Life
Chapter 1 - Worldview
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Welcome to the Life page
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Life is a balancing act
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We can write many books about life, but the intention here differs. We discuss some crucial elements: evolution, the individual, the community, and the stories that support the community.
Life is a constant balancing act, teetering between stability (in extreme form a rocksteady relationship) and unpredictability (in extreme form a relationship-less chaos).
Life extracts its required energy from 'solid objects' (e.g. a potato) through a process (e.g. digestion) in which sugars (the useful energy) are released and used by the body, and the remainder remains as unuseful entropy.
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Key take-aways from the deep dive
- I - We can safely say that humans have not changed much genetically since the sedentary farming community emerged
- We - Participation refers to the activities by which people's interests, values, needs and concerns are incorporated into decisions and actions on public matters
- Context - SES (Social Economic Status) is most important
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Deep dive
Short summary of human evolution
Taxonomically, humans belong to the primates, a genus from the superfamily of great apes (Hominoidea), including gibbons, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees. Man is the only living species from the genus Homo, although there have been calls for humans to be placed in the same genus as the two species of chimpanzees (Chimpanzee + Bonobo).
- About 3.5 billion years ago the first simple single-celled organisms lived in water.
- Between 1 billion and 450 million years ago, plants and insects colonized the land
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- The first primates appeared 65 million years ago
- The first hominid appeared 6 million years ago
- 2.9 million years ago, Homo rudolfensis appeared
- 2.4 million years ago, Homo habilis appeared
- 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus spread as the first human species spread across other continents
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- 250.000 years ago, Homo sapiens (modern humans) appeared (7.500 to 10.000 generations back)
- 70.000 years ago, during volcanic eruptions in Sumatra, the then-existing human species are largely extinct, only in the south of Africa, about 12.000 modern humans survived (about 2.100 to 2.800 generations back)
- 40.000 years ago, modern man came to Europe as Cro-Magnon man (about 1.200 to 1.600 generations back)
- 10.000 years ago, agriculture was invented (about 300 to 400 generations back)
- 5.000 years ago, the use of writing appeared (about 150 to 200 generations back)
We can safely say that humans have not changed much genetically in the last 400 to 500 generations. In concrete terms, this means that if we could bring a baby born 12.000 to 15.000 years back to our time, they would grow up as perfectly normal human beings in our society.
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I
Genetics
Every biological individual carries genes. Genes contain the information that builds every biological being. Each gene is a unit of hereditary information and occupies a fixed position (locus) on a chromosome. The human genome (the entire set of chromosomes) contains an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 genes.
Genes can be described as duplicators. They make copies of themselves. When an organism reproduces, its genes implant copies of themselves into the new organism. The critical role reserved for organisms by genes is the transfer of (duplicated) genes to the next generation.
Evolutionary competition occurs not so much between organisms as between the genes themselves. Genes compete to get as many copies of themselves into the next generation as possible. Genes that provide characteristics that "promote the organism's survival and organise better transfer within a given context" will be more abundant in the next generation. Genes control organisms for their own survival. Therefore they determine the physical and mental properties and the behaviour.
A gene-centric perspective is the only correct one, nicely stated by Robert Sapolsky in his book 'Behave' (2017):
| The chicken is the strategy of the egg to create more eggs. |
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We
The voice of community
Have you ever stood among a singing audience at a concert? Curiously enough, this always sounds like one voice, even though one sings at different pitches and sings better or less well. Together, we exhibit the same characteristics as individuals. Robert Aumann (2005 Nobel Prize in Economics - “for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis”) has developed this further.
| Participation refers to the activities by which people's interests, values, needs and concerns are incorporated into decisions and actions on public matters. (1) |
| Through evolution, the human brain has developed to adjust to complex social group living (Dunbar, 2011). Neuroimaging studies have shown that our neural correlates respond differently to in-group and out-group members (Eberhardt, 2005; Amodio,2008; Ito and Bartholow, 2009; Chiao and Mathur, 2010; Kubotaet al., 2012; Eres and Molenberghs, 2013). Understanding how these neural correlates are influenced by group membership is important for a better understanding of how complex social problems such as racism and in-group bias develop. Race is just oneof many dimensions that people can use to categorize themselves.
Gender, age, profession, ethnicity, status, country of birth, sportsteam, social group and education are just a few examples that we use to categorize people as belonging either to the in-group or out-group. Research has shown that people categorize themselves and others even based on trivial criteria (Tajfel et al., 1971) and this categorization can be very fluid and is often context dependent (Turner et al., 1994). (2) |
| Content sourse | |
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| (1) | T. Nabatchi, M Leighninger - 2015 |
| (2) | Pascal Molenberghs - The neuroscience of in-group bias - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews - 2013 |
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Short summary of the evolution of human stories (in the west)
Ancient stories
Gilgamesh, king of Urk (Situated in the late 2nd millennium BC)
Gilgamesh became the hero par excellence of the ancient world—an adventurous, brave, but tragic figure symbolizing man's vain but endless drive for fame, glory, and immortality.
| When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man. |
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Greek Olympians (From 900 BC onward)
The Olympians were a race of deities primarily consisting of a third and fourth generation of immortal beings. They were worshipped as the principal gods of the Greek pantheon and so named because of their residency atop Mount Olympus. The Olympians gained their supremacy in a ten-year-long war of gods, in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over the previous generation of ruling immortal beings, the Titans.
Hellenism in a religious context refers to the modern pluralistic religion practised in Greece and worldwide by several communities derived from the beliefs, mythology and rituals from antiquity through and up to today. It is a system of thought and spirituality with a shared culture, values, and common ritualistic, linguistic and literary tradition.
The values that govern and guide are Eusebia (Piety) in our relationship with the Gods:
- Organikotis (Kinship) in our relationships within the community;
- Dikaiosyne (Justice) in terms of members' relations within the community and also as a guiding principle in the conduct of the community as a whole towards third parties,
achieving Eudaimonia [happiness] through attaining freedom, autonomy and self-sufficiency.
| Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in Ancient Greece. Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities, and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace the descent of one's leaders from a mythological hero or a god. |
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Old testament (From 500 BC onward)
God creates the world and humans. The humans rebel, and God "elects" (chooses) Abraham. From there follows the promise to the Patriarchs (children of Abraham), which has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land.
| Genesis
[1:1] In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, [1:27] So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. [1:28] God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." [5:1] This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God. [5:2] Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them "Humankind" when they were created. [12:2] I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. |
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New testament (From 50 AD onward)
The church teaches that man is a sacred and social person, and families are the basic units of society. It advocates a complementarian view of marriage, family life, and religious leadership. Full human development takes place in relationships with others.
- The family is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children.
- Every person has a fundamental right to life and to the necessities of life.
- The church supports private property and teaches that "every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own".
- According to natural law, freedom is the empowerment of good. Free people have responsibilities.
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Science
Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642)
At the time of Galileo's conflict with the Church, most educated people subscribed to the Aristotelian geocentric view that the Earth is the centre of the Universe and the orbit of all heavenly bodies, from biblical passages, implying the fixed nature of the Earth. According to popular legend, after recanting his theory that the Earth moved around the Sun, Galileo allegedly muttered the rebellious phrase, "And yet it moves".
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Charles Darwin (12 februari 1809 – 19 april 1882)
Darwin's book 'On the Origin of Species' was published on November 24, 1859. It described the principle of natural selection and made credible the common descent of all life.
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Sigmund Freud (6 mei 1856 – 23 september 1939)
Although several of Freud's theories and methods are controversial, he is considered the founder and one of the most influential psychologists and thinkers of the 20th century. According to Freud, the human mind consists of a complex web of events and processes, only part of which is accessible to consciousness. The mind is divided into two departments, which are more or less independent of each other.
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Social-cultural
Catholic social doctrine
Catholic social doctrine is rooted in the social teachings of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, the Old Testament, and the Hebrew scriptures. The church responded to historical conditions in medieval and early modern Europe with philosophical and theological teachings on social justice, which considered the nature of humanity, society, economy, and politics.
| Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. (3) |
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| (3) | Pope Francis |
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Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution in other countries was a turning point too. In the agrarian societies, four families produced enough food for five families, that is for themselves and one more family. Not much manpower was available for non-agricultural activity. In the course of the revolution, one family began to produce enough food for five families. Much manpower was liberated from agriculture and became available for industry. Thus the Agricultural Revolution made possible the Industrial Revolution.
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Industrial Revolution
The First Industrial Revolution, was a period of global transition of the human economy towards more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes that succeeded the Agricultural Revolution, starting from Great Britain and spreading to continental Europe and the United States. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines; new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes; the increasing use of water power and steam power; the development of machine tools; and the rise of the mechanized factory system. Output greatly increased, and the result was an unprecedented rise in population and the rate of population growth.
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Neo-Liberalism
Neoliberalism refers to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers", and reducing state influence in the economy primarily through privatization and austerity. It is also commonly associated with the economic policies introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States. Some scholars note that it has several distinct usages in different spheres:
- As a development model, it rejects structuralist economics, favouring the Washington Consensus.
- As an ideology, it denotes a conception of freedom as an overarching social value associated with reducing state functions to those of a minimal state.
- As a public policy, it involves the privatization of public economic sectors or services, the deregulation of private corporations, a sharp decrease in government budget deficits and a reduction of spending on public works.
| The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and United States Department of the Treasury. The term was first used in 1989 by English economist John Williamson. The prescriptions encompassed free-market promoting policies such as trade liberalization, privatization and finance liberalization. They also entailed fiscal and monetary policies intended to minimize fiscal deficits and minimize inflation. |
| If the individual is to be free to choose, it is inevitable that he should bear the risk attaching to that choice,’ further noting that ‘the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice. (4) |
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| (4) | F A Hayek - Individualism and Economic Order (1948) |
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Survival of the richest and the most powerful
With the advent of our cultural society, the statement 'the survival of the fittest' has taken on a completely different meaning. Previously, it was about an 'accidental and blind' adaptation to a changing context. Now, it is also about an intentional adjustment to a context that can be adjusted intentionally by who is capable.
Life expectancy was generally shorter than today in ancient times and the Middle Ages due to several factors, such as poor hygiene, lack of healthcare access and knowledge about healthy eating. Despite these challenges, some people in ancient times and the Middle Ages lived to a relatively old age. These people were often wealthy and had access to better nutrition, better health care and better living conditions.
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A Harvard analysis of 1.4 billion Internal Revenue Service records on income and life expectancy that showed staggering differences in life expectancy between the richest and poorest. The only thing it seems to be correlated with is how educated and rich the area is. While researchers have long known that life expectancy increases with income, the researchers were surprised to find that trend never plateaued.
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| Harvard Gazette - For life expectancy, money matters - 2016 |
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A Swedish study compared the wealth of people in adulthood (on average at age 44) and that of their biological and adoptive parents. Researchers found that environmental factors influence prosperity more than biological factors: the prosperity of adopted children during adulthood is more influenced by the wealth of the adoptive parents than that of the biological parents. Growing up in an environment of wealth seems to have certain advantages, which largely determine whether children become more successful and richer later in life.
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| Lundborg & Majlesi - Statistic Sweden |
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Gregory Clark, an economist at the University of California, has extensively researched social mobility and the influence of family ties. He states that social status is primarily determined by heredity. Moreover, he notes that social mobility is very rare: more than half of one's social status can be predicted based on the social position of one's ancestors.
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| Gregory Clark - ‘The Son Also Rises’ |
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In summary, wealth, status, power, etc., makes us live longer, possibly resulting in more offspring. This is a human logical reason to strive for (tangible ) WEALTH and (intangible) STATUS.
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