LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
by Sophocles. (Spoiler alert: Oedipus dates his mother. It doesn’t end well.) They had the idea to compose a really, really long poem that doesn’t rhyme, The Iliad . As if that weren’t enough, they had the idea to compose another, The Odyssey . They even had the idea to have ideas about ideas – philosophy. Perhaps I had an ancestor in Ancient Greece. If I did, when philosophy came along, I’ll bet O’Rourkopolis was saying, “Could we please go back to hunting and gathering?” But we must remember the many innovative benefits of civilization... I’ll think of one in a minute. But it’s a beautiful day, and I’m stuck indoors with that acme of civilized innovation, Microsoft Word. I’d rather be hunting. Or this time of year, fishing. In a pinch, I’ll even gather , if there are wild blackberry bushes along the trout stream... OK, I thought of one. The Ancient Greeks had the idea of democracy. Democracy isn’t perfect, but it’s an enormous improvement on how most people have been governed for most of history, from the Pharaohs to the Putin. Democracy, however, is also an example of how long it can take an innovative idea to come into widespread use, no matter how good the innovation is. We’re spoiled by living in a world of fast- forward innovation. Monday morning, an idea is nothing but some blue-sky rant on an
nothing. Maybe humans tried to domesticate the cave bear. Big mistake. Maybe humans tried to domesticate the rhinoceros. Bigger mistake. Finally, humans settled on domesticating the mouflon and the auroch. Those are the names for untamed sheep and cows when they’re running around loose without a barn to go to. Sheep and cows were simple to domesticate because they’re sheepish and easily cowed. So now the hunters could sit around watching the grass grow with the gatherers. And every now and then the hunters would say, “Let’s go in the barn and kill a sheep and cow.” I’m pretty sure this is how humans got the idea for civilization. They were bored sitting around watching the grass grow. Very bored... How bored do you have to be before you start lugging giant blocks of stone across the desert until you have so many giant blocks of stone you get the pyramids of Egypt? And the idea of civilization didn’t stop with piles of rocks. Soon you had the Ancient Greeks. Their big innovation was to have ideas about everything . They had the idea to put on plays – lengthy, confusing, tragic dramas such as Oedipus Rex I'm pretty sure this is how humans got the idea for civilization. They were bored sitting around watching the grass grow.
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8 | September 2017
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