Do the ‘prehistoric cultural ages’ have any relevance for the average human being? Does information regarding Stone Age and Metal Age humans have any meaning for our day-to-day lives? Can the behavior of prehistoric humans, as revealed by the artifacts they left behind, tell us anything about our current behavior patterns? By examining the early beginnings of our species without the accretions of civilization, will we be able to identify some innate human tendencies that inadvertently drive our behavior? Through an exploration of the prehistoric development of ancient political forms, will we be able to pinpoint some distinct cultural inclinations? With this awareness, can we then consciously alter our behavior patterns and avoid being inadvertently victimized by our innate tendencies and cultural inclinations? Is it possible to resist the momentum of these human propensities in order to maximize our potentials?
This treatise suggests that the answer is yes to each of these questions.
Biology organizes the entire animal kingdom into families, which are further broken down into genera. The genus are further divided into species and, if necessary, subspecies. ‘Genus Homo’ refers to the complete evolutionary chain of homo subspecies from the most primitive homo habilis through to homo sapiens sapiens. The final subspecies is anatomically identical to modern humans. This investigation attempts to identify some innate tendencies and underlying processes of Genus Homo.
Identifying these inadvertent processes is exceedingly important to all of us in that it unveils some foundational levels that determine our actions. These innate tendencies constitute a type of conditioning. Deriving from genetic, cultural and familial sources, conditioning establishes a probability of behavior. This behavioral momentum, although hard to resist, can be gradually modified with conscious effort to yield a new probability of behavior.
The potential of resisting conditioning to change our behavioral probability is a positive feature of humans. Conditioning inadvertently dominates our responses to external conditions – regularly turning us into sacrificial victims of fate rather than masters of our destiny.
Our modern culture derives from ancient culture. As such, it behooves us to examine our prehistoric roots in order to transcend the behavioral patterns that lead us to our personal doom or premature extinction. Awareness of our innate propensities will help us to break free of the chains that bind us to self-destructive behavior patterns.
We then trace the Cultural Ages of prehistoric humans via their artifacts. These prehistoric cultures developed social forms that are still prevalent in modern times. Some of these cultural behavior patterns are constructive and others are destructive. Again, awareness of this ancient cultural conditioning has the potential to liberate us from proceeding mindlessly to our personal or collective doom.