Perhaps the question that should precede the title is "Why meditation?". While the answer is rather complicated, this blog shall attempt to make relevant posts around the topic. To begin with, let's sample the opening paragraph from the first chapter of The Power of Myth, the book capturing a conversation on world of myths and religions:
Perhaps the same is also applicable to meditation and likeminded practices. As with Myths.
To begin with, the notion seems erroneous that makes meditation an exclusively religious forte. Concentration is not termed as religious. Contemplation can be termed semi-religious. But meditation has become common to be associated with a religious practice. Why?
(For instance, Nassim Taleb would like to argue -as in Fooled by Randomness- that his is the meditation of Mathematics, and it is the best that there is.) As we moved into the "21st century" the human race had been metaphysically controlled (for a want of a better word) on a continuous basis by a certain group of people claiming to have answers to certain blindspots within the human cognitive processes. One of the tantamount evidences is right there in the number - 21st century. Why not year 35,100 which is roughly considered the behavioral origin of Cro-Magnon Homo Sapience species? Or say year 200,100 when the anatomical homo sapience first emerged in Africa?
The simple answer would be that these numbers were largely unknown until very recently. And hence, most of the unknown and unknowable has been attributed by the wise-men of mankind to a "power" seemingly much larger then themselves; namely God. In its purest sense, the notion is true perhaps. To quote Joe again, quoting Indian Chief Seattle's famous speech, "Man didn't weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it." In its purest sense, perhaps those wise-men didn't mean to initiate religion as we know it today. Sampling some of the earliest Greek, Indian and Chinese wisdom talk provides no reference or need for "religion" as such.
Uncertainty and randomness, and the dangers they propose, must be the common and prevalent forces active in a hunter-gatherer aboriginal man's struggle. Millennia pass. Man continue to fight for survival in a rather hostile environment, with a rather fragile physic. Her erect posture compromises the pelvic bone structure. For a mammal it means the child bearing and delivering system ends up making a series of adjustments and compromises. Evolution mandates that to make this system work, the fetus development within the womb would focus on "manufacturing" mainly the cerebral tissues, and would now create an offspring that would not be capable of doing much more than breathing and suckling when it would first see the light of the day. That too after a few desperate prompting attempts immediately after birth, when the lungs need to be expanded by crying out loud, as a water breathing creature suddenly becomes an air breathing one. For about an average twelve long years from that point, this protection by the parent guardian would be required, while the brain development would continue for about 20 years of her life. (Time permitting, this blog shall attempt to contribute more on the subject from Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman's work "Neural Darwinism – The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection")
The other mammal cousines of homo sapience do not face a challenge of similar severity, or oddity. The largest animal of the mammal kingdom, the blue whale, after about eight to 12 months of gestation period gives birth to a 2.5 metric ton calf, which is up and running for a thousand miles journey. And while at it, they socialize, they sing, and they play games. These arrangements of these species have been stabilized through evolution for at least 10 million years. Relatively, humans are a fairly new species, still at a continuous struggle against a rather steep evolution curve.
Multiple theories have been attempted at explaining the evolution and development of "brain" per say within the animal kingdom in general and for humans in particular. One such source claims:
Apes and humans share nearly 98% of the gene-pool. Experts claim that primates do not have the ability to 'think'. They may demonstrate intelligence such as, using a stone to crack a hard nut, or use a straw to lure termites out, or even certain (rare) analytical abilities like "if two bears go into a cave, and only one emerges, it may still be unsafe to enter the cave since the other may still be inside." Even metacognition or self-awareness may be true, for chimps and the dolphins, to some extent: there is more than 50% chance that a chimp looking itself up into a mirror may recognize an ink spot on its face, and try to rub it off. However, their faculties do not extent to the sophistication of what we know as human thinking ability. The 2% genetic mutation or evolution provides man with this uncanny evolutionary advantage that supersedes even the seemingly major survival disadvantages such as: a fragile physical structure, lack of weaponry such as canines and claws, and an overall weak gross sensory organs of smell, sight and hearing. The genetic mutation favored development of brain and its faculties as against to these animal traits.
The results are in front of us: humans become the top animal. This 2% genetical "advancement" also includes at least four sub-branches within Archaic Homo sapiens; one of which is called the Neanderthal Man. These early species sometimes inter-bread with ancestors of modern humans, and their genetic traces are still found in people from Eurasia. They performed fire-based "rituals", cooked food, produced charcoal cave-paintings, built dwellings, used advanced tools, and had a language-based communication. They lived in complex social groups, and were smaller yet much stronger in terms of physical strength and structure in comparison to modern humans. Perhaps, a summation of all the traits that should put them ahead of the rest in terms of evolutionary selection. National Geography further reports:
So, did Neanderthal Man, or even early Cro-Magnons, indulge into something like meditation? The most likely explanation is that the need, the concept and thus the word 'meditation' didn't have to exist for their era.
The limited point here being that a larger brain size and brain-to-body mass ration does not always automatically translate into a successful evolutionary selection. Evolution is also a journey riddled with a series of unpredictable accidents. One such likely accident on its way could be the human brain matter, and the faculty enabling 'thinking' like humans, which has been undergoing transformation over the last few thousand years. Within the last 35,000 years since Cro-Magnon varient of modern humans, the cranial capacity (brain size) has been decreasing from average 1600cc to 1200cc for an average modern human. The change isn't without its effects.
The gray area highlighted by the flaw(s) in this cognitive process that is undergoing evolutionary changes, magnified by brains's imaginative powers and emotional response system, seems to have come into existence just about 15,000 to 10,000 years before present, when, as per the available archeological evidence, the first lunar calendar is thought to have been created. Thus far, the experimentation via various 'religious' organizations have indicated that these flaws and blindspots of the brain could be addressed, and controlled, (first by terming it God, or at least a lul of the divine, and then) by systematic individual and group therapies such as, what we generally call, a meditation.
Evolution is taking place even at this moment as we speak. And while the processes optimise this primary resource called human brain that has directly contributed towards the survival and superiority of the species, those blindspots of cognition that the priests, magicians, alchemists and sarmans seem to exclusively have access to in recent millennia, are also in the processes of being ironed out.
The word God is filling this blank for modern humans, and it is safe to bet that evolution is aware of it.
Bill: Why myths? Why should we care about them? What do they have to do with my life?
Joe: My first response would be, "Go on, live your life; it's a good life -- you don't need this." I don't believe in being interested in a subject just because it is said to be important. I believe in being caught by it somehow or other. But you may find that, with a proper introduction, this subject will catch you [...]
To begin with, the notion seems erroneous that makes meditation an exclusively religious forte. Concentration is not termed as religious. Contemplation can be termed semi-religious. But meditation has become common to be associated with a religious practice. Why?
(For instance, Nassim Taleb would like to argue -as in Fooled by Randomness- that his is the meditation of Mathematics, and it is the best that there is.) As we moved into the "21st century" the human race had been metaphysically controlled (for a want of a better word) on a continuous basis by a certain group of people claiming to have answers to certain blindspots within the human cognitive processes. One of the tantamount evidences is right there in the number - 21st century. Why not year 35,100 which is roughly considered the behavioral origin of Cro-Magnon Homo Sapience species? Or say year 200,100 when the anatomical homo sapience first emerged in Africa?
The simple answer would be that these numbers were largely unknown until very recently. And hence, most of the unknown and unknowable has been attributed by the wise-men of mankind to a "power" seemingly much larger then themselves; namely God. In its purest sense, the notion is true perhaps. To quote Joe again, quoting Indian Chief Seattle's famous speech, "Man didn't weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it." In its purest sense, perhaps those wise-men didn't mean to initiate religion as we know it today. Sampling some of the earliest Greek, Indian and Chinese wisdom talk provides no reference or need for "religion" as such.
Uncertainty and randomness, and the dangers they propose, must be the common and prevalent forces active in a hunter-gatherer aboriginal man's struggle. Millennia pass. Man continue to fight for survival in a rather hostile environment, with a rather fragile physic. Her erect posture compromises the pelvic bone structure. For a mammal it means the child bearing and delivering system ends up making a series of adjustments and compromises. Evolution mandates that to make this system work, the fetus development within the womb would focus on "manufacturing" mainly the cerebral tissues, and would now create an offspring that would not be capable of doing much more than breathing and suckling when it would first see the light of the day. That too after a few desperate prompting attempts immediately after birth, when the lungs need to be expanded by crying out loud, as a water breathing creature suddenly becomes an air breathing one. For about an average twelve long years from that point, this protection by the parent guardian would be required, while the brain development would continue for about 20 years of her life. (Time permitting, this blog shall attempt to contribute more on the subject from Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman's work "Neural Darwinism – The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection")
The other mammal cousines of homo sapience do not face a challenge of similar severity, or oddity. The largest animal of the mammal kingdom, the blue whale, after about eight to 12 months of gestation period gives birth to a 2.5 metric ton calf, which is up and running for a thousand miles journey. And while at it, they socialize, they sing, and they play games. These arrangements of these species have been stabilized through evolution for at least 10 million years. Relatively, humans are a fairly new species, still at a continuous struggle against a rather steep evolution curve.
Multiple theories have been attempted at explaining the evolution and development of "brain" per say within the animal kingdom in general and for humans in particular. One such source claims:
"What magical trick makes us intelligent? The trick is that there is no trick. The power of intelligence stems from our vast diversity, not from any single, perfect principle." – Marvin Minsky [The Society of Mind, p. 308]Yes, what Magic? About 15,000 years ago the uncultured, wild, hunter-gatherer evolves to realize that, among others, he had two choices: to accept those uncertain and random forces as a part and parcel of survival; or to somehow find a way to control it, or better still, to turn it into his favor. Enter the wizards. They claim to harness these natural forces and command them to serve man. Later developments bring about the earliest breed of priests, sarmans, magicians. Birth of cult; birth of religion. A system that pacifies his fears, and magnifies assurances. A trading system where a desire is traded for a certain rite; a fear is traded against another. Promoting hope, promising to minimize uncertainty and randomness, give-and-take a few self-delusions.
Apes and humans share nearly 98% of the gene-pool. Experts claim that primates do not have the ability to 'think'. They may demonstrate intelligence such as, using a stone to crack a hard nut, or use a straw to lure termites out, or even certain (rare) analytical abilities like "if two bears go into a cave, and only one emerges, it may still be unsafe to enter the cave since the other may still be inside." Even metacognition or self-awareness may be true, for chimps and the dolphins, to some extent: there is more than 50% chance that a chimp looking itself up into a mirror may recognize an ink spot on its face, and try to rub it off. However, their faculties do not extent to the sophistication of what we know as human thinking ability. The 2% genetic mutation or evolution provides man with this uncanny evolutionary advantage that supersedes even the seemingly major survival disadvantages such as: a fragile physical structure, lack of weaponry such as canines and claws, and an overall weak gross sensory organs of smell, sight and hearing. The genetic mutation favored development of brain and its faculties as against to these animal traits.
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| The Neanderthal Man (Male). [Image via Neanderthal museum, Germany] |
The results are in front of us: humans become the top animal. This 2% genetical "advancement" also includes at least four sub-branches within Archaic Homo sapiens; one of which is called the Neanderthal Man. These early species sometimes inter-bread with ancestors of modern humans, and their genetic traces are still found in people from Eurasia. They performed fire-based "rituals", cooked food, produced charcoal cave-paintings, built dwellings, used advanced tools, and had a language-based communication. They lived in complex social groups, and were smaller yet much stronger in terms of physical strength and structure in comparison to modern humans. Perhaps, a summation of all the traits that should put them ahead of the rest in terms of evolutionary selection. National Geography further reports:
"Studies have shown that Neanderthal and modern human brains were the same size at birth, but by adulthood, the Neanderthal brain was larger than the modern human brain."And then, by as late as 24,000 years before present, this whole branch of archaic homo sapience called Neanderthalensis goes extinct. Why? No one conclusively knows as yet. Competing hypothesis include species specific desease, climate-change, volcano eruption, and even an economic theory suggesting that Neanderthals were poor at trade and hence became extinction. Most anthropologists however tend to favor the notion (with an apparent influence by the history of colonization in recent centuries) that homo sapience, though seemingly inferier in physical strength than Neanderthals, but superior in cognition and tool building, initially did a "soft invasion" to their territory, leading to inter-breading and then absorption of Neanderthals into homo sapience main-stream, at which point Neanderthals loose their independent existence as a species.
So, did Neanderthal Man, or even early Cro-Magnons, indulge into something like meditation? The most likely explanation is that the need, the concept and thus the word 'meditation' didn't have to exist for their era.
The limited point here being that a larger brain size and brain-to-body mass ration does not always automatically translate into a successful evolutionary selection. Evolution is also a journey riddled with a series of unpredictable accidents. One such likely accident on its way could be the human brain matter, and the faculty enabling 'thinking' like humans, which has been undergoing transformation over the last few thousand years. Within the last 35,000 years since Cro-Magnon varient of modern humans, the cranial capacity (brain size) has been decreasing from average 1600cc to 1200cc for an average modern human. The change isn't without its effects.
The gray area highlighted by the flaw(s) in this cognitive process that is undergoing evolutionary changes, magnified by brains's imaginative powers and emotional response system, seems to have come into existence just about 15,000 to 10,000 years before present, when, as per the available archeological evidence, the first lunar calendar is thought to have been created. Thus far, the experimentation via various 'religious' organizations have indicated that these flaws and blindspots of the brain could be addressed, and controlled, (first by terming it God, or at least a lul of the divine, and then) by systematic individual and group therapies such as, what we generally call, a meditation.
Evolution is taking place even at this moment as we speak. And while the processes optimise this primary resource called human brain that has directly contributed towards the survival and superiority of the species, those blindspots of cognition that the priests, magicians, alchemists and sarmans seem to exclusively have access to in recent millennia, are also in the processes of being ironed out.
The word God is filling this blank for modern humans, and it is safe to bet that evolution is aware of it.