CHAPTER 3
Contemporary Wisdom And Future Humanity…
History of human evolution; especially the history of organized human civilizations and cultures is a mesmerizing and magnanimous bunch of Information. It is virtual ‘energy bundle’ for humanity to fuel its future journey. History must never be repeated. It shall, always, if humanity continues to fail to learn and especially ‘unlearn’ from its past – both mistakes as well as marvels. The very basics of physics of Reality tells us that ‘change’ is the only constant and if we feel the linearity of the ‘arrow’ of Time, it is because change is always transforming Information for us.
Primarily, the singular and critical ‘learning’ from history is that every speck of all Milieus and all Media must alter and renovate itself in sync and symmetry with changes in the progression of Time Dimension. Every creature, including humans as ‘media’ and their cultural milieus must keep pace with Time. What however is the ‘unlearning’ from history is that even if there is something glorious and brilliant in past and present, it must never be ‘revered’ as static virtue; it also must keep evolving and upgrading itself. If these twin elements of learning and unlearning are not kept energized in unending cyclicality of dialectical change; history shall repeat itself and that would unleash calamitous probabilities for human systems and life-living. We clearly see this happening in contemporary cultures and systems. Even worse; let alone glories, the worst of stupidities, mediocrity and hypocrisies are being continued and even idealized as static virtues. This manifests itself in calamitous cultures. History repeating itself is a huge ‘metaphor’, which needs to be understood in its holism…
Human history can be approached from different perspectives. Do kindly allow acceptance of a novel approach of history being a dialectic progression and journey of Information. Human history is a very miniscule, though very critical portion of the long and vast history of our universe. Magically enough, the ‘history’ itself happened as humanity happened; otherwise there was no nomenclature of historicity. The Big Bang happened 14.5 billion years ago and it created the primary and transcendental Information. The Big Bang and its ‘perceived’ details of high energy and magically mystical progression may itself be considered some sort of ‘metaphor’, which humanity has created for our own understanding. Human understanding has its limits.
Like, we probably cannot perceive and understand ‘nothingness’ in its absoluteness and holism. Why? Probably because, even if we feel and perceive ‘nothingness’, it is an ‘observation’ and perception of the Media of body-mind consciousness, which itself is ‘something’. The ‘something’ observing a ‘nothing’ is likely to embed its innate elements of ‘beingness’ into the observation and this shall ‘vitiate’ the absoluteness of ‘nothingness’. The Media uploading its own message has this propensity of vitiating objectivity and absoluteness; we know that. That is why we hypothesize that most Information, even Big Bang, nothingness, somethingness, finiteness or infiniteness et al may only be ‘metaphoric’ – some ‘representation’ of a probable Reality. This in no way discredits even a miniscule speck of Science as most causalities, we humans encounter in our life-living are Media-Level Information and science has good amount of definitiveness unraveling them and using them for benefit of humanity.
History has progressed just like that. Human history is a good ‘representation’ of how Information progresses in metaphoric linearity of Time and how the dialectical evolutionary energy of change and metamorphosis works in interactional causalities. A short elaboration of this hypothesis may facilitate understanding of what we intend to deliberate in this chapter.
We have hypothesized earlier; Information may be accepted as the ‘building block’ of all Reality. Human consciousness as ‘Media’ of information processing has been in constant and evolving interaction with external physical milieus as well as internal body-mind milieus. This continued and evolving Interconnect and Interplay of Information and Media is the metaphoric Reality of linearity of Time and this engenders the cognition of History. Therefore, the singular, core and critical ‘learning’ from history is this Cyclicality of Causality between Information and Media.
Even before the ‘Media’ of humanity happened, Time progressed metaphorically, with its Information-Media causality and as early-primitive ‘Brain’ had happened much before humans happened, multitude of metaphoric Information as innate, entrenched or wired ‘Knowledge’ had become part of the brain, which kept evolving till humans happened. Human brain, which is the best possible and most empowered Media to unravel and decipher Reality, itself is probably a poorly catalogued library of history. Modern science has definitive Information about human brain evolution and we all know how human brain is not a singular organ but a ‘cooperative’ of different organs, evolved within different Timeline. We have a reptilian brain and a mammalian (monkey) brain stacked beneath the upper brain, which we call the cerebrum and the cerebral cortex. Scientists tell us that we humans still have genetic materials of the primeval ancestors of reptiles and monkeys. Our genome has the ‘debris’ of viruses, human body encountered and survived. Therefore, human brain itself is a history, which can look into what it calls the ‘history’.
Human brain, which engenders human consciousness, is probably a good example of how Information and Media are ‘entangled’ entities and their constant interaction is the primary ‘energy’ for causality of every other Reality, which we perceive. Essentially, when we talk of History, we definitively invest ourselves into the progression of human brain and the journey of human consciousness. This is also the history of civilizations and ‘cultures’, we have documented.
We can begin the history of human brain since 10,000 years back, when humans settled and began to live an organized life in small tribal societies. When we look back at this history and trace it down to contemporary Times, we probably can unravel and understand where humanity went ‘wrong’ and what learning and ‘unlearning’ we can derive for future corrections and excellence.
We know good lot about the contemporary human brain, as the neuroscience has deciphered great many aspects of the mechanisms and processes of human brain, especially, how it works in contemporary milieus. However, the knowledge of brain’s evolution in the past 10,000 years is still largely elusive. This leaves the scope of some scientific philosophization, which we may resort to just for the sake of better understanding of our own hypothesis. Very early humans had very little knowledge of the larger milieus as what was ‘primary and cardinal’ to survival was ‘memory’ of prospective and safe localized locations and some survival skills. Later, when settlements happened and agriculture happened, the human brain probably had enough latitude of safety, leisure and prosperity to be inquisitive about the larger milieus and more information just for the sake of ‘awareness’ and probably entertainment. The upper brain associated with planning, thoughtfulness, organization, association, et al began to be more active and more organized. Modern scientists have discovered that in humans as well as in most domesticated animals, the brain size has ‘shrunk’ by around 10 percent in the last 70,000 years. Many believe it has happened because the upper brain portions have become more efficient (as happened with computers) and therefore their size became sleek and small. Also, as life became comfortable, it required less activity and physical strife, the muscles emaciated and hence less brain space required to handle them.
Human brain’s journey with wider, un-survivalist and knowledge related Information began early in our civilization. Around 3000-4000 years back, philosophy was the torchbearer of human inquisitiveness and wisdom. It was impending and incumbent upon Philosophy to ask relevant questions and seek sincere and honest answers. Human knowledge began on sound footing with early intellectuals in possession of philosophical duties were respected well and had the support of people, who looked upon them as leadership. That was however the Time, when human knowledge could not go much beyond innate intuitive thinking and cognition, even though the philosophers did their best to be inquisitive about almost every little aspect of life-living and milieus around. They however did not have the tools and enough Information to arrive at definitiveness of what we now know as scientific objective Reality in its holism.
Science now has taken the leadership baton from philosophy, even while the later still remains valid and worthy, as it continues to supplement and support science with relevant questions and alternative possibilities of answers. However, in contemporary Times, objective science is the definitive ‘benchmark’ of approaching all Realities. It is altogether different matter that contemporary science is not as respected and followed by masses, as ancient and even modern era philosophers were. Science has not been duly and definitively handed over the crown position of human leadership, as it was given to philosophy in earlier centuries. Tragically enough, a rogue politician or an iconic movie star is far more powerful mass leader than any brilliant scientist in contemporary world of humans!
Still, as Philosophy did earlier for humanity, contemporary science is the true and definitive Timekeeper for humanity. Humanity is as back and forth in Time linearity as the scientific knowledge pool takes us to. What contemporary science has known and established as True and Real, is the Benchmark of Presentness and Contemporaneous for an individual. Anyone, having lesser Information than the benchmarked ‘Wisdom’, lives in Past. Someone, who can seek to know more than this benchmark is a futuristic person.
Human brain has evolved so far as innate and tough nature ensured that all brains of single species remained ‘leveled’ at this critical ‘presentness’ at any given point of time. As we have talked earlier, all animals process Information in innate and entrenched way and there is no cultural metaphorization of Information. That is majorly why all brains of a particular animal population are at this ‘Singularity of Presentness’. They behave and act in consonance with singular collective and contemporaneous wisdom of the herd, which itself emanates out of singular common processing of Information by the collective minds of animals in herds. We have all watched how every year many hundred thousands of Wildebeest of Serengeti, along with Gazelles, Impalas and Zebras follow a definitive migratory ritual of crossing the Mara River in collective action/behavior. This is the magic of singular brain Presentness & Contemporaneousness, which is rare for humans. Yes, humans also somehow poorly simulate the ‘animal behavior’ when they watch a passionate soccer game in large stadium or become a crowd of rioting humans on streets.
This missing singularity is definitive superiority of humans as it allows them the differentiated cognitive shades of Reality. However, this is also the core trouble element of humanity and this happens because human brains are at different Timelines, primarily because of the troubled ‘metaphorization’ of innate and entrenched Information by human cultures. That is why, we talked about the blatant need of an alternative culture and other human systems, which are based on singular benchmark of ‘utility’ and ‘worth’ as decided by the contemporary Timeline of scientifically objective and universal Information, available to all humans of the world, irrespective of which country they live, what ethnic identity they belong to and whatever faith they may be free to follow. Human knowledge for all 7.5 billions of people on earth and the Information plexus they are deriving from it, must be singular and universal. If not, then the humanity can never ever be at one Timeline and may always remain divided, conflicted and confused.
There may never be equality of resources every human possesses in human systems. However contemporary concentration of most wealth in five percent hands should also be immediately corrected and an alternative human system must have at least ‘equitable’ distribution of wealth and incomes. However, there must be reasonably high equitability of knowledge and unfettered Information to all. This Equitability of Knowledge is the primary and transcendental Liberty, which we have talked about earlier. Humans without Liberty are worse than animals as they become slaves. All human brains and mind consciousness must have reasonably high equitable consciousness and cognition levels, so that they all live in ‘presentness’ of singular Timeline. This Liberty is available inevitably to animals; why humans should lag behind? This fair equitability of Information shall facilitate a harmony and symmetry in human cultures and systems that ‘govern’ or organize human lives, especially the corrupted political systems. Equality of Information is the very basis of Liberty of humanity. The contemporary age of advanced scientific knowledge of humanity can and it must ensure this universal Liberty to all humans. This is the bare minimum, the alternative and novel culture humanity needs in 21st century.
The fact remains to be entrenched as core cultural wisdom that economic equality of material resources is not even important for human systems and life-living. The economic prosperity probably requires some level of reasonable ‘inequality’ of incomes and resources but not as much concentration of wealth as it is in contemporary human world. The requirement is ‘equitability’, where no human should be left to suffer any hardship because of sufficient resources for food, education, health and security. These are bare basics for every human and it is the duty of all political systems to provide equal facilities to all its citizens with respect to the bare basics. There still shall be enough areas where unequal resource distribution can be allowed and it shall not affect the overall harmony and symmetry of societies and cultures. Yes, provided that along with universal endowments of bare basics, every human being have perfectly equal access and possession of Information and its sanctity and sanity is ensured by contemporary scientifically objective benchmarks of Reality.
We need to clearly understand, what basically ails the current human cultures and human systems when it comes to the very critical idea of ‘equality’ and Liberty. We deliberate here these aspects to arrive at how we need to unlearn the current cultural stupidities/hypocrisies and embark on a true alternative idea of equality and liberty.
We have talked about how Information seeks its Media for expression and communication. Also, the Media itself manifests its own ‘messages’ as Information, often metaphored and represented. Therefore, the Information keeps changing and transforming itself at different milieu and media specific dimensions. These transformations create Causalities and these causalities in turn engender Purposes. We have hypothesized earlier that innate and entrenched information become metaphors or symbols of the Reality because the Media itself loads, shades and lends ‘forms’ to innate Information. This in turn translates to a transformed reality that Media and its own ‘loaded messages’ become the ‘purpose’ itself than what true and real purposes the innate information could have been. The Media invests its own sense and cognition of ‘Purpose’ on the causalities and here the trouble starts.
Let us be more specific and understand it with more clarity. Our body-mind is a very powerful Media. The consciousness, which itself is the Media of body-mind plexus, is the genius of representation of Information to create its own subjective Reality. It processes the innate causalities in a way that has high entropic probability of seeding depravity and mediocrity. The body-mind Media has its own set of survival causalities and it comes in the form of Innate and entrenched Information but expressed as metaphoric subjective representations, which we term as Hunger, sexuality, comfort, safety, relationships, etc. These Informations present themselves as ‘Purpose’. These purposes are just the means for the survival optimization of the Media as the Media is powerful enough to embark on a journey of many shades of other set of information. The body-mind Media and its sub-media of Consciousness however assigns undue and obsessed ‘worth and utility’ to the basic but survivalist ‘purposes’ of Hunger, sexuality, comfort, safety, relationships, etc. Here the entropic probabilities creep in. These purposes are essential but they are not what the Media has the innate potential to attain. It is the simple question of ‘ends’ and ‘means’. The means cannot be and should never be ‘ends’ in itself. This is mediocrity and depravity. The consciousness is such a powerful Media and it is the ‘Portal’ of infinite realities as it can and it should access infinite information in the milieus, much through non-intuitive cognition. This is what the Media of consciousness has potentials for and these are true and real ‘Purposes’.
For example, I join a new job and the first day I visit my office, I invest all my time and energy in ensuring I have the best of facilities. So, I find the office cabin small for my comfort. I am unhappy with the chair and desk and want them changed with ‘suitable’ ones. I am not fully satisfied with the laptop I have been provided with and want them replaced. The curtains, the upholstery, the stationery, the feel of the place, the air-conditioning, everything seem so out of place to me and I want them all changed to my satisfaction. It is very much like most humans spending all their lives, investing most of their energies and Time on availability, abundance and specificity of survivalist ‘purposes’ of Hunger, sexuality, comfort, safety, relationships, etc.
Alternatively, what I could have done on the first day of my visit to my new office, even while I would not have been ‘happy’ with the above-mentioned facilities, is mingle with my colleagues and strike a harmony and camaraderie with them. I could have met my seniors and try to imbibe what they expected me to work as and what were the core issues, where I could prove my utility and worth as new entrant in their work system. Or I could have visited all other departments, other than mine, to understand the holism of the mechanisms and processes my new organization had for me to have a true and right perspective of how I could make a difference in their quality augmentation. The list is endless, provided, I had the Time and energy spared from my ‘unhappiness’ with facilities and replacing them to my ‘satisfaction’. Moreover, even if everything in my new office were perfect to my satisfaction and even better than what I had expectations of, I still could not have done what alternatively I could have or ‘should have’ done, if I did not have this consciousness, cognition and informed awareness about what ‘alternative’ there could be as my ‘work ethics’, sanity and sanctity. I, my consciousness, my cognition of worth-utility-success, my sense of purpose, my choices, etc are all ‘contextual’ to the quality and quantity of Information, which permeates and saturates my brain plexuses. I, my life-living, my success and my utility-worth are all just about Information. This information must always be very contemporaneous and at par and in sync with the presentness of collective accumulated Information Pool of humanity. This alone can ensure that I have the facility of optimizing my best potentials in all domains and dimensions of I, my consciousness, cognitions and causalities, which I confront and engender.
This situation and reality is for all of us. It happens with most of us. As we have talked earlier, majority of men and women have to struggle all their lives to have sufficiency of basic elements and resources of life-living like livelihood, food, safety, security, health, education, relationships, respect, affection, etc. Tragically enough, majority of human lives hover around just this miniscule Information of livelihood. Most human lives are obsessed only around the Information of Relationships. It happens because even after centuries of development in human civilizations and cultures, no political system has ever ensured sufficiency and equal access of even bare basics like above-mentioned elements to all its citizens. On the contrary, the contemporary cradle of modern human civilization and culture – the clustered and suffocating urban spaces, have only accentuated the gaps between haves and have-nots. Also, families and peer groups have failed to uphold the high standards of behavioral and attitudinal traits, which could ensure Human Dignity to all, irrespective of their status, ethnicity and faith. Moreover, a large number of men and women, who have the blessed endowment of self-sufficiency and security of these basic resources, are still investing majority of their time and energy on either bettering them or augmenting them. In fact, the usual human tragedy is that the moment a person attains sufficiency or abundance in one aspect of ‘purpose’, this itself translates into deficiency and loss of other purpose. One may gain in status and money and this often translates into troubles in relationships. For mass majority, it is ‘enslavement’ of forced Deprivation, whereas for a large numbers, it is enslavement of obsession and Indulgence. The slavery is unique, over-encompassing and unputdownable for most humans. Most have the helplessness and compulsion of deprivation of Resources. The vast number of humans has deprivation of Cognition.
As we are talking about ‘Alternative’ Realities of life-living, cultures and human systems, we need to unravel and decipher some basic yet core ideas and hypotheses about the Holism of Reality. This may help us in understanding and accepting some ‘alternative’ purposes and their non-intuitive utilities and worth for human life-living. As we talked about earlier – there are two parts of the Deprivation and therefore, the alternative also has two domains. First has the role of political systems and other related human systems to create such ‘alternative’ cultures and processes, which could ensure improved equitability and basic sufficiency to all humans. Second and more important role is that of every individual – the aware men and women to embark on such ‘alternative’ cognition, perspective and awareness, which could add and augment loads of other ‘purposes’ of better utilities and worth than the current obsessive and enslaved indulgence in the bare basics. In both domains of eradication of Deprivation; Information as Liberty plays the singular critical role. The Information is the key and core element, which energizes the causalities for optimization of potentials in all dimensions of life-living. We have been talking about this aspect of reality in so many different ways. We continue to progress ahead.
We talk about that in the next chapter. Take a break; have the best of the Chocolates in your fridge! It shall help in the readiness of the acceptance of the ‘alternative’ we are going to talk about. It is important to have a sense of ‘Fulfillment’ in one domain, before venturing into a novel and alternative domain of utilities and worth.
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