Myths... back in times of old and young, when science was not a concept of thought, but people still demanded why things happened, and for what purpose. It matters not what time era we view, there is still one simple fact that lies within the human mind: Seeking the Truth. We are creatures that want to understand everything we can see, feel, hear, touch, and smell... and for some of us, what's beyond our five senses. People spend a lifetime searching... for the truth on why we exist, the truth of what lurks in the shadows, the truth of what is in store for us in the afterlife... the truth of life... on existence itself. It's really quite amazing knowing we think so much!!
Back in the times of old, where the wheel is bing reinvented through architecture and weapons alike, came that of the Gods. When storms raged about, searching for victums, everyone knew the Gods were angry. When the wind blew heavy and fierce, taking life from the very group you stood on, it was the Gods delivering punishment. But how did these Gods come to be? Explainations on their existence is actually simplistic to convey.
When taking in reflection of nature and life around us, we had no explaination of why things worked as well as they did. TAking into consideration about the intelligence of ancient times, people started to tie in that everything that existed was made of us! Think... we bleed, spit, and pee. All different colors, but still water. So we are made of water. Our bones and head seem that of rock, so we must be made of rock. We draw breathe and exhale it freely and constantly, so we must be made of air too! It only makes sense that we are the center of what things came to be, for we are powerful and mighty. But... this still doesn't connect how these forces of the Earth were moving without any of us controlling it... some omnipotient being of all power must be influencing these mythical patterns of life, right?
Thus came the birth of all Gods that controlled life itself. Everything was explained that a certain god assigned to a certain function of life was responcable for the continual and consistant flow. The Gods, created under our own image, were personification of nature itself. If there were horses as people are now, the Gods would look like horses, and if there were birds as people are now, the Gods would look like birds. We are so full of ourselves, aren't we?
We now know that The Gods are not holding up the world, nor making the rain fall from the sky. They were myths of the past, things that good stories come from, and cultural backgrounds that these stories touched on. Now those times are etched into the tablets of history. But in those times, they KNEW that the Gods existed. What do we KNOW now? Well... in seeking the truth, we must walk a path of knowledge. But are we really getting any closer to finding an ultimate truth?
Throughout time, people knew things to be true, and then knowledge would set that truth... in pursuit of another truth. We knew the world was flat, until we sailed around it. We knew witches actually exsisted, until we killed too many innocents to be real. We knew gods controlled everything on the world, until philosophy gave birth to science. We knew the entire universe rotated around us, then the telescope began to show different. We knew that illness and disease was a magical spell caused by an angry god/evil being, until we stumbles across medicine. We knew the Crusades was a holy war only set out by the almighty Lord Himself, until both sides said the same thing. There was too many things that were true, and so how do we know the next big thing we think is true now happens to be just an illusion as proved countless times with our past? We don't. Where am I going with all this, you may ask? This is where: In the pursuit of the truth, we seek knowledge. When seeking this, we lose our basic instincts to survive on our own...
Do you know how to knit the cloths you wear?
Have you grown and supplied yourself with the very food you eat?
Do you know how to salt meats and preserve them outside with no ice/cold?
You know how to craft weapons from sticks for hunting or self-defense?
Do you know the concept to create basic electricity that you're using right now?
Would you know how to build make-shift shelter units for protection from the weather?
Can you create a fire from nothing?
Can you read what the wood tells you?
Can you keep a fire going strong?
What about tanning? Do you know what that means?
If you manage to catch an animal for consumption, can you skin in properly?
Can you use that skin without it being consumed by binsects and maggots?
Can you craft basic tools needed for easier contruction of other useful materials, like tools to make rope, to tan hides, stretch fabric effectively, bind objects together...
Can you cook raw foods over a fire? Most people can't.
How about setting up a campsite? Location is the key.
Animal habits, can you predict and survive against the beasts of the night?
Can you make plates, bowls, cups, and utensils to eat with?
How about distilling water without electricity?
Craft furniture for holding objects, or carry heavy objects with?
Could you kill an animal? What about a human being?
Can you help set a broken arm/leg on your own (or to yourself) with proper knowledge?
The probable answer is no, you don't, won't, or can't. In my humble opinion, about 0.5% (Aproximately 1.5 million out of 309 million) of the entire United States knows more than three of these survivalist functions, at best. I didn't list many of them... I could have kept going. I'm sure you thought of a few yourself, didn't you? When something happens where you're in a situation that calls for survival, will you be able to live through the challenge, or will natural selection have its way? In a setting where all you have is yourself, and your brain, what will you do to keep breathing? Will you make the desision to suffer great pains to survive, or bite the dust along with three-forths of the world?
"Live or die, make your choice."
-Jigsaw (Saw series)
Foresight - Knowing then what you realize now
