Episode:Civilization—Modern Development (Part 3)
Cultural society is no great and beneficent club of inherited privilege into which all men are born with free membership and entire equality. Rather is it an exalted and ever-advancing guild of earth workers, admitting to its ranks only the nobility of those toilers who strive to make the world a better place for future generations.
Keywords: Urantia, Races, Evolution, Social Duty, Freedom
Summary by Kermit
Commentary on Review
We have repeatedly emphasized in this arc on civilization that in order to gain a truer understanding of our origins and history, we are to examine the individual components, events, and processes in our narrative in a holistic evolutionary context. We noted a small parallel to this in our author’s remark that, while skull dimensions are serviceable in deciphering racial origins, the skeleton as a whole is much more dependable. Additionally, we addressed a finer point in the reading where we are told that the Adamites and Nodites were long-headed, but the Andonites were broad-headed. Remembering that the Prince’s corporeal staff (Nod and others) were provided with bodies derived from Andonite genetics, we ask why aren’t the Nodites broad-headed? The answer: the presence of the powerful life-maintenance circuits of the Satania system in the bodies of the staff for 300,000 years had wrought profound changes in their germ plasm such that their genetics more closely resembled the Adamites.
We picked up our reading in section 4 of Paper 81 with the description of the origins of the three existing skeletal types of the last twenty thousand years: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. While each of these types is highly mixed genetically, their skeletal characteristics still persist and help to identify the later ancestry of present-day human races. Much of this material sums up the more detailed narration of racial migrations following the Adamic default covered in Papers 78-80.
81:5.1 Cultural Society
Though biologic evolution and cultural civilization may not be directly correlated, over long periods of human history these two processes become related as cause and effect. Biologic evolution may go forward in the very midst of cultural decadence, but cultural civilization cannot progress without an adequate biologic foundation. The Adamic dispensation was oriented to our material nature (biological), but this further manifested in an acceleration of economic development and industrial progression. Adam’s bestowal improved the brainpower of the races boosting the processes of natural evolution. Civilization does not appear on a world without the Adamic uplift. The Andonic race unaided did not possess the potentials for achieving civilization. The Sangik races are only marginally able to achieve a degree of civilization unaided by Adamic contribution as seen in the red man’s uncontested occupation of North America without attaining a nation state.
A most important point in considering the influence of epochal revelation on the progress of human cultural society is that such revelation is always evolutional, not revolutional. These bestowals from on high are integrated into the evolutionary stream, free of overt discontinuities. We noted references to the stages of progressive civilization. The advances in agriculture, animal domestication, and improved architecture helped the leading edge of mankind to make significant progress in the first two such stages, the nutrition epoch, and security age to the point where he could began striving for greater material comfort, which today is the predominate stage of the so-called first world. Of course we would like to think that our efforts in Symmetry of Soul signal that we have begun working on the next level, the quest for knowledge and wisdom.
In keeping with the part vs. the whole theme of our study, it was noted that the early epochal dispensations represent the uplift of individual parts or domains of the mortal life. The Material Son and Daughter, as their name implies, uplift and enhance our material domain even to the fullness of science. The Magisterial Son uplifts the philosophical and intellectual aspects of mortal life, and the Paradise bestowal Son elevates our spiritual nature. Only when the Trinity Teacher Sons arrive are these “parts” coordinated into a whole (up to the beginning of the era of Light and Life).
Our author makes a very pointed statement about the necessary conditions required for attaining and maintaining cultural society. These conditions emphasize the necessity of work for the betterment of future generations as a responsibility of those who would enjoy the benefits of such a cultural society. This is in contrast to primitive man who gives no thought to the welfare of his children’s children. Where is current day culture in terms of this concern?
The final paragraphs of this section portray the advantages of our social association in solidifying our hold on the first two stages of progressive civilization with sober reminders as to the demands, duties, and responsibilities expected of the members of such a society. In our discussion we examined the use of the two words liberty and freedom as the revelators attempt to induce us to distinguish between liberty exercised in the inner life and freedom manifested in the external realm.
The section ends with the reminder: “Liberty subject to group regulation is the legitimate goal of social evolution. Liberty without restrictions is the vain and fanciful dream of unstable and flighty human minds.”
Notes by Brad
- There is a wholeness in everything. Always strive to find the whole, not the parts. This is even good advice when analyzing our skeletons archaeologically--don't just look at the skull.
- Nodites' skeletal structure may have begun a broad-headed because they were based on broad-headed Andonite stocks. But over 300,000 years of living here, their bodies evolved under the influence of higher energies, causing them eventually to be long-headed almost like Adamites.
- Every local system has an archetypal DNA (embodied in a Material Son and Daughter). Everything in biologic evolution is moving "upward" toward that archetype.
- See also [77:2], The Nodite Race. Reference to life circuits affecting chromosomes.
- The Urantia Book gives us better initial assumptions than ones we so often use unconsciously.
- Remember, the scientific endeavor is to find the best initial assumptions that explain the data. Not just the most pleasing or convenient assumptions.
- You can believe anything. Want to prove the revelation's validity? Put it to the test exerpientally. Try its better initial assumptions, reflect on the results, do they work better?
- Caucasoid is a word suggestive of a "look" somewhat observed in the Caucuses. But it's more about Nodites and Adamites blending to become Andite, then further modified by some Sangik
- India in the Urantia Book (1930s) would include Pakistan today as well.
- "Turanian" people, what's that? Northwest of India you can find people heavily influenced by Andite inheritance.
- The Neanderthals were the blue men (well, the best, non-back-mated stocks)
- Are there really people with a green tint to their skin? Yes, it's rare, but once you develop an awareness (better initial assumption), you someday will probably see someone on a street corner who... looks green in bright sunlight.
- The leading edge of civilization should try to advance beyond the material comfort era into the quest for knowledge and wisdom.
- Developmental epochs, see Paper 50, section 5.
- Liberty is about the inner life, freedom about the outer life. You are sovereign only in the inner life.
- Chaos is in contrast with cosmos. Civilization needs order.
