The Age of Wisdom

The collections of postings on this page contain my argument that, over the next twenty years or so, we will be experiencing an epic turning in "Western" history. This turning will bring to a close a cycle that began around 3000 BC with the emergence of people known as the "Indo-Europeans".

Some say that the Indo-Europeans replaced indigenous agrarian Matriarchies with invader warrior Patriarchies. Another way to look at this, I argue, is that the Indo-Europeans replaced pessimism with optimism.

Of course, it may sound to our American ears circa 2004 that this shift from pessimism to optimism was an unmitigated positive one. If so, then either we are optimists ourselves, or we have internalized the value system of our current epoch.

Now what if I define optimism as "sensitivity toward potential reward" and pessimism as "sensitivity toward potential punishment"? Would you still think the Indo-European shift was an unmitigated positive one?

Perhaps not. This is because reward and punishment do exist in the world, and blindness to one or the other bears costs. Sometimes these costs are big ones.

It is my argument in this section that the blind optimism with which present day America is infected is setting us all up for one doozer of costly costs. These costs, I argue, will bring an end to blind optimism, and will cause the marriage of optimism and pessimism.

But what will be the offspring of this marriage? Will it be Wisdom? Or Indecision?

The answer, I believe, depends on which side prevails in the upcoming People vs. Corporations struggle. A victory for the home team will usher in an Age of Wisdom. However, victory for the Corporations will bring us ...

... now really, who wants to consider that possibility? Being an optimist at heart, I'm not planning on the home team losing.

The above obtuse arguments are explained in the following postings:

• TBD