The origins of modern man

[Stefano]

Hello folks
I'm attempting "mission impossible" (?) of trying to unravell the mysteries concerning how mankind came to be as we are today. I liken this universal quest of mankind's to attempting to complete a rediculously complex & infuriating, gigantic jigsaw puzzle. There are clues all over the place. You just have to realize the fact that there IS a perfect, complete solution to it, and just keep on trying
Anyway, to start this topic, I'd like to share with you all a recent question I came up with (which, if "investigated" & debated thoroughly, JUST MAY put 1 or 2 more pieces of the puzzle into place)
Here's the question: At what point did life become "impossible" for humans?
By "impossible", I mean infuriatingly complicated, emotionally painful, anxiety-ridden, crime-ridden, extremely difficult/trying, etc. Harking back to stone-age man (who were not much different than apes?), what sort of quality of life did they have?. Were they contented?. Satisfied?. And was that because of their simple lifestyles/cultures?. And could modern-day humans have that same quality/simplicity of life if they lived in those times?
I'm new to this area of interest, so CORRECT/TEACH me by all means!. I EXPECT it and I DEMAND it!. But just try to keep your posts simple & to the point, as I will be analyzing each and every one of them, "dissecting" & reorganizing, and I don't want to waste time unecessarily. I mean "business" here, and so if you're looking for "fun", I ask that you go elsewhere. But hey, work CAN be fun!

[Satori]

Hi & welcome,

I just want to clarify whether you're talking about society in general here or it's effects on the individual (or perhaps both).

The reason I ask is because this:

infuriatingly complicated, emotionally painful, anxiety-ridden, crime-ridden, extremely difficult/trying

... is a mixture of different concepts as I see it.

crime-ridden is more of sociological issue and we could get into why we have crime etc.

Whereas emotionally painful and anxiety-ridden are specifically individual conditions that are created by us, exist only within us and can be vanquished by us.

For example, a society might be 'crime-ridden' and there may be nothing I can do about it, but it's up to me whether or not I choose to find it 'emotionally painful' enough to have a significant impact upon me, or whether I suffer emotional pain during whatever event caused it (as we all do from time to time) but then let go of that pain rather than attach to it for the long term.

The remaining items - infuriatingly complicated and extremely difficult/trying - could, I guess, equally apply to both the individual and society.

You see, I don't think really the following is true as far as I'm concerned:

At what point did life become "impossible" for humans?

Life has its problems, but I consider myself to be fairly contented, happy and lucky (despite having a long-term illness), which is not the same as saying that society in general couldn't improve a fair bit.

[Shiggy]

Yes, it seems you are harbouring an assumption that life is not enjoyable. This kind of worldview often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, giving a biased impression of the way things really are.

Your questions don't have any universal answer, as this view of life is person-specific, with different causes and solutions for every person.

Life is not "impossible". I myself am very happy, and I know many others who are, as well. I think you should be testing this assumption before you do anything else. You may well be trying to solve a problem that isn't actually there.

[Stefano]

Hello again folks
Yes, my life personally is "not enjoyable" and "impossible", due to certain chronic things in my being, lifestyle, etc. But my focus here is on the MIND of all the past, leading up to the present, "versions" of man
Yes, maybe a bit of personal stuff is "intruding" a bit, in what I'm trying to accomplish here. Note taken, thanks.

Satori..

I just want to clarify whether you're talking about society in general here or it's effects on the individual (or perhaps both)

The reason I ask is because this:

Quote:
infuriatingly complicated, emotionally painful, anxiety-ridden, crime-ridden, extremely difficult/trying

... is a mixture of different concepts as I see it

Or perhaps neither!. What I mean is not society, nor society's effects upon the mind of the individual, but in essence, the effect of the mind of the individual upon HIMSELF (ie the level of "evolved-ness" of man's brain/mind, INDEPENDENT of society & environment). But yes, I did "mix things up" in that line


As far as "emotional pain" goes, I guess I mean, did ancient man have the capacity to suffer emotionally/mentally as we have (the capacity of) today?
Concerning "infuriatingly complicated" & "extremely difficult/trying", I must admit that this week has been such for me personally, but I think that maybe they apply to LIFE itself (for ALL creatures), & not so much to individuals or society (in whatever eon). Fairly recently I thought-up the following quote (being inspired by: "Life is simple - it's HUMANS that make it complex"). Here it is: "Life is complex - it's HUMANS that make it (seem) simple" (!?)
And, by "impossible", yes, another influence from my personal life (with my own personal meaning attached to it - a general term only). So I mightn't use that term in here, as it's a bit "fat"
#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys