutionary bottleneck at the southernmost tip of Africa by spear fishing and gathering shellfish. We are all descendants of these resourceful ancestors. The article didn’t say if they smoked cigars.

   July 27, 2010, 7:41 am

4. dave says:

   Tobac smoking goes back to the dawn of man in Africa. They were originally used by shamans to help them concentrate.

   They didn’t become truly dangerous until the invention if the cigarette almost 200,000 years later and the export by Sir Walter Ralliegh of the smaller rolled injection systems to Europe.

   But clay pipes with tobacco ash have been found in French caves with wall paintings.

   July 27, 2010, 8:10 am

5. Phill says:

   It’s interesting, this thing with boys and weapons. I remember at Uni learning that even if boys are not given any toy guns or exposed to any form of war games, they will still, eventually, find something to use as a weapon and engage in some sort of fighting role play. This was certainly our experience with our son.

   It would seem that it’s innate and may hark back to the male role of hunter gatherer.
   .-= Phill´s last blog ..Trent Parke at Hugo Michell =-.

   July 27, 2010, 7:27 pm

6. dave says:

   And if their were no men, if the world was just made up of women, would there be more or less wars?

   Teenage girls seem to be extremely mean to each other, but in a non-physical way. So in this thought experiment, where there’s no competition for men, and women simply give birth to girls on some sort of schedule – would they have invented the a-bomb? Would it all be nice and non-aggressive. No more wars? I don’t know.

   July 27, 2010, 10:51 pm

7. Lester says:

   A world made up of only women is not the thought experiment needed to determine the nature of human aggression. Instead, one should posit a world dominated by women in which men are essentially powerless creatures used by women primarily for breeding purposes.

   I am not suggesting simple role reversal. In such a world, women would dominate but not abuse. Women would treat men like pampered pets and men would become genetically disposed to please, instead of being programmed to compete and murder. I may be a little kinky, but I think I’d like that kind of world.

   July 28, 2010, 12:22 pm

8. Phill says:

   I’m with Lester…
   .-= Phill´s last blog ..Trent Parke at Hugo Michell =-.

   July 28, 2010, 7:05 pm