Hi. This is Tony Wall. I am the founder of Noēsis. Thank you very much for watching.
I’m the guy that started this whole thing. Whatever it is, we don’t know yet, but look at the two words alongside me, “The Weight.” Oh my–the drama!
Let’s first give credit to (a rock band named) “The Band,” a Hall of Fame musical group that created a terrific song called, “The Weight.” In this video, I’m going to borrow those two words, because they provide a handy metaphor for human sustainability.
If everyone would indulge me in a simple analogy, it will help to make the point about The Weight, and why it’s so important to human sustainability. Let’s all play along. Thank you.
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Imagine this. On any given morning, we all rise from bed, and we prepare to go about our business that day, whatever that might be. We all do this–all eight billion of us.
On this one morning, we all do something different. Before we leave the house, we all pick up a 15-pound weight, like the one you see pictured here. It’s a barbell. We can all relate to this.
When we later arrive home at night, all eight billion human beings would be expected to be exhausted. There’s no stretch there.
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Now, apply that same analogy to all of Humanity, as we struggle today against the weight of evolutionary relics that press down on all of us. This exercise helps us to view the Human Condition as something that we all struggle against, but, over the centuries, it’s slowly morphed into the illusion that other humans are our enemies, or that other humans are alien to us.
There are no aliens or enemies among humans. Anyone called alien is incorrectly labeled. Humans all come from the same place. Anyone thought to be an enemy is grossly mis-labelled or has become an enemy by other realities that are related to this weight that we carry.
What happens at night, when we all arrive home, after carrying this weight around with us all day? A few common things would apply to all of us.
–We would all share an understanding of the chore we were given that day–to carry around this weight.
–All of us experienced the same chore, and therefore, we experienced the same pain.
But what else would all of us know? We would all know that we never again would accept this same chore, to carry this weight.
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I’ll ask that all of us view together the influence – The Weight – of two million years of human evolutionary baggage, pressing down upon us. After we imagine that, we can also imagine coming home, and putting down that weight forever, because we came to understand its components, and its pervasive nature.
We all carry a great weight—one we didn’t choose. All of us can put down this weight, when we come to view its presence, and then, when we deduce its uselessness in the modern day.
The Weight is our common enemy. Humans bond against common enemies! Why don’t we all bond against this one? THE WEIGHT of our evolutionary past weighs down upon our present moments. It places us into conflict, and it keeps us there.
Let’s get busy putting down the weight.
Thank you!
About this Video:
This video describes five million years of evolutionary influence, pressing down on all humans, all day, every day. The immensity of evolutionary influence is no less than a WEIGHT that modern humans will never shed, until we understand its components. This weight represents evolutionary compulsions and impulses that overwhelm the thinking human brain.
We can shed the weight of our evolutionary past, not by denying it, but by owning it. These invisible relics of human evolution beg to be understood. Until we do, make no mistake, we are captive to our past.
We must deduce the uselessness of these outdated compulsions, as well as their direct influence on every action taken in the modern day. When we turn these relic forces, we will only then know ourselves. Only a species that understands itself can redirect itself.
