Theory of Indivisibility: How Did We Get Here? (Part 2)
This publication corresponds with Episode 2 of my podcast, Theory of Indivisibility. Be sure to check it out on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or Stitcher!
The Evolution of Systems
In Theory of Indivisibility: An Introduction, I outlined what to expect in this series, explained my motivation for creating a podcast, and introduced the concept of Systems Thinking, which is the framework we will use for our analysis of the following social systems: Power-over, Patriarchy, Religion, Ownership, Capitalism, Democracy, Racism, & Education.
Together we will explore the origins and evolution of each system, the current realities and complexities of each system, and how my Theory of Indivisibility applies to each system. We will also explore the ways that many people are choosing to create new systems that are rooted in sustainability, equity, freedom, and love.
We are building community around this work on various platforms including GROW Interconnected, Patreon and Facebook. These are places where you can support my work and gain access to discussion groups for ongoing reflections and authentic dialogue.
Today’s transcription is an exploration of how we got here…how we got to this point in our collective existence as humanity where most societies globally deal with some form of inequality, poverty, war, crime, prejudice, hunger, pollution, and environmental instability.
When talking to people about societal issues, I get the sense that many people believe things are the way they are because that’s the way they’ve always been and that is the way things will always be. The general statement that I hear often is that it is “human nature” to be selfish, greedy, and power-seeking. However, according to my research, these societal ills are relatively new in the context of human existence. The societal ills we experience today are not the way things have always been.
Let’s explore how we got here, starting from the beginning…
My desire to understand the dysfunctions of our present day realities pushed me to research the origins of human beings and why we think and act in the ways we do. My knowledge of systems thinking informs my rationale and the questions that I ask. Everything is a system that evolved from something else. In reality, nothing “is what it is”, despite what many people say. Everything in society started somewhere — from our language to the way we write, the way we speak, everything. Nothing exists separately from the system it is embedded in. Every aspect of society has an origin, which begs the question…where did our society originate?
I grew up in a family where the teachings of Christianity and the bible provided the historical context for the origin of humanity. I never questioned those religious teachings until I was a young adult. In school, what I learned in science class about the origins of humanity was a very shallow story of evolution. I never had a teacher that invited us to explore the topic of evolution deeply. Now that I think about it, I wonder if my science teachers’ religious convictions were the reason why we didn’t explore evolution more in class?
Fast forward to the present and I’m currently fascinated with the work of scientists across several fields who’ve been able to weave together evidence of the origins of the observable universe, our solar system, planet earth, and the origins of human life in great detail.
Motivated by my desire to create my podcast, I took the time to read about theories of human origin that have arisen from scientific evidence. What I’ve found is a coherent and meticulous account of how everything has evolved from the big bang into what we experience today. Our current understandings of reality and the origin of our world are based on observable scientific evidence contributed by scientists across disciplines like geology, biology, anthropology, archeology, genetics, and paleontology, to name a few.
New discoveries are always being made that revise certain elements that were once thought to be true.
My biggest takeaway from the time that I spent researching the origin and subsequent evolution of the universe and its inhabitants was that new discoveries are always being made that cause scientists to revise certain elements that were once thought to be true. Just as our television screen pictures get clearer over time with higher definition because of technological advancements, we continue to gain deeper context, a clearer picture, of sciences and cultures due to advancements in technology.
The rate of scientific breakthroughs and discoveries accelerated during the 1900s, with archeological excavations revealing pre-historic evidence of human evolution that had remained unknown for centuries. For example, the fossils for 13 of the 16 known human species that have ever roamed the earth were discovered after 1900. Five of them were discovered after the year 2000. Furthermore, we now know that several different species roamed the earth along with our homo sapien ancestors before becoming extinct. This is all information that I was never taught in school.
When I was growing up, I was taught that humans were given dominion over nature — the land, animals, everything was under our control. The research I’ve done on evolution has shown me that humans are not above or separate from, but rather a part of that story — evolutionarily speaking, we are no different than the animals, the land, the sky, and the sea. We do not have dominion or power over the earth any more than other creatures that inhabit our planet.
Nature, which includes humans, is a story of constant evolution and science is a medium by which we can tell the story of human origin.
Let’s start with the evolution of the known Universe…
A branch of physics and astronomy called physical cosmology provides us with a model for the origins of the universe. This model is known as the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory describes the origins and massive evolution of the universe along with detailed explanations for the phenomena within it. Detailed measurements of the expansion rate of the universe inform us that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old.
Cosmology provides us with a timeline detailing the formation of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day. That timeline starts at zero seconds and goes on to explain in great detail what happens at various stages of expansion. The 1st second of the universe’s existence contains so many details that this tiny bit of time is broken into six subcategories that help explain the foundational processes for further expansion.
Astronomers estimate that the observable universe has between 200 billion — 2 trillion galaxies. During the Matter Era, which was 600 million years into the expansion of the universe, it is believed that the Milky Way galaxy — our galaxy — was formed. It is estimated that The Milky Way galaxy contains 100 billion planets, one of which is planet Earth.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, I thought there were only nine planets. Y’all probably did the same project I did in school where we had to create a model of the planets in our solar system. I don’t recall any teachers or any other educational resource, such as Sesame Street, ever giving a hint that there were more than nine planets out there, let alone billions of them.
You can imagine how my mind was blown when I learned how big our solar system and our universe really is…
It was during the evolutionary era known as The Formation of The Solar System, which was approximately 9.2 billion years into the evolution of our universe that our Solar System, our Sun, and Planet Earth began to evolve. That makes our Sun and planet approximately 4.6 & 4.5 billion years old, respectively.
So when did life emerge? How did life emerge and in what form? What preceded life in order to lay the foundation for it? I think the answers to these questions are important because they provide context for the natural order and natural unfolding of all things.
Let’s reference the Timeline of Natural History and the Timeline of Human Evolution to gain some perspective. Scientists note that all dates are approximate and subject to change based on new discoveries.
Scientific discoveries in geology and biology contribute to the significant events detailed in the Timeline of Natural History. I always wondered how scientists could determine the age of something that was several million years old. It wasn’t until I started researching for this podcast that I learned about a process called radiometric dating. Radiometric dating can be used to determine the age of objects like wood, rocks, charcoal, paper, fabrics, fossils, and shells.
It is during a time period that scientists named “The Earliest Solar System” that the early stages of the sun and earth begin to form within the Milky Way galaxy (4.75ba — 4.55ba). Through a series of astronomical events, chemical processes, and impacts from large planetoids and debris, planet Earth begins to increase in size during this period. It is during the next major time period called, The Precambrian Supereon which began 4.53 billion years ago and lasted for over 4 billion years, that we are introduced to some foundational building blocks that would eventually become Earth’s ecosystem. This is the time period when gases and chemicals for Earth’s ecosystem like methane, hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and water vapor began to release into the atmosphere. It is also during this period that the moon and oceans begin to form. The earliest evidence of biotic life materials, believed to be approximately 4.25 billion years old, were found in mineral deposits in Western Australia. This discovery marks the beginning of the timeline of human evolution. The timeline of human evolution provides scientific evidence and theories for the genesis and subsequent evolution of the many diverse species which form the branches on the evolutionary tree of life.
So what exactly is the genesis of life? Interestingly, it is a process called abiogenesis, which is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter such as organic compounds containing carbon.
While the details of this process are still unknown, the prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities was not a single event, but a gradual process of increasing complexity that involved molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes over the course of billions of years. Although scientist agree that abiogenesis occurred there are several hypotheses on exactly how.
Now, as I mentioned before, I was raised in a Christian household. I was taught that, according to Genesis, God created the first man and woman and everything that exists in our universe over the course of seven days. Our civilization, social norms, and the ways we engage with the land, animals, and environment are all based on the idea that humans were created by God to have dominion over nature. I can see how it may be difficult for people to wrap their minds around the scientific understanding of evolution because it is quite a shift to go from believing in a God that creates everything in seven days to understanding the evolving story that science tells us.
Evolution tells a story of complex building block processes that each lay the foundation for the next phase of development that ultimately led to the evolution of human beings. From the single-celled organism 3.9 billion years ago, which was the first to breathe oxygen, evolved more complex cell organisms nearly a billion years later, which introduced sexual reproduction. From complex cell organisms, marine species like sponges, comb jellies, & arthropods evolved in 700–660 ma. These species were the first to begin developing brains and circulatory systems. From these marine species evolved the first vertebrate species, in the form of prehistoric fish circa 505 ma. From fish, the first four-legged animals, called tetrapods evolved, starting with amphibians in 365 ma. From amphibians came the first reptiles around 300 ma, which had advanced nervous systems compared to amphibians. The first reptiles had the ability to lay eggs on land which led to colonization upland for the first time by animals.
According to scientists, after the appearance of reptiles, and over the course of approximately 40 million years, the species evolved to split into two branches. One branch evolved into modern day reptiles and birds while the other branch evolved into modern day mammals. Mammal-like reptiles evolved into the first mammals 220 million years ago with distinguishing features, such as four limbs that extend beneath the body rather than sprawling out to the side like reptiles. The neocortex region of the brain, which is unique to mammals also evolved during this time. From the evolution of mammals came the evolution of primates..
Over the course of the next 85–66 million years, primates evolved to split into several suborders, superfamilies, and species. It is during this time that the physical features that humans and other primates share evolved.
The next timeline in the evolution of “How We Got Here” that we will briefly explore is the timeline of human prehistory. It details the events on earth starting with the evolution of homo sapiens up to when the innovation of writing was invented. This time period spans a total of 294,800 years.
The approximate dates and details in this timeline are based on research in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, genetics, geology, and linguistics. Research on this time period, like the others, is constantly uncovering new archeological evidence that provides even more context and clarity into the unfolding of human life before humans began writing their history.
Some highlights from this timeline include
- 300,000 years ago — Homo sapiens appear in Africa
- 170,000 years ago — humans are wearing clothing by this time
- 70,000 years ago — first forms of abstract art appear in the form of engraved stone in a cave in South Africa.
- 40,000 years ago — extinction of the human species Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis)
- 16,000–13,000 years ago — Paleolithic era hunter-gatherers crossed the Beringia land bridge from Asia into North America to become the first inhabitants of North America.
- 16,000–11,000 years ago — Caucasian Hunter-Gatherers migrate into Europe from the Caucasus region located at the border of Europe and Asia.
- 12,000 — The Agricultural Revolution begins (#readIshmael)
- 11,000 years ago (9,000 B.C/B.C.E) — The oldest evidence of organized religion is found in the near east.
- 4,600 years ago: (2600 BC): Writing is developed in Sumer and Egypt, triggering the beginning of recorded history.
According to archeologists, prior to the agricultural revolution, humans did not live in societies stratified along the lines of wealth, social status, and power. For the previous approximately 290,000 years of homo-sapiens existence as a species, our ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers in egalitarian societies.
Egalitarian societies are characterized by having social and economic equality amongst all the people. In pre-agricultural societies, hunter-gatherers lived nomadic lives and depended heavily on one another for survival. Everyone had a role and they shared all responsibilities and resources.
It was after the invention of agriculture that humans began to form settlements and divisions of labor that would ultimately lead to power-over systems created by rulers that lead to class divisions, competition, and war for conquest and resources.
How and why, specifically, did power-over systems evolve? What do power-over systems look like today? In what ways do they help or harm society? I look forward to exploring these questions with you next week in Theory of Indivisibility: The Evolution of Power-Over Systems.
I love y’all.
Peace,
Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta
2022. Podcast brought into written form by Ray Lightheart
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Resources and References:
A note on my Wikipedia use: Wikipedia summaries are a good starting point. I spent a significant amount of time cross-referencing many of the details I found in these summaries using the references cited at the end of the summaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_formation_of_the_Universe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_prehistory
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01
Articles on the reliability of Wikipedia
Link to a relevant perspective shared on Quora: https://qr.ae/TUvNNG
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/wikipedia-science-reference-citations
Systems Thinking Resources:
http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/SystemsThinking.htm
https://online.unschools.co/collections/systems-thinking
Habits of A Systems Thinker Infographic
The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
Thinking In Systems by Donnella Meadows
