Integritus Prime

I picked up the book, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn innocently at a used book sale a few months ago. After reading it, I ordered the sequels, My Ishmael and The Story of B. After recently finishing the former, I felt compelled to share what I find to be a remarkably cogent understanding of the history and (d)evolution of human civilization. Quinn has masterfully laid out a prescriptive path to rescuing humans so we can rescue the planet. Let me summarize for you into little nuggets, his genius, in two posts, beginning with this one:

1. Culture, or what Quinn calls Mother Culture, shifted for humans when we began to lock up food and to believe that we didn’t have the wisdom we needed on how we should live, at which point we began to seek that wisdom outside of ourselves. We developed a blind spot about how best to live.
2. Some humans (Quinn calls them Takers) began, through agriculture, to produce more and more food, which led to rises in their population and hence the need for more space, which led to encroachment on the lands of tribes (Quinn calls them Leavers). As the Takers kept taking, the Leavers (tribes) began to suffer.
3. The real revolution (or devolution) was to switch from growing food part time and having enough, to growing food full time and making it available only by payment. Suddenly, what was always free no longer was and you had to work for it, and pay some sort of currency. This, according to Quinn, was not a step forward!
4. In nature, a species that is alive is considered a success. Failures die. Ecosystems that work are successful. Life is evidence of success. Quinn states that “evolution brings forth what works.” We humans are currently destroying ecosystems, so I agree with what Quinn hints at: humans are failing at life. We need a new strategy.
5. For non-human species, interspecies competition is such that you “compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but don’t hunt down your competitors, destroy their food, or deny them access to food.” Intraspecies competition is “never fight to death for any morsel, but give a little fight,” the idea being that animals defend their resources and mates and pups, not real estate. Humans, however, defend land, and many wars continue over land and other resources…
6. A rule of thumb for non-human species is “if you’re the resident, attack; if you’re the intruder, withdraw.” This is the same for teams and troops of animals so that combat is avoided. This is an evolutionarily stable technique, but what we have seen is that humans have broken this rule and created pandemonium through many conflicts.
7. Tribal (Leaver) laws represent the tribe. Tribes know how to live, they don’t look outside of themselves to learn how to live (see point 1). This makes them self-sufficient and stable as a group. They pass on their knowledge through learning by doing and orally through story telling.
8. Typically, tribes fight other tribes, not the people in their own tribe. Takers compete for the same resources including land, since everyone is doing agriculture, and don’t fight anyone, unless they are encroaching (see point 2).
9. Tribal law assumes bad things will happen and is geared to minimize damage and set people and things right. Taker laws outlaw things and say they should never happen; they create prisons to house criminals who are labeled and shamed. This is not useful because these bad things inevitably do happen, and crime continues to fester in prisons, showing how ineffectual they are.
10. A tribe’s wealth is intangible, and includes life long security socially, shared burdens and resources (e.g. lifelong support to deal with aging, crime and other ills), and togetherness through strong relationships.
11. The Erratic Retaliator Strategy Quinn puts forth states that you should “give as good as you get, but don’t be too predictable.” This means that if you are attacked, fight back. Otherwise, stay alert and show that you are strong. This may mean that a conflict could be around the corner, or there might be peace for years, but you are staying agile and ready.

It helps to take some time to let these nuggets sink in. For instance, why would we pay for something when we could have it for free? How does this shift to locking up food and paying for it, contribute to inequality in society? In Part II, I share what Quinn calls the new tribal revolution and how it will take place and I offer some concluding thoughts. Stay tuned.