Opisthokonts
I grew up in this forested backyard - grasses grew in tension with the air, flowers flocked in their beds tightly tucked. I was lucky enough to be able to dig through dirt, hands deep in mud - I was always digging up earth worms to watch how they wiggle. I remember having this maniacal sense of magistracy when I'd cut them in half as they wiggled, only to see them sprout the other end out and continue on aerating and billowing.
Worms are fantastic creatures - and although I've outgrown the cruel sensation to play god, I still find worms fascinating - as if by studying their innate regeneration ability, we could one day mimic their processes for medical studies. But the evolutionary stepping stone that worms followed were pale, drawl, and down right boring in comparison to some of our closer brethren - as the bonobos would bellow.
Bonobos seem to follow a code of monkey mischief lost in this primitive monkey brain - they tend to be altruists - an art so lost in splattered layers that the sense of the definition is never known to some... Tucked away in a corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the pygmy chimp, or aforementioned bonobo, has a DNA that matches our homo sapien variety, between 98 - 99.4%. They eat, they shit, they sleep. They've evolved their brains to understand that equality is a virtue - indicatively so, it is often interpreted that the female bonobo are the dominant sex - but so inconspicuously so as not to be arrogant or obnoxious - the bonobos seems to have mastered the concept of equality. What they've also discovered is the cure-all for any dispute - sex... Bonobos often mutually masturbate each other, enjoy French kissing and petting and are known to be big enthusiasts of PDA, or public displays of affection. They often enjoy sex prior to eating meals, and are known to be relieved of tension, hostility and overall aggression after sex - which in turn leads to more sharing of food and general care for one another. In doing so, males tolerate this lifestyle of constant sex, and the females form hierarchies of respect and trust in the form of a matriarch. For the most part, a male can be more popular under the wing of a popular bonobetty. In this lifestyle of sharing and sex, the bonobos are arguably the most compassion, empathetic, kind, patient chimps on the planet. No wars and plenty of sex, when they see a fellow bonobo in need or hurt or handicapped, they help. The ultimate altruistic hippy chimp.
Amoboezoa
But the bonobos' compassion, empathy, kindness and patience are characteristics that makes me think chimps can't be the only ones programmed for this behaviour - it can't be all that bleak to the humans family tree. As bleak as the outlook can be, wolves still bring food back to the pack, walruses and dogs adopt, and dolphins support the injured with a finned crutch in the depths of the oceans... and the bonobos are still monkeys.
It's strange to think of admiring a 'so-called' sub-species of life for their altruistic behaviour - this behaviour just doesn't happen that often in my neck of the woods these days. I still push trapped cars out of snow drifts or ditches, hold a door open for an incomer or outgoer, and spare a dime for anyone who asks - but the altruistic sense of 'doing for without' seems to be wrapped in circular logic by the Darwinists themselves - Natural Selection only increases the individuals chance of reproduction... altruism doesn't have a home in the theory of evolution...
Chromalveolates
As theories evolve, Darwin must be able to respect the path of society chosen by the benevolent bonobo... Survival of the fittest takes on new meanings to these monkeys. The bonobos carved a territory in this planet, have called it home and live a life only hiding from poachers and hunters. Food aplenty and casual sex only a hand tap away... the bonobos defined it all by listening and respecting their women - feminism at it's pure archaic form. It makes me wonder if feminism would thrive the world to the ways of the bonobo - pragmatic sex for all, mouths fed, injured healed, the cold warmed... Survival and existence in the simplest form - survival defined by the way of the bonobo - they've evolved their way to their garden of Eden in the congo - their own monkey utopia. It's too bad we weren't all monkeys... we were only missing 0.6-2% of our DNA to do it... as the great Charlton Heston once proclaimed: "Some apes, it seems, are more equal than others"
I've always thought of worms as little more than lengths of intestine with a built-in reproductive capacity! As for the callousness of childhood - well, I used to fry ants under a magnifying glass :0
ReplyDeleteSo I was somewhat relieved to learn in later life that insects do not in fact feel pain.
As for the altruism of bonobos, I'm inclined to view their behaviour as more reciprocal than altruistic. Altruism entails providing value to another with no expectation whatsoever of any dividend down the track. Nature deplores altruism, and, after many years of zealously conducting myself in accordance with The Golden Rule - I discovered why.
So accordingly, daleks deplore altruism too, and nowadays embrace Reciprocosity instead.
And er, I'll be blogging about this kinda stuff at some point in the future - so much to do!
All The Best!
Ahh-- the golden rule - yes it is a difficult rule to follow - sometimes altruistic behaviour can easily become a form of slavery in the hands of the manipulative ... reciprocity would be an ideal world, but there are often too many differing viewpoints for reciprocity to ever become harmonized...
ReplyDeleteregarding the golden rule - i've had a few bugs infiltrate my blogger, and my 'follower' status no longer shows up on many of my favorite sites - those sites i previously followed are still updated, so i am still getting updates, however don't know how to fix this problem...
Yes, as a mode of conduct, altruism is riddled with flaws. But as it serves very well the purposes of those who promote it as 'a good thing', their 'cultural conditioning' / indoctrination of others into The Golden Rule ensures it continues to be perceived that way!
ReplyDeleteI don't think reciprocity (a weird word to spell!) actually requires an ideal world, just a general understanding of the concepts behind it ... still, that wouldn't suit those who exercise power one bit, so of course such knowledge is not broadcast!
I've had occasional problems with follows too ... what I did was delete them all, then recreate them from scratch - that seemed to fix it! If you try that though, make sure you've transferred all the URLs to a Notepad file first, so you can just copy'n'paste them back into your new list of follows. :)