Charles Darwin posited his universally accepted (by enlightened minds) evolutionary theory, concerning the Earth’s emerging, developing, and surviving life forms, as studied, and perceived by him in the Victorian Era. We at pliny, would deign to optimistically, suggest that his brilliantly revealed process of empirical evolution still endures and continues to progressively function, specifically with regard to sentient mankind; albeit, less so, as to physical form but, rather, in his eternal spiritual progress in the direction of higher developed sensitivity, secular morality, and societal acceptance of others.
We often wonder about the seemingly, universal understanding that the eons long, gradual dynamic process of mutational change and development, referred to as, “Natural Evolution,” exists in the limited context as being of finite duration. The evident assumption seems to result in the conclusion, that Earth’s contemporary ambiance, including the configuration and character of its present life forms, both flora, and fauna, during the perceptible past, have attained their static and potentially final state.
Having thus bravely ventured our optimistic and novel general proposition, we would again emphasize our proposal as to such a perpetual dynamics, with the reservation that it specifically and only relates to mankind’s eternal process of gradual cerebral growth and development; and is further distinguished from any physical mutation, relative to the ancient and gradual morphing of his systemic protoplasm.
The underlying and generating engine, productive of Darwinian Evolution as described by him in “The Survival of the Species,” is neither revealed nor definitively known. Those individuals who seem to be instinctively inclined to ascribe unknown phenomena, to Deistic enterprise, undoubtedly, see Natural Evolution through religious spectacles; others of us will merely remain comfortably ignorant. In contrast, our proposed theory of the perpetual continuance of human spiritual and social evolutionary development, is an empirical and experiential phenomenon, having its identified and reliable source as human cerebral energy, naturally expended in man’s eternal practice of human interaction.
The specific venue of our theory’s eventual, and natural occurrence is not planet-wide, but rather, effectively situated, in the human brain. The brain, as known, is the most complex part of the human body. Such 3 lb. organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of all bodily movement, and the controller of behavior. As such the brain, inarguably, is the essence of all of the qualities that define humanity itself; and as relevant here, thought, evaluation and consequent action.
Darwinian [physical] evolution describes uncountably long eons of gradual mutation, best exemplified by the recently discovered tiny late dinosaur which astonishingly, manifested the morphic change to feathers. By contrast, human sociological evolution, is comparatively, rapid, albeit, understandably, not nearly fast enough for those members of the human family, who remain, [still] suffering from the atavistic behavior of the Nation’s insufficiently evolved homo sapiens; [the latter, often referred to, by us, as the primitive and atavistic “underbelly” of contemporary society.]
It is our optimistic expectation that the proposed continuation of evolution of mankind (as specified) will ultimately result in a universal sense of shared morality, respect for knowledge and new science, and importantly, respectful acceptance of others of disparate race and belief. Such outcomes will eventually be brought about, by the engine of the ongoing, natural, healthy, and ameliorative, inter-active experience [ with “others”] and the consequent development of enlightenment and maturity of experiential perception.
One might briefly consult mankind’s long dark history to already discern a perceptibly small, gradual trend towards a growing respect for the development and use of reason and, concomitantly, the moral acceptance of others of disparate race, belief, and ethnicity. Any quick, cursory review of the stages of man’s past centuries of existence, will reveal dark periods of complete ignorance, superstition and illiteracy, plagues, poverty and want, Church and King repression of the human spirit, inquisitions, bigotry, xenophobic and ethnic warfare, and genocide. It was not very many decades ago, that the New World, itself, chose to replicate the Old, in its immoral institution of [black] slavery. It is to be observed, that although, and to various degrees, many elements of man’s dark history, perniciously, still seem to endure [such as Jim Crow prejudice, antisemitism, xenophobia, superstition] it must be conceded that, in general, such institutional, nightmarish phenomena have been ameliorated or completely eliminated.
As further illustration, the institutional practice of slavery is now outlawed and morally unthinkable. Nevertheless, despite the passage of civil rights legislation, combined with the efforts of right- thinking American citizens, our Nation is still witness to remnants of Jim Crow prejudice among many ignorant (less evolved) citizens. There is a universally accepted legal, pragmatic, and Constitutional, separation between Church and State, nevertheless, religious dogma, like opposition to a woman’s right to seek an abortion, and to gay rights subsist. In many matters of moral and equitable principle, mankind has shown markedly enlightened progress, however, contemporarily, the progress of mankind’s progressive, evolutionary march is yet far from its principled (evolved) destination.
In keeping with our consistently stated belief, we have empirically observed that the ongoing scale of progress in mankind’s moral and spiritual [evolutionary] progress, correlates very closely, with the degree of human literacy, education, and the acquisition of mature perception.
We are hopeful of mankind’s naturally developed attainment of its evolutionary goal in its ongoing evolution toward the naturally inherent and naturally destined final state of universal societal morality and positive rational enlightenment.
-p.
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