So far this year I have not been very faithful to my journal or the blog it feeds. Mark Twain wrote; “If you have nothing to say, say nothing.” and that seems to be my dilemma. Posterity is no longer a concern. I’ve spoken to just about everything I am remotely versed in and coming at it from another direction has worn thin. It would be like a politician with a new necktie and the same old speech, thinking maybe the tie will make the difference, winning approval this time around. So now, when I struggle to find something worth saying, maybe I take my hero’s advice. But then I do like playing with words.
There is some wannabe wisdom that goes; The traits you cannot tolerate in others are the same ones you indulge in yourself. I think it a cautionary reminder. I know a man, a good guy who is stuck in one of those recycling loops. No matter where the conversation is going he finds a way inject his tedious fixation on (Bernie Sanders) politics. Then I realize that I can get preoccupied with the (Human condition/civilization) debate and live in fear that I might be dragging others with me down into my own rabbit hole; and I don’t want to do that. Still, I find myself digging in the same old places, looking for anything that makes the story more digestible. I like to think I am following an unfolding saga rather than pushing an agenda. I want the story to stand on its own legs and not be riddled with creative license.
Today I am reporting on a PBS Documentary, a four part mini series titled, ‘First Civilizations’. I came across it by chance on the Amazon Prime menu, watched it, took a few notes but will go back and watch it again. It touches most if not all my (Human Condition) buttons and brings things together in a way I hadn’t considered before. Each of the four episodes is framed in a different dynamic (force/control factor): War, Religion, Cities & Trade. It makes connecting the dots easier:, correlating what seem too be unrelated, independent scenarios and discovering consistent, recurrent patterns that emerge. The four dynamics unfold in sequence as one is necessary for the next to find itself. They (War/Religion/Cities/Trade) overlap, good for managing great time gaps, centuries to millennia and back.
I guess this is my recommendation for the series. The science is good, the dialogue has an unrehearsed, natural feel and the people themselves are not selling anything. I think a few hours to watch this series will leave you with more to think about than you had before you hit the Play button.
‘First Civilizations’ qualified everything that would develop by separating Stone Age culture (small, transient, hunter gather clans) from the earliest evidence of Civilization. The trigger that trips this ongoing adventure was the Agricultural Revolution. Clan culture stretches back a million years while Civilization has been moving its feet for only about 6 thousand (+ or -) years. It is easy to presume change happened everywhere at the same time and that somebody had a plan. Civilization evolved, it was not engineered. It would be like having the windshield blacked out and all you can see is in the mirror, no way to know where you are going, only where you have been; and it is a real challenge for one to comprehend a process that takes a dozen human lifetimes to gain significance, or even ponder where they happen to be in the timeline. As a footnote, the 3rd episode ‘Cities’ did more for me, drawing things together.
There is some wannabe wisdom that goes; The traits you cannot tolerate in others are the same ones you indulge in yourself. I think it a cautionary reminder. I know a man, a good guy who is stuck in one of those recycling loops. No matter where the conversation is going he finds a way inject his tedious fixation on (Bernie Sanders) politics. Then I realize that I can get preoccupied with the (Human condition/civilization) debate and live in fear that I might be dragging others with me down into my own rabbit hole; and I don’t want to do that. Still, I find myself digging in the same old places, looking for anything that makes the story more digestible. I like to think I am following an unfolding saga rather than pushing an agenda. I want the story to stand on its own legs and not be riddled with creative license.
Today I am reporting on a PBS Documentary, a four part mini series titled, ‘First Civilizations’. I came across it by chance on the Amazon Prime menu, watched it, took a few notes but will go back and watch it again. It touches most if not all my (Human Condition) buttons and brings things together in a way I hadn’t considered before. Each of the four episodes is framed in a different dynamic (force/control factor): War, Religion, Cities & Trade. It makes connecting the dots easier:, correlating what seem too be unrelated, independent scenarios and discovering consistent, recurrent patterns that emerge. The four dynamics unfold in sequence as one is necessary for the next to find itself. They (War/Religion/Cities/Trade) overlap, good for managing great time gaps, centuries to millennia and back.
I guess this is my recommendation for the series. The science is good, the dialogue has an unrehearsed, natural feel and the people themselves are not selling anything. I think a few hours to watch this series will leave you with more to think about than you had before you hit the Play button.
‘First Civilizations’ qualified everything that would develop by separating Stone Age culture (small, transient, hunter gather clans) from the earliest evidence of Civilization. The trigger that trips this ongoing adventure was the Agricultural Revolution. Clan culture stretches back a million years while Civilization has been moving its feet for only about 6 thousand (+ or -) years. It is easy to presume change happened everywhere at the same time and that somebody had a plan. Civilization evolved, it was not engineered. It would be like having the windshield blacked out and all you can see is in the mirror, no way to know where you are going, only where you have been; and it is a real challenge for one to comprehend a process that takes a dozen human lifetimes to gain significance, or even ponder where they happen to be in the timeline. As a footnote, the 3rd episode ‘Cities’ did more for me, drawing things together.
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