On Skewed Progressions (Part 3)

v. Natural v. Anti-Natural Cultural Evolutions
Cultural evolution is not a single path. Including dead-ends, many different routes and eventualities may exist. For example, regressions may be coupled with lateral advances called progress. The advocates of progress may only offer proof-by-example because it has no actual basis in reality. Yet, progress is still swallowed hook, line and sinker even by those who should know better, were their instincts not blunted by specialist mediocrity. Emphasis and value are important factors over which much blood has flowed. Anti-natural cultural evolution may sometimes conflict and adversely impact individual or even species development. The natural processes are slower than those supposed artificial avenues propagated by ideologies, which will produce, as side-effects, decadence and nihilism. Degeneration will occur by conflicting natural and anti-natural cultural forces. Unhealthy cultures have previously been replaced, but electronic communication networks bring the clash to many levels different from direct physical contact. The resultant verbal confrontation may intensify the conflict beyond hitherto possible extremes. Cold War propaganda could have culminated in a nuclear exchange. Compared to the relatively guarded language of diplomatic dispatches, propaganda may create a verbal world where even surviving a nuclear war is seen as possible through de-humanizing the opposition and portraying threats in anti-natural terms. The nihilism evoked is entirely unsurprising when citizens are faced with the constant possibility of imminent destruction at all times. The mass psychology is poorly understood. Being part of the system, the experts are themselves affected by its mechanisms and social dynamics. No system may be entirely explained and fathomed by one of its own components. Even further removed from reality, the near future may spawn even larger difficulties. A world unified by the dollar will by definition have no external enemies. All threats will be internal. A new broad, more abstract and anti-natural, enemy will emerge for public consumption. Although many will try, nothing internal will surpass its system. Even its indicators will be different than those currently utilized for maximum advantage, like a convenient foreign scapegoat such as North Korea, Iraq or Libya. The propagated menace must confront everyone, by sinking to the lowest possible level, thus promoting even world-wide unity. For good or ill, those power structures which gain ascendancy by manufacturing a viable foe to all nations will influence the history of the world. One could always seize the moment and become that enemy. The power conferred would be worth it. A low mean abundance provides opportunities to be exploited for maximum advantage. Even when undermining this system, rather than natural balance, efficiency must still be the prime motivator. Uncontrollable by anyone, the path of least resistance will deliver all. Positive results will produce their yield. Technique is the safest bet, but not necessarily the truly optimal avenue for natural cultural evolution. Technology, which allows the human animal to better and effectively interact with the natural rather than dominate it, need not necessarily skew species development. In any conflict, nature will ultimately win the battle. Our definitions require a renewal, thus clearly separating the natural and anti-natural in our minds.

vi. On Skewed Definitions:
The ostensible purpose concerning the process of definition is equation and reduction to unity. Communication and language could not exist without this mechanism for producing commonality. Requiring a definition for comparison, even apparent orders of rank are secondary considerations. Value defines worth. Power follows. Rigidity is initiated by the powerful, thereby maintaining their grip on definition by establishing convention. The means have varied over time and societies. The modern American culture utilizes the efficient approach of socialization, which reduces the necessity of outright autocratic edicts. Hence, the myth of freedom is maintained while establishing the collective unity which debases it. Rejection often leads to either natural or anti-natural cultural evolution, including a synthesis of both possibilities. Hence, the myth of freedom is maintained by change and new repetitive cycles within the social scheme. As long as the myth of progress defines the direction downward as being onward, even regression suffices. Definitions remain static. Hence, new words are coined. The world turns despite our best efforts to the contrary.
Definitions involve imagery. Translated concepts are lost from the original. A periodic renewal is essential to possess meaning. Eventually reaching mythic proportions, codification will only occur for the strongest definitions. Nobody would call freedom a bad thing, but few could explain why. Definition becomes skewed by lacking any outward contrast or comparison. Freedom means little until compared with other situations. A prisoner is still a prisoner. Fundamentals have become absolutes. Squandered energy takes many forms. A primary cause is the confusion between causal and effectual relationships spawned. The lack of outside reference points is a cause. The mentalities produced have no other function except to be used, exploited and discarded. It matters little which puppet reigns supreme. All have their uses. Original thoughts are still worded by common definitions, which may be exploited for maximum advantage. Confusion may result, but such instances have their uses by instilling a supposed need for leadership. Complexity is difficult, but can be faked to appear ideologically consistent. The world is created, not just observed. Perceptions are important for creating common links. Stagnation is a human trait which may interfere with true cultural evolution, but will prove useful for someone even by provoking the foulest declines.
The vilest lies may be contained and concealed within the dearest truths. Conflict occurs when the natural and anti-natural collide. Ultimately, the natural world will reign once the anti-natural becomes unsustainable. However, systemic demise might not be readily recognized due to the lack of external references. A dead system of thought is not the same as a rotting corpse. The civilization will be too caught up in behavior considered normal by default. The end will be stagnant and possibly fatal. This current age has never been seen before, which implies its supersession will be most uncertain. Those elements least firmly grounded will suffer the worst fates. Skewing all definitions contrary to technique, calculations only define the simplistic. The world is not always rational or illogical. Coping requires a mix. The past is dead. Its philosophical basis should not outlive its time. Unfortunately, the dead impact the present through eternal notions which were never applied and certainly do not belong in the present age. Our views concerning reality are skewed and should be corrected. Self-imposed limitations should be discarded to prevent the skewing of definitions for the maximum advantage of static societal forces. Of course, one requires a starting reference point, but that requirement would be generally different for each individual. Otherwise, man becomes a machine, inferior to the mechanical which is naturally efficient and skewed...
1996 - January 1, 2001