An Uncivilized Civilization

A college class was once opined regarding what they believed the earliest signs of civilization to be. Recovery from a broken leg became the source of the first civilized society. It meant that, for the first time in human history someone had risked resources, or lack thereof, to stay with another person until they healed. The first civilization evolved out of compassion and love..

I think it’s brilliant and beautiful that we came from the water, braved the dangers of open savannas in Africa, learned about projectile weapons that allowed us to rise to the top of the food chain, and, finally, once we’d conquered the animal kingdom, we evolved emotions. The ability to care for one another and share our thoughts, learn from one another. Ultimately, we came to love, and when there was a potential for death, or caring, that someone chose the latter, even if it meant they might die as well.

We must understand our pasts to ensure we never make the same mistakes again, and to map a future where we continue caring for one another. Where compassion is a priority. For we have an opportunity for peace, lest we regress to the primal behaviors that got us here.

Those first signs of civilization are still on display today. Human beings go out of their way to help animals in distress, and even each other. A compassionate, mysterious, beautiful species are we humans.

There’s speculation that aliens who’ve visited us are life forms which have developed from further back in history, from planets that existed long before the earth was formed. Perhaps their planets weren’t wiped out by asteroids and their intelligent life discovered long ago that peace would allow them to explore the cosmos, to seek other planets with life. And maybe in their case, they needn’t find one that would support their life, as they hadn’t foolishly destroyed their own home.

I fear however, with our desires for violence, the deconstruction of languages, and the ease in which we’re swayed by those with profits to gain via the demise of many that we’ve begun to regress. We’ve begun to prefer the simplest, most mindless forms of entertainment, rather than seeking knowledge, or an understanding of others. The divides we’ve created will be our downfall if we don’t right the course.

If we do not look out for one another, we are already doomed, by mistakes we’ve made before, and a history we’ve long forgotten.