Musings on Sleeplessness, Climate & Evolution.

 

It is late, and sleep is impossible as the heat and humidity hang and permeate everything…there seems to be no escape, so I sit in front of the computer and write.

Weather affects one’s mood and our general view of the world.

When a civilization begins, depending on one’s specific geographical location does indeed truly determine the development of a particular culture because heat and cold play a big part in how we deal with and view the world.

The Aboriginals of Australia, for example, lived in dry desert conditions. To merely survive was at the top of the priority list, thus their knowledge of the terrain, how to attain food, and their views of existence. Their time was taken up with the search for food and shade from the heat. Because of the heat and barrenness of the landscape, there was no need to change…just survival and the “Dream Time.”

Civilization truly reached its peak in the ancient world around the fertile land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and along the Nile River. However, it can get sweltering during the summer months around Cairo. In the spring and autumn, the Nile flows over, ensuring crops survive and thrive.

I guess what I’m getting at is that I miss the four distinctive seasons living in Melbourne, Australia. Please don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved Melbourne’s erratic weather – four seasons in one day is not just the words to a popular song but actually valid.

It was the Explorer and adventurer Sir Francis Richard Burton who, in an article he had written, attempted to persuade his readers that climate determines the development of a particular race. At the time of the writing, Darwin had crept into “scientific” circles; thus the hierarchy of man – White Anglo-Saxon at the top, (women because of their smaller brains) somewhere around third and down it goes from there, depicting other cultures as “savages,” “Non-Human,” (see Darwin’s book, The Descent of Man) thus justifying the genocide of the Australian Aboriginals, the American Indian and other inferior races like Jews, using Darwin’s theory as fact and justification for mass murder.

Appalling.

Sir Richard was indeed onto something but did not have the opportunity to delve deeper into his hypothesis, flesh out his ideas. (Too busy translating (The Perfumed Garden).

In the Northern Hemisphere, there is a plethora of natural resources. Thus, the particular “races” development, adapting to the climate (four seasons) and therefore having the time to pursue better technology, better infrastructure, etc.

When humans have worries about where their next meal is coming from, there is no time for innovation, art, and the development of civilization.

I am astonished that so many “educated” people consider Darwin’s entire theory scientific fact. In a word, it is not, and remains a theory because he and other scientists have yet to discover the so-called “missing link”: that is to say, the link between, Neanderthal man (Ape) and Cro-Magnon.

Personally, hot, humid weather does nothing for my creative sensibilities because it’s too damn uncomfortable.

As far as other cultures and races are concerned, the “survival of the fittest” theory does not add up because the human is a highly adaptable beings and will use resources that are available in their specific geographical area for survival as mentioned, the climate of the site is a significant factor.

Darwin was an intellectual but a 19th-century misogynist, which, by the way, was, is, and has been a standard view (albeit false) of women for thousands of years.

On that note, I’ll return to bed, contemplating where my next meal is coming from….