HUMAN POTENTIAL SERIES

The Seal of the United States avers: E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one”. This statement refers to the vast collection of expatriates of divergent physical characteristics, who combine to create the most powerful nation of the world.

A noble endeavour.

Does the same apply to evolution? If man is the peak, the acme, of the evolutionary trend then shall we, Homo sapiens, eventually eliminate all competition (we’re well on the way) to rule supreme on this ball of dust to the exclusion of all other biological life-forms? Or shall we incorporate them into our own physio/psyche to create Homo omnibus to rule, supreme, over no one at all?

There is another way of looking at this subject.

If nature/evolution/divine-intervention brought us from a single-celled amoeba to the trillions-celled human, will the nature/evolution/divine-intervention cease its activities, satisfied that status quo cannot be improved upon? Or… considering the billions of years behind us, will the same triad continue in its activities for another few billion years, to advance Homo sapiens as much again as we are today from an amoeba?

Just consider.

Four arms would enable us to text two messages at the same time. A fifth arm would enable us to munch simultaneously on potato chips while washing them down with beer. We might also develop a second nose through which we could smoke cigarettes, or other weed, without having to stop eating. Nature/evolution, with or without divine-intervention, has achieved much, much more since our single-celled existence. Another arm for continuous cell-phone communication wouldn’t hurt, either.

Having studied human form/behaviour during my last holidays, it seems that we, as a species, are well on the way to developing physique consisting of enormous stomachs, atrophying leg and buttock muscles (unnecessary for munching and texting, while sufficient to get to one’s automobile), and vacant facial expression attesting to the equally atrophying brain whose functions have been, in large measure, already taken over by electronic devices.

Perhaps our scientists might take steps to stop nature/evolution in its tracks, to spare us from further improvements. There might be a greater problem with divine-intervention, which, according to most ancient eastern philosophies, has already given up on us some eons ago, and is ready to recycle us, once again, to start anew, perhaps with a two-celled amoeba, in the hope of better results.

The one cheerful thought is that, as we are “e pluribus unum”, we shall be recycled in great togetherness in a great pre-human cauldron of pre-evolutionary stew, which will probably start with a great Golden Age, followed by Eve handing us an apple, which will, over billions of years, lead us to yet another demise.

Good luck.

Alternatively, we might consider that we are all disembodies entities, playing with our bodies as toys, for purely hedonistic reasons. In that case, the above scenario could bring us nothing but pure joy and, possibly, extremely large stomachs. Yet another alternative is proposed in Winston’s Kingdom, Book Three of my Winston Trilogy.

Your choice.

PS. Please, don’t forget to write a brief review on Amazon for Winston’s Kingdom. Your thoughts are important to me. For a free download contact mailto:stan.stanlaw.ca