White men would never have stood a chance against the full force of the native americans (so I have read in high school) were it not for the diseases which supposedly killed off like 80 or 90%. But then again, many of the things I was taught in hs were either incorrect or just plain lies.
Nonetheless, it brings up a good question, why were the native americans on a raw paleo diet so suseptible to these new diseases? We would tend to believe here that the main cause of disease is diet, but this one thing does trouble me.
No way would I go back, or wish the world to return to non-civilization. Ever watch a discovery channel show about various primitive tribes? Lots of superstition. Not even necessarily an ideal diet. You would look up at the stars and wonder; create myths and legends, but have no knowledge. You would stare in to the fire at night mesmerized, but not understand it. Humanity would continue on until we get struck by a meteor and die, get taken out by some terrible fate, or continue for billions of years until the sun blinks out
Also is the consideration of human psychology. We are curious, and naturally apply our reasoning abilities to create, be it a sling or rocket. If this were not so, humans would not have developed technology. It was this sense of discovery and desire for creation, that led to civilization itself. We would not have been human to sit content in the wild with no desire or attempt for advancement.
And this advancement puts us in an interesting, reallly an amazing moment in time. We are beginning to grasp in our hands the direction of evolution for not only humans, but all species. We have the technology to see an impending meteor impact, and to do something about it. Perhaps one day we will decipher our genome (that is understand it fully), to make longer living, stronger, more intelligent humans. To purposefully create a superior humanity. We have the opportunity to understand the universe in a way that gives us power only dreamt about in the wildest fantasies of those who came just centuries before us.
Why would you take all that possibility, promise, hope, opportunity, discovery, and ditch it for a more primitive existence?
Yes we are flirting with destruction and the possibility of life extinguishment as the result of our newfound power. But it is this that makes our adventure so unique, so amazing. True we may meet our death on this path of discovery, but on a long enough timeline how would that outcome be any different? In other words, without advancement we're going to at some point die anyways. So what do we have to lose?
And even more absurd, why would a person knowing all this (and thus able to contribute to a sound outcome), walk away to the jungle to allow less respectful, less capable, covetous, and foolish men hold in their hands the fate of the world and your children? Our path is to become technologically advanced and raise the consciousness of our fellow humans, thus preserving our species and biosphere indefinitely, or to one day die, whether it be in a nuclear disaster soon, or maybe a comet later, or ultimately at the death of our sun many billions of years from now.
