Neoteny
let me take a moment to take a swim thru my rambling thoughts...
Neoteny. that's a word that i really hope i can retain and make part of my vocabulary. i came across the concept probably 10yrs ago and though the concept/theory stayed with me all these years, i didn't have a word to reference it with. but thanks to the glory of wikipedia, now i can remember 'neoteny'.
if it wasn't for my love of canines and their psychology, i don't think i'd ever come across the theory. the theory that dogs are essentially a race of overgrown baby wolves that was possibly spawned by the act of human interference/domestication. i'd never really knew/noticed the clues and traits. barking, for one. barking is a wolf cub trait. wolves grow out of barking, yet dogs bark throughout their entire lives. even proportions. taking into consideration that most of today's dogs have been crossbred with countless dog breeds, most full-grown dogs are the same proportions AS wolf cubs.
then i guess thats where i started applying the Neoteny concept to humans. i know that there's been the observation that adult humans have the same proportions to infant chimps, but i started thinking beyond that. after realizing that dogs might essentially be this infantile race of wolves that just can't "grow up" into the great specimens wolves are, i started thinking of humans as quite infantile. cuz you got wolves that've been molded by nature/natural selection to be these great efficient social creatures totally independent of human involvement. they have all these abilities/traits that make them the great hunters we know them to be. then we have dogs, who retain alot of the same wild traits and characteristics, but its all pointless. they don't NEED many of these behaviors in the care/company of humans, but i guess they come in handy from time to time, but they're altogether unnecessary.
but how does this apply to people? just that i think of people as another one of these 'infantile' races roaming the earth. even though, realistically, we're indeed the new kid on the block compared to most creatures in the world, i think we really are a bunch of big "babies" running around the place. we have so much potential as to what we're capable of doing and being, but i feel like we're wasting our time and lives on the most unimportant of things. there are so many things that seem like we should be paying more attention to, things that greatly affect our health and happiness, our environment, the welfare of our fellow man, and the innocent animals we share our world with. granted, there are those trying to turn things around, but why does it have to be a few trying to convince the many?
why are we waking up every day at 7am so we can prepare for our 9-5 job as a programmer, analyst, salesman, burger-flipper, multimedia person, or professional bullshitter and earn that big paycheck, get that kickass 401k, so we can take our ski trips to countries/towns we might not be able to spell/pronounce right. why don't we tackle pollution, crime and poverty with the same "well, i have to. i don't have a choice. that's life" kinda attitude? i dunno, but when there's obvious problems with our world, why can't we be like a colony of freakin ants? at least they rally together, although defensively, when something's going on. their culture's the very definition of teamwork. they know what they have to do and they just do it.
do it. do it.
of course, "easier said than done", but why?
do you really have to be some kinda revolutionary type leader figure to get things done? is that the essence of being human: for the many to act stupid/immaturely until the few takes hold and shows them how to "grow up"?
or maybe we are just a race of orphan babies and the official NKOTB and, like all kids, we're still finding our way. maybe this is all completely natural and "as designed" and we'll eventually get to where we're gonna go. and in the meantime, natural resources will be destroyed/depleted, babies will continue being starved, mutilated, and raped, and we will continue to declare war on all things that continue to defy our will.
so many things, too many things.
Neoteny. that's a word that i really hope i can retain and make part of my vocabulary. i came across the concept probably 10yrs ago and though the concept/theory stayed with me all these years, i didn't have a word to reference it with. but thanks to the glory of wikipedia, now i can remember 'neoteny'.
if it wasn't for my love of canines and their psychology, i don't think i'd ever come across the theory. the theory that dogs are essentially a race of overgrown baby wolves that was possibly spawned by the act of human interference/domestication. i'd never really knew/noticed the clues and traits. barking, for one. barking is a wolf cub trait. wolves grow out of barking, yet dogs bark throughout their entire lives. even proportions. taking into consideration that most of today's dogs have been crossbred with countless dog breeds, most full-grown dogs are the same proportions AS wolf cubs.
then i guess thats where i started applying the Neoteny concept to humans. i know that there's been the observation that adult humans have the same proportions to infant chimps, but i started thinking beyond that. after realizing that dogs might essentially be this infantile race of wolves that just can't "grow up" into the great specimens wolves are, i started thinking of humans as quite infantile. cuz you got wolves that've been molded by nature/natural selection to be these great efficient social creatures totally independent of human involvement. they have all these abilities/traits that make them the great hunters we know them to be. then we have dogs, who retain alot of the same wild traits and characteristics, but its all pointless. they don't NEED many of these behaviors in the care/company of humans, but i guess they come in handy from time to time, but they're altogether unnecessary.
but how does this apply to people? just that i think of people as another one of these 'infantile' races roaming the earth. even though, realistically, we're indeed the new kid on the block compared to most creatures in the world, i think we really are a bunch of big "babies" running around the place. we have so much potential as to what we're capable of doing and being, but i feel like we're wasting our time and lives on the most unimportant of things. there are so many things that seem like we should be paying more attention to, things that greatly affect our health and happiness, our environment, the welfare of our fellow man, and the innocent animals we share our world with. granted, there are those trying to turn things around, but why does it have to be a few trying to convince the many?
why are we waking up every day at 7am so we can prepare for our 9-5 job as a programmer, analyst, salesman, burger-flipper, multimedia person, or professional bullshitter and earn that big paycheck, get that kickass 401k, so we can take our ski trips to countries/towns we might not be able to spell/pronounce right. why don't we tackle pollution, crime and poverty with the same "well, i have to. i don't have a choice. that's life" kinda attitude? i dunno, but when there's obvious problems with our world, why can't we be like a colony of freakin ants? at least they rally together, although defensively, when something's going on. their culture's the very definition of teamwork. they know what they have to do and they just do it.
do it. do it.
of course, "easier said than done", but why?
do you really have to be some kinda revolutionary type leader figure to get things done? is that the essence of being human: for the many to act stupid/immaturely until the few takes hold and shows them how to "grow up"?
or maybe we are just a race of orphan babies and the official NKOTB and, like all kids, we're still finding our way. maybe this is all completely natural and "as designed" and we'll eventually get to where we're gonna go. and in the meantime, natural resources will be destroyed/depleted, babies will continue being starved, mutilated, and raped, and we will continue to declare war on all things that continue to defy our will.
so many things, too many things.