Wednesday
Sunday
Lost on my birthday
The continents of America and Africa were a single continent 250 million years ago. I remember my brother and I were looking at a world map when we were kids, trying to match the east coastal lines of America with the west coastal lines of Africa... 
It is thought that hunter-gatherers appeared on earth about 2 million years ago - long after the split of the continents. The beginning of agriculture, on the other hand, coincides with only 7000 years ago!
Mayas are among the first civilizations who emerged in Mesoamerica around 2000 BC. They believed that their body was made of corn, and life was initiated by the help of the maize god who had given his blood to the corn. Thus, they thought they were in a blood-debt and as a reciprocity, they sacrificed their body parts and worshiped to the god they created. I sometimes remember this story when I eat corn, then smile and silently sing a song I made up: "corn people, corn people"
No wonder the later leaders of Mesoamerica declared themselves as the maize god, monopolized the information and held the power at their hands.
Mesopotamia, which is in the Middle East Asia - the region stayed in a different part when the continents split apart - was the home of the other first civilizations: Sumerians, followed by Akkadians. Like Mayas, they created their own gods, leaders monopolized the information and governed the people efficiently in this way. The later leaders were creating a new God, naming him, and destroying everything that might have reminded people the old God who had been created and imposed by the former leader.
China, Egypt, South America... All similar stories. Although these first civilizations emerged independently, since human nature is universal, the same pattern of "general need to believe a creator" and "a leader abusing this need" can easily be observed.
I remembered those civilizations today and desperately realized that human being has not changed much then. To acquire power, still similar methods are applied: my god is better than your god wars and keeping people away from the information to make them obedient. I think the reason for on-going primitive actions of humans stem from not being able to get adjusted to highly-populated and permanently settled down societies. If we compare the 7000-8000 years-old agricultural life with the millions of years of hunter gatherer way of living, we could assume that hunter gatherers had enough time to reach an equilibrium socially but after the transition to agriculture, permanently settled-down people never had a chance to do so - there simply was not enough time. Therefore, the norms established in a relatively short amount of time to be able to live together in highly populated societies, such as human rights, freedom of speech, equality of humans are not digested, thus not fully applied.
On my birthday, I am genuinely sad about the women stoned to death in Africa, Iran policewomen coshing other women like an animal just because of some make-up, the internet ban for some websites on-going for the last two years in Turkey, oil spill in Mexico Gulf, prime minister of Turkey saying the floods are from God and gas explosions in the mines are due to destiny, the women in burka in Afghanistan, politically messed up Iraq, powerful countries founded on the expense of impoverished countries...etc.
My dear Zeynep, you asked about my feelings on my birthday and here are my feelings... I am indeed confused. And I need to sleep.
It is thought that hunter-gatherers appeared on earth about 2 million years ago - long after the split of the continents. The beginning of agriculture, on the other hand, coincides with only 7000 years ago!
Mayas are among the first civilizations who emerged in Mesoamerica around 2000 BC. They believed that their body was made of corn, and life was initiated by the help of the maize god who had given his blood to the corn. Thus, they thought they were in a blood-debt and as a reciprocity, they sacrificed their body parts and worshiped to the god they created. I sometimes remember this story when I eat corn, then smile and silently sing a song I made up: "corn people, corn people"
No wonder the later leaders of Mesoamerica declared themselves as the maize god, monopolized the information and held the power at their hands.
Mesopotamia, which is in the Middle East Asia - the region stayed in a different part when the continents split apart - was the home of the other first civilizations: Sumerians, followed by Akkadians. Like Mayas, they created their own gods, leaders monopolized the information and governed the people efficiently in this way. The later leaders were creating a new God, naming him, and destroying everything that might have reminded people the old God who had been created and imposed by the former leader.
China, Egypt, South America... All similar stories. Although these first civilizations emerged independently, since human nature is universal, the same pattern of "general need to believe a creator" and "a leader abusing this need" can easily be observed.
I remembered those civilizations today and desperately realized that human being has not changed much then. To acquire power, still similar methods are applied: my god is better than your god wars and keeping people away from the information to make them obedient. I think the reason for on-going primitive actions of humans stem from not being able to get adjusted to highly-populated and permanently settled down societies. If we compare the 7000-8000 years-old agricultural life with the millions of years of hunter gatherer way of living, we could assume that hunter gatherers had enough time to reach an equilibrium socially but after the transition to agriculture, permanently settled-down people never had a chance to do so - there simply was not enough time. Therefore, the norms established in a relatively short amount of time to be able to live together in highly populated societies, such as human rights, freedom of speech, equality of humans are not digested, thus not fully applied.
On my birthday, I am genuinely sad about the women stoned to death in Africa, Iran policewomen coshing other women like an animal just because of some make-up, the internet ban for some websites on-going for the last two years in Turkey, oil spill in Mexico Gulf, prime minister of Turkey saying the floods are from God and gas explosions in the mines are due to destiny, the women in burka in Afghanistan, politically messed up Iraq, powerful countries founded on the expense of impoverished countries...etc.
My dear Zeynep, you asked about my feelings on my birthday and here are my feelings... I am indeed confused. And I need to sleep.
