THIS is not about lamb lies. It’s in response to an article I just read by John Hamilton entitled “Some Generous Apes May Help Explain The Evolution Of Human Kindness” at https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand.... I have always been fascinated by the two faces of humans: the cruel and the kind. Violence is so much a part of life that cruelty, or at least the capacity for cruelty, is often what one sees when confronting another human. But it’s not all we are. We have a capacity for empathy — being “wired” to “walk in another’s moccasins” — when our suspicion and viciousness don’t overpower, that can more than offset our tendency to cruelty. And of all other animals, bonobos — an endangered great ape — demonstrate our empathic side in the extreme.
While chimps — a different species — tend, like our darker side, to rely on cunning and competition, bonobos emphasize cooperation and sharing in almost all of their social interactions, including even sex. While chimps tend to be patriarchal, bonobos are matriarchal. I think of the two like the god Janus, typically portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future, holding a key in his right hand. I look forward to the time when humans can seize control of our violent history long enough to move on to cooperation. Read carefully, you will see this theme running throughout THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It culminates in a return to spiritual pantheism with Wicca as the representative religion.
I often wonder what Homo sapiens sapiens will eventually succumb to in the relentless evolutionary struggle. Me, I’d be happy if we could simply catch up with the bonobos.
Soon to be an audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock. Purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatments.
While chimps — a different species — tend, like our darker side, to rely on cunning and competition, bonobos emphasize cooperation and sharing in almost all of their social interactions, including even sex. While chimps tend to be patriarchal, bonobos are matriarchal. I think of the two like the god Janus, typically portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future, holding a key in his right hand. I look forward to the time when humans can seize control of our violent history long enough to move on to cooperation. Read carefully, you will see this theme running throughout THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It culminates in a return to spiritual pantheism with Wicca as the representative religion.
I often wonder what Homo sapiens sapiens will eventually succumb to in the relentless evolutionary struggle. Me, I’d be happy if we could simply catch up with the bonobos.
Soon to be an audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock. Purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatments.
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