Posts
“If you want something new,
you have to stop doing something old”
- Peter F. Drucker
What Was The First Idea?
History happens first in the mind.
History is driven by ideas. Deeds follow ideas.
When we compare ourselves to animals, we see how changeable we are.
Animals' lives change very little compared to the convulsions and revolutions
that shape our history.
New ideas are destabilizing, even dangerous.
But what is the source of ideas?
Our minds.
Yet, our science has yet to understand how ideas generate in them.
Ideas have shaped the world as we know it now.
They will sculpt it into the shape of the future.
But What Were The First Ideas?
The earliest ideas in many ways were the best.
No, the earliest idea was not writing.
We can infer ideas by the actions and tools born of them.
Flaking flint to make shelves and arrow heads bespeak of an idea to hoard and kill from afar.
And Man has been hoarding and killing from afar ever since.
One arrow may easily break but not so a bundle of ten.
And from that thought sprang the idea to band together for safety and to forage afar for food.
But to band together Man needed to be able to communicate ...
So sprang the idea of Symbols that grew into crude Language.
And from symbols and language grew the urge to express ourselves in Art...
as in the caves of Lascaux:
{Image Courtesy of Prof. Saxx}
What Do You Think
The First Idea Was?
The very first idea? No way to know this. But I do believe that the earliest humans banded together not only for convenience, but because we are by nature social animals.
ReplyDeleteWe are social now, but was early Man who saw each being as a potential enemy? Much to mull over, right? :-)
DeleteVery interesting post. As for the first idea, I have no clue. Whoever decided to leave us cave drawings was a genius though.
ReplyDeleteYes, Geraint, I am very curious as to the identity of that artist!
DeleteHi Roland - I must come back and see the TED talk ... but which came first the chicken or the egg ... there were probably too many doing the same 'chore' (necessity for ancient man) - so another piece of necessity work was devised ... social aspects came later I think ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeletehttp://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/i-is-for-ice-age-art.html
Group for safety; then bond out of growing affection? Yes, I am still pondering that one. :-)
DeleteInteresting post. No way of knowing for sure. Just the idea of walking upright - was that a conscious idea on the part of one person or some sort of collective consciousness at work?
ReplyDeleteI think walking upright just came natural due to our skeletal structure -- it sure helped up leap into the trees when escaping predators!
DeleteAccording to the Bible, the first idea was to cover up. Although I bet the idea of sex followed that very closely. LOL
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought Eve's deciding to eat that forbidden fruit was the first idea! But sex probably soon followed that one. :-)
DeleteProbably something along the idea (excuse the expression) of "I'm hungry. I should eat something."
ReplyDelete:-) I have always thought that the first person to look at a scuttling lobster and say: "Hey, that looks like good eating!" must have been very, very hungry!
DeleteHa. Very good point. I once wrote a post about the bravest man in history (IMHO), the first man to eat an egg. http://silverfoxlair.blogspot.com/2010/06/historys-bravest-two-men.html
Delete