Part 3 - Part 2
Neglecting to nurture their Human intelligence, Homo Sapiens lived in primitive shelters with primitive tools and primitive art for more than one hundred thousand years.
Following what could be considered an inordinate period of neglect, a new wave of Creativity engulfed Humanity. It is worth noting that Tools were the vanguard of Progress.
Sapiens Tools were refined and made to serve more specialized purpose. Such as a spear head or barbed harpoon point, as opposed to being multi purpose, like the Homo Habilis Hand Axe.
This fresh wave of special purpose Tools could well be construed as weapons, but
we will extend to our early forebears the benefit of the doubt, and regard Sapiens tools as inventions to facilitate hunting.
It does however. prime the scene for the greedy, criminally minded, power hungry and any other devious entity to practice the dark side of Human Nature. Devious entities who believe it is okay to take advantage of their fellows at best and destroy them at worst.
Oblivious to the dark side dangers on the horizon, life carried on . . .
Unabated,
Homo Sapiens productive period of tool making
continued on to its zenith towards the end of the last Ice Age. This
inventive period culminated with the appearance of complex hunting tools
such as the shoulder spear thrower, a type of catapult instrument. Tool
making paved the way for Humanities move towards Agriculture and Animal
Husbandry.
Subsequent to the demise of our relative, Homo Neanderthalensis, Homo Sapiens found they had the World almost to themselves.
Following the finish of the ice age, controversially, ten to twenty thousand years ago, the Stone Age was fare-welled by the gradual settlement of Humans into Communities.
Agriculture and Animal Farming exercised Thinking Humans Minds.
From the two active influences of China and the Near East, agriculture and farming spread to Europe. Initially, uptake was slow.
Gradually increasing recognition of the obvious benefits delivered by
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry permitted these two activities that are
essential to Human Communities survival, to be adopted and implemented
on an ever wider scale.
Cities and Culture developed as
communities grew, expanded, and thrived. Once again with Asia and the
ancient Near East leading, and Europe following.
From this point onward we witness several major Epochs that have determined the State Of The World to the present day. Epochs that lingered to form Ages, which in turn determined possible living conditions and quality of Life.
All the product of Thought.
Several thousand years beyond Humanities adoption of agriculture,
the advent of metal smelting, first with copper and then tin, led to
the Bronze Age when these two metals were eventually combined to form an
alloy. Several thousand years passed by from the discovery of Copper
and Tin, to the realization that these two elements could be combined to
form a super useful third metal.
The Iron Age came next, some
two thousand years after the commencement of the Bronze Age. Earliest
artefactual evidence of the Iron Age apparently dates to around 2500 BC.
Technical advancement however came with a high price tag.
To smelt and refine iron ore effectively, consistently high furnace
temperatures are required. With necessity being the Mother Of Invention,
early Chinese innovators contrived a bellows operated blast furnace and
achieved these higher temperatures some hundreds of years before their
European counterparts.
The price they paid for this invention, though, was very high indeed.
Blast
furnaces were powered by charcoal. Charcoal was obtained from the
burning of wood, contributing significantly to the depletion of forests.
The severe consequences of which the Chinese Nation is still suffering
today.
In the face of scarcity and high prices of metallurgical
coal to produce coke, charcoal is still used in some modern steel making
plants. Except in a much more economical manner and usually from
managed forests.
Whether beneficial or detrimental, Human intelligence dictates Ages and the direction Human History takes.
Age,
is a descriptive term applied to major influences upon Societies at
large. Ages can exist concurrently and overlap. Although specific
practices can be attributed to the dominant use of a material or
procedure and thus locate its time-frame in History.
We are now
living in the Electronic, Space, and Communication ages, to identify
just three. But we also make much use of Bronze and Iron. Indeed, we
still use Stone.
But, hopefully, for not too many Tools.
Whether collective Humanities application of the gift of intelligence is Good or bad is a point in need of much serious attention. There can be no doubt, Thinking is a Skill.
Making decisions that do no irreparable harm to the Natural Environment that supports us, to each other, or to our fellow travelers on this Planet, while exponentially benefiting ourselves, is applied Human intelligence of the highest order.
Sadly, the requisite Thinking Ability that enables such elevated decisions to be reached, is as rare as hen's teeth.
Our fellow travelers - meaning all other life - Conscious and Unconscious - are Elements of an integrated Planet wide System that works best when not disturbed to an appreciable degree.
An integrated, self sustaining, Planet wide System of Organic Life is a recent realization that took as long to infiltrate Human Conscious Awareness as did the aforementioned discovery that alloyed tin and copper make an excellent and useful material.
It is perhaps Ironic - but no laughing matter - that this rare, quality, thinking, is so readily available to each and every one of us.
Via the Natural Laws of Personal Development.
The following twenty or so pages are devoted to providing a glimpse into the Mindset of some of the most influential thinkers to have passed this way.
Offered in a chronicled manner, these pages help to illustrate how we Humans contribute to that Reality
we are compelled to participate in. Coincidentally emphasizing the
actuality that if we desire change, we must initiate change ourselves.
The
stalwart personalities represented in this timeline were Thoughtful
Humans who, against almost overwhelming odds have broken through the
blackness of ignorance and subjugation, into the luminous warmth of
Knowledge and Freedom.
A few of these Hardy souls demonstrate a glimmer of the Higher Order Intelligence that is so urgently becoming a prerequisite to ensure our survival.
It is fascinating, and, this author believes, essential, to keep uppermost in one's mind, the perception that this rare quality thinking is readily available to you and me as we go about observing how our Forebears employed their Human Intelligence - aka mind-power - on the following pages.
How
can we refine and improve our individual, and collective, Thinking
ability to achieve aims and improve the Human Condition, with the least,
or no detrimental impact?
As we study and assimilate the lessons these switched on Mindsets offer, we can develop and refine our own thinking styles that emulate the Best Minds so far.
And in so doing, make wise, equitable decisions that minimize harm and maximize Good. Per se.
How does that make you feel?
This Website Is Dedicated To Mind Expansion
Personal Development Rocks!
Part 3 - Part 2
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