HOMINID POWER
We are hominids first…
Lucy’s tracks tantalize like a four million year-old snapshot. They are preserved as Mary Leakey found them, accompanied by two human-ape companions striding calmly across a flood pan brought to busy life by other cast impressions of insects, birds, baboons, wildebeest, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, hares, saber-toothed tigers, pigs – and three-toed horses called Hipparion.
It’s a long way from squelching naked through wet volcanic ash to wearing bras and sipping Scotch. Almost half that distance has been traversed by people lacking stone flints or fire. Yet we flick channels past the Flintstones, activate our microwaves, and board airplanes hardly noticing that Lucy’s in the cockpit adjusting her uniform and the GPS.
But she is. Hominids who share 99% of their DNA with chimps have been driving cars for a handful of decades, personal cyberspace is 10 years old. Yet tool-making proto-humans refined our rural reflexes for more than a million years – 10,000 times longer than their space-walking descendents have been channel-surfing so far.
So next time you drive downtown, pull over and try sharpening a stick. Feel its heft in your hand. Let neglected limbic learning gauge the wind and trajectory toward the nearest dik-dik herd.
At least go for a walk in the park.
Not all of our four million year-old hunting-gathering instincts can be successfully sublimated by scoring the new “Tragically Hip” CD, or frozen sockeye for the barbecue. Especially when we spend so much of our waking hours racing around imitating machines, instead of honoring our hominid nature.
I’m not saying that healthy hominids have to kill their dinner with a rock. But we ignore archaic needs and reflexes at our peril.
The swerve to maladaptive “mass” society came just 5,000 years ago. In that time, we’ve developed presumptions and pretensions even more dangerous than our technologies.
The biggest blunder was to divorce Lucy and our innate links to clan, place and Nature – which is our own nature, after all.
Evolutionary psychology looks at the Stone Age traits we’ve carried into the wired age. For example, says author William Allman, we OD on fatty foods today not because we’re undisciplined degenerates – but because fat was a scarce, high-caloric food for most of our prehistory, and we scarfed as much as we could find.
The Stone Age Present reminds us that millions of years of rough-and-tumble evolution have hard-wired our hunting and gathering instincts into autonomic responses which may be inappropriate to some of the challenges facing us now.
But it’s very instructive to trace how human priorities and approaches to sex, spirit, conversation, parenthood and personal destiny have been shaped by millions of years hunting, traveling, gathering, camping and moving on.
Some 60,000 years ago our apelike ancestors started acting more like people: sewing clothes, making razor-sharp tools, decorating caves, playing blues riffs on stone flutes – and negotiating and sharing cooperative ventures like food gathering and child-rearing. These folks were probably also stoned on magic mushrooms a lot. But that’s another story.
However it appeared, language answered an urgent social need.
“Their lifestyle was all about making agreements, wheeling and dealing, cooperating, discussion,” speculate two University of Arizona linguists delightfully named Pinker and Bloom.
“It makes a difference whether that region has animals that you can eat or animals that can eat you. It makes a difference whether it has fruit that is ripe, or fruit that was ripe or fruit that will be ripe.”
We draw on this legacy every time we pass along bargains on organic lettuce. But we can do much more to recognize and honor the hominid within.
HOMIND HEALTH PRESCRIPTION:
Remember your roots.
Drink at least eight glasses of pure water every day.
Primate grooming has nothing to do with sex. Touch and be touched as often as mutual intention allows.
Go easy on meat and factory foods, which weren’t easily come by in Lucy’s day. Graze instead on chemical-free fruits, seeds, buts, grains, berries and veggies – especially in the heat of summer.
Walk, lie, swim, run, eat, snooze, make out or just sit still in nature looking out your eyes. Do this as often as you can. Even a few minutes’ daily stroll in the woods or along the sea or lakeshore is a great de-stressor and re-connector.
Remember that your immune system is a porous organism. Besides being bathed regularly in water that’s juts water, skin needs to breathe the breeze and suck in sunny vitamin D, too. So shuck your clothes as often as you can without freezing delicate parts or freaking out the neighbors. (But watch your exposure to soaring solar radiation levels never before encountered by humans.10 minutes “a side” is max. And never at midday.
Try relating to members of other sexes and species as tribal relatives, guides and partners engaged in a common endeavor called life. Evolutionary psychology says that over many millennia women and men have developed different mental pathways and evolutionary goals.
Women concentrated on cultivating connections long before root crops. Men’s concern with hierarchical status and reputation was as instinctive as the Alpha apes around them. As we attempt to adjust antiquated roles and move away from dominator models, it might be helpful to acknowledge hard-wired tendencies without judgment, listen more and give each other some slack.
About the Author
WHO IS WILLIAM THOMAS?
I am an award-winning Canadian author, reporter, photographer and filmmaker. A former Vancouver Sun “photog” – his feature writing and accompanying photographs subsequently appeared in more than 50 publications in eight countries, including translations into French, Dutch and Japanese.
My 30-minute video documentary Eco War won the 1991 US Environmental Film Festival award for “Best Documentary Short”. Excerpts from this “front-lines” chronicle of a three-man environmental emergency response team in Kuwait aired in an eight-part CBC Gulf War mini-series, and have been shown on CNN and NBC television, as well as Noam Chomsky’s feature film, “The Corporation”.
During and immediately after the Gulf War, I served five months in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as a member of a three-man environmental emergency response team.
Winner of four Canadian feature-writing awards, I am the author of Days Of Deception: Ground Zero and Beyond; All Fall Down: The Politics of Terror and Mass Persuasion, Scorched Earth, Bringing The War Home, Alt Health, Stand Down, Dialing Our Cells: Cell Phone Health Hazards and the recently updated Chemtrails Confirmed.
A former pilot, ocean sailing master and frequent radio talk-show guest, I currently live and work in the Gulf Islands off Canada’s west coast.
Visit my investigative reporting website: willthomasonline.net
Visit my photography website: willthomasphotography.com
Cool Stuff at Dunwoody: Tool Day, Spring 2009
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Proctor Silex 59735 Immersion Hand Blender, White $15.00 Whip up great dressings, tasty sauces and more with this handy — and handheld — immersion blender from Proctor-Silex. Its ergonomic grip and stainless steel blades produce great results – and it rinses off easily when done. Perfect for small or large tasks that require on-the-spot blending…. |
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Pruning Knives – knife pruning 4-1/4 577-18505 Features: -Blade Shape: Concave.-Blade Material: Steel.-No. of Blades: 1.-Handle Type: Straight.-Type: Folding Knife.-Wt.: 0.26 lb.-Price is for 1 Each. Dimensions: -Handle Length: 4 3/4 in…. |
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Stanley 85-610 10-Inch Long MaxGrip Locking Adjustable Wrench $11.88 The Stanley 10-Inch MaxGrip Locking Adjustable Wrench is 2 tools in 1: a traditional adjustable wrench and locking pliers. The 10-inch locking adjustable wrench features a forged alloy-steel body that exceeds ANSI standards for torque and jaws that grip fasteners and won’t slip off, making it a perfect tool for maintenance and automotive repair, plumbing, and general assembly tasks. It is backed b… |
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Crescent Adjustable Wrench 4 Inch $10.60 Crescent, 4″ Crestoloy Adjustable Wrench, 1/2″ Capacity, Tension Spring Stabilizes Jaw & Knurl Adjust Easily, Alloy Steel & Heat Treated, Proportioned Dimensions For Greatest Strength & Minimum Weight, Chrome Plated Finish Resists Rust & Corrosion, Polished…. |
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Stanley 89-962 3/8-Inch Drive Rotator Ratchet $18.99 Provides constant drive action with the Twist Action handle. Twist Action speeds fastening and loosening. Thumb operated reverse switch and quick release button. Works in tight spaces requires less than 1 arc swing in Twist Action mode. 3 8″ drive, Pear… |
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Lisle 29200 3/8 Hand Impact Tool Set $24.65 Unique design delivers over 200 ft. lbs. of shock torque Can be reversed to tighten Can also be used with impact sockets 3/8″ drive with 3/8″ drive bit holderHand Impact Tool sets loosens rusted, frozen nuts, bolts and screws. Easily free frozen fasteners by striking this impact driver with the appropriate socket or bit…. |
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Guide To Hand Tools: Selection, Safety Tips, Proper Use and Care (Stanley-Proto Industrial Tools) … |
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Lockback Knives Style: Handle Len. 3 (part# 18543) 18543 Style: Handle Len. 3″ (part# 18543) This item features: -Laminated hardwood handle with heavy-duty lock springs. -Solid one piece brass bolster and liner provide additional strength. -Blade Shape: Curved. -Blade Material: 400 Grade Stainless Steel. -No. of Blades: 1. -Handle Type: Curved. -Handle Material: Wood/Steel. -Type: Folding Knife. -Price is for 1 Each…. |
