About 14 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being and was called The Big Bang Theory. Animals much like modern humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago. And, It wasn’t till about 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the Homo sapiens species started to form cultures and hold beliefs .Beliefs can be an acceptance that something is true or real and held without absolute proof .Beliefs can also relate to something factual, right , wrong, good , bad , religious , spiritual, and even having confidence in one’s own ability or truthfulness.This very brief disquisition depicts one particular belief about emotions , behavior and weakness .
Beginning with primeval dyads and then,over time, with increasing numbers such as family ,clan, tribe ,race, nation and so forth, a powerful , dominant leader emerged to influence ,motivate, direct and rule. For instance, the head of the family or chief , with his many wives, was believed to be the wisest, strongest and/or the best provider. That did not mean that there were no competitors for that top position .More than likely it was the male offspring or offsprings challenging for that top spot.
From a psychological perspective, Homo sapiens followers behavior and beliefs reverts back to its early development occurring and beginning in infancy .Essentially ,early infantile Homo sapiens experienced threats to survival that’s emotionally characterized with fear, anxiety,helplessness,dependence, uncertainty and lack of safety falling within its life space with mother and father caretakers .Thus, the tendency for survival is an emotionally based motive . And importantly , becomes a long lasting motivational prototype .
Therefore, the infant initially perceives a mother protector which becomes replaced by the omnipotent father . He unconsciously becomes an implanted memory for safety and love. And with an emotional threat ,results in wanting and seeking that unconscious wish or desire . The motivational repetition of that infantile emotional experience to seek safety, protection. love and being provided and cared for just like when being young and powerless . Thus ,this dynamic tendency emerges in various degrees depending on a number of variables which are beyond the scope of this essay.
Note, early on, the young one can have ambivalent feelings like love, respect,admiration and also fear and hate for father. So, one can be attached despite having feelings of anger and disappointment . Remember,these future father protectors are unconscious emotional substitutes .This means ,when survival is threatened, the person identifies with that charismatic “leader” who promised to protect . That perceived powerful character's father substitute is revered ,respected , obeyed , believed to remove all sufferings with unconditional loyalty regardless of reality and one’s ambivalence .This ambivalence, this duality of emotions becomes assimilated .
In primeval times , man’s identified with a totem coupled with beliefs regarding the powerful protection by that particular totem or primal ancestral father .These totem beliefs among certain primitive people also provided a basis for their social and religious organization.
Essentially, these superstitious beliefs were based on the idea that there was an ancestral relationship between man , every member of his group and the totem Totems , if an animal, were believed to protect man who then showed his respect by not killing it. And ,if it were a plant by not cutting or gathering it . Also, totemism was associated with exogamy and thus formed a protection against incest - one had to marry or have sex outside his specific group ,clan or tribe.
Another belief was in many gods. polytheism as protectors for survival and the like. Each God would control a specific part of nature; human life or daily activity. And, multiple deities were directed toward many distinct divine things, and they also played specialized roles as individual gods and ruled over specific domains like war, love ,sky and harvest.
A belief in the divine right of kings was political doctrine, asserting power during the monarch’s reign ,The king’s authority to rule came directly from God. In other words, the king was accountable only to God for his actions making resistance or rebellion against the crown a sin against divine will. This thinking was of absolute patriarchal authority.
Also in Homo sapiens history were beliefs in human sacrifice, an ancient religious ritual of killing of people to please deity powers ,securing good fortunes and/or enforcing social control .It could also appeal to the gods by giving them a most valuable life in order to secure rain for crops or victory in war; retain the services by killing the servant or slave to accompany the dead king In the afterlife; or for social control. These public religious rituals were used by elite rulers to display their absolute power ,authority , sadism and to instill fear.
For a more humane belief and a different morality ,we turn to Old Testament prophets who believed in one true ( likeness of father ) God ; its covenant with Israel; the absolute requirement for moral justice, social righteousness and genuine repentance . Prophets Elijah and Elisha taught love, unification, reason, truth and hope for mankind.
Other prophets like Lao-tse,Buddha,Heraclitus, Socrates, Mohammed, and of course Jesus also taught about the ideas of unity of man ,reason ,love and justice as humanistic goals .
And, around 1500 A.D. humanistic beliefs surfaced again and were called the Enlightenment. With these beliefs, man discovered nature ; laid the foundations for the natural sciences and began transforming the face of the earth. Science became a unifying principle , a new unity in the social and political unification of the planet along with the domination of nature. Moral conscience within the Judeo-Christian tradition, intellectual achievement, heritage of the Greek tradition flowered and artistic creations followed.
The French Revolution ended the French monarchy ,abolished the feudal system and inspired modern liberal democracy with the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity . However, other beliefs occurred as Maximilian Robespierre, the Jacobins and thousands of perceived enemies of the revolution were executed and essentially Napoleon Bonaparte replaced King Louis XVI and seized power in 1799.
In addition , Homo sapiens have supported , reinforced ,followed and have been obedient to mullahs, Tzars,Ming dynasties,conquerors,Princes’, Emperors, fascists, authoritarians,prime ministers,presidents etc.
Returning to our beliefs of today, there was a time when there were significant political and economic differences between the West and the East. However, there’s a convergence of both philosophy and practice with the USA and its government control of business; oligarchy and unequal wealth ; punishment of political enemies; media control; governmental lies ; doubletalk and human sacrifice with wars, poverty policies , attacks on health , health insurance and foreign aid .
The USA’S fascist authoritarian daddy figure script is in full view. One can not hide from Big Brother , a father figure. George Orwell’s 1984 comes to mind with War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. Intelligence ,dominance, discrimination and hate have flourished with this ruler but not objectivity, truth ,humanism and moral reasoning .What happened to liberty,equality and fraternity and that all men are created equal beliefs ? They are not beliefs by the powerful but just slogans and illusions ?
Do not forget that we were told to believe that a highly productive , technological , and mass production society with man being in charge of machines would solve and master society’s ills. However, AI’ and it’s asocial tycoon’s ;inorganic lifeforms;humanoid robots and
Cyborg engineering is becoming more dominant without a set of guard rails at this juncture .
With that being said, perhaps our Homo sapiens biological species with its primitive ,fragile and emotional state weakness , unconsciously and consciously coveting security ,power,control and love results in a tendency to reunite, to identify with a primordial father figure leading us to our undoing- as did the pied piper. Irrationality, consensus, emotionally fearful easily manipulated minds ,malignant narcissism ,hostility, anti-social, organic and non organic exploitation with amorality and false claims continues to be the norm and our civilization seems headed in the direction of the point of no return .
Reference
Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo.
Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
Orwell, George. 1984.
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