Hello all, I was looking through some old papers of mine the other day and I came upon an old writing where I discuss this very issue, though it is more "philosophical" than sientific, i thought it would be a nice read for you all. Now, my ideas have progressed and evolved since this writing but it is still worth while.
Where Do I Come From?
That question probably starts in evolution and the fact that, where did we all come from? Charles Darwin (18091882) made a bold attempt in trying to answer that question (as did Gregor Mendel and Archibald Garrod to name a few) by publishing his most renowned work, The Origin of Species. In it Darwin proposes two main theories: He proposed that all existing vegetable and animal forms were descended from earlier, more primitive forms by way of a biological evolution. Secondly, that evolution was the result of natural selection.
Natural selection occurs during sex as the genes of the two parents (and other ancestors) gets passed down to a new creature. Natural selection works to improve the chances of survival for that species. Thake for example the eagle, eyes are fundamental to catch prey an the eagle with best eye sight catches more prey and its chances of survival are better than an eagle with poor eye sight. So the eagle with good eyes lives and the one with bad eyes dies, therefore the good eyesight gets passed on to the offspring of the "fittest" eagle. And it works that way with every species... including us.
The interesting thing to see is that even though the chimp and the gorilla are our clesest or more similar ancestors we all come from ONE common ancestor, most likely a bacteria. How else could it be possible that we hold genes from every animal that is, was, and most likely will be? But even though a frog has the genes of a chimp somewhere in its DNA it is still a frog, right? We have done a good job at describing other animals' behavior but we are still perplexed at our won. We have decided that teh chimpanzee is promiscuous and aggressive, the gorilla is polygamist and peaceful and we are monogamous when it comes to our mating and social behaviors. But is "man" really monogomous/ How come some are promiscuous and others polygamist? Are they more chimp or gorilla than they are human? Is it that our bond to these species is still closer than we think (genetically pseaking)? Why do we wage war like the aggressive chimpanzee instead of love like the peaceful monobo? Is the answer in our species age? We are a young if not the youngest species on the planet. Crocodiles, sharks and birds were around since the age of dinosaurs; we are only ten million years old. Are we more primitive than what we would like to think? Erich Fromm speculated tht mental afflictions and drug addictions are symptoms our rce suffers because of the change from tribe to society. Tribe people don't suffer depression, alchoholism or schizoprenia (THIS LAST SENTENCE IS OPINION). Their lives are less stressful to ours. They don't worry if they'll ose their job, their home or if they'll get shot if they drive by the "ugly side" of town. But we still are one; we are humans. We are not Hispanic, Anglo, African or one of many hyphenated Americans. We are one race and that is the Human Race.
My philosophy teacher told me to think about what makes an American an American and a Mexican a Mexican. They both have family concpts, cultrue, rituals and beliefs. but they vary and these minute differences when combined mak them look worlds apart. The Mexican family concept is that family is all you got and they are there to help you. You don't leave home until you get married and probably won't work until you have a degree or your economic situation forces you to. The American concept of family is tht they are a nuisance, people you see on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Parents are in the way of teh child and the child in the way of the parents. You turn sixteen and you better get a job. You are eighteen and what are you waiting for to move out. Mexico's culture lies in thousands of years of Aztec/Mayan civilization colliding with the Spaniard culture. In America, in the work ethic, the self-made person. There was nothing here, we made it and that is how it is going to be.
As for rituals I'll tackle what I have seen first hand. mexico is predominantly Catholic. The colonial churches are packed at every Mass, the priest stands behind the altar of gold with the crucified, bleeding Christ bearin a face of agony behind him. Saints who are either bleeding or crying in turn surround Jesus. Renaissances paintings fill the stonewalls depicting Jesus' suffering, a crying Virgin Mary while an inconsolable crowd looks on. The service is serious and solemn, no one smiles, and no one laughs. How can they with all those bleeding and crying saints around them? The message that is received is basically: Jesus suffered so you must too. Which it couldn't be any further from the truth. But it is a good way to control the masses in an impoverished nation. In the U.S churches have neat designs, bright interiors and fewer saints. The altar is simple and bare. Jesus is not bleeding and he looks peaeful, as though asleep, he doesn't suffer. Either that or Christ King is present, resurrected and in full glory. Priests are welcoming and even crack a few jokes during their sermon. Any Mexican would see it as blashemous, but that's the way things are. We have family, culture and rituals. Chimps have their trees and gorillas their plains. It is sad to witness how these groups get along so well and they can't even speak (chimp with chimp, gorilla with gorilla). We have the ability to convey messages to each other without having to howl, roar or smack someone upside the head. Yet we still behave like chimps, and we still behave like gorillas. Others act like lions protecting their territory and will shoot you if you walk on their lawn. Our animal behavior is still very Present in us, which many use as an excuse to BE promiscuous or plygamist. Behaving exactly like animals, not humans. As humans we shouldn't deny our nature, but we can control it. We can rise above our urges; we are not denying them because that is when we become machines. Someone who doesn't feel nor react. It is the life long struggle of balance, we are not purely rational and we are not pure emotions. This is our hell and our curse, choice. We can choose to be animals and behave like chimps and gorillas or we can act like what we are, humans.
Where do I fit in all of this? Well, even though I'm my wn entity and have a mind of my own (at least I'd like to think so), I'm not an original mold. On my face I have trces from the Moors that invaded spain in the 9th century A.D. Of course people tell me I got them from my mother, but her? From her father and so on. So let's stick to the "close" family. I have my mom's bushy eybrows, yet they are shaped like my grandfather's on my Dad's side, Tata. My nose is a replica of my grandmother's from my Mom's side, Petra. I have my Dad's big ears and body structure. Tata's legs and hands are also found in my hysical presentation. But physical features are not all that we, as human beings inherit from parents. My questioning and independent mind is mostrly influenced from my mother. My laziness comes from my father as well as my easiness to lose my temper. My dreaming, imagination and hunger for books and knowledge come from my mom. My dad gave me my realist point of view. So according to nature I could easily become an easily angered, fat old man; according to nurture I can learn to control my anger and weight. Nature, I'd rather dream than work. Nurture, I can work to make those dreams come true. It all comes down to the questions college and English teachers ask all the time: Where do you see ourself in five years? Ten? at age five I wanted to be a fireman, policeman, doctor and a lawyr all at once. I guess that shows my idealistic mind of trying to change the world to make it a bettr place. Tata is a retired Mexican Army General, his social security check is US$600. He's fond of money a little too much. In his environment moeny was everything, pressure from family, society etc. He chose the Army as a safe ay to feed all his family. He wants me to be a doctor so I can take care of all my family financially speaking. but in my pursuit of happiness. I'd rathr be a priest. Why? I grew up with teh notion that mone isn't everything in life, material things come and go. This is very true and giving importance to those issues brings one a lot of unhappiness. Helping others and making other smile make me smile and feel good about myself. If I fail, depression taes me for a dark ride. So who am I? I am the result of more than four billion years of evolution. I am one out of 6.2 billion people and counting. Another warm body trying t get by in the horrible game of life. To my parents I'm Onhell*, to the government I'm a number, to the rest of the world I'm nobody.
*obviously name was changed [!--emo&
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