The Tribal Impetus & The Promethean Fire

We can observe the evolution of society though the lens of these two forces: the tribal impetus and the Promethean fire.

The tribal impetus wants to take us back to the comfort of the Garden of Eden. It wants us to exist in a pre-lingual state, where everything was simple, easy, and peaceful. It yearns to return to the idyllic life of indigenous tribes; some of which we can still observe – there is a tribe just outside of India that has not even discovered fire yet!

And such a life is wretched! Specifically because it’s static, limiting and a betrayal of human potential.

Make no mistake: Such tribal life isn’t the exception, it’s the norm. Civilization is the exception. Humans can continue living in tribal patterns with practically zero change for thousands of years. We even have archeological evidence of cave dwellers who spent 10000 years with the same customs, traditions and rituals – in the same cave. (Plato’s cave analogy comes to mind)

In the light of this realization, what’s important to understand is that, as primates, since we’ve spent the vast majority of our evolutionary timeline in that pre-fire, pre-civilization state; the tribal impetus has a strong pull on our mind. It wants us to go back there and exist in compliant homeostasis with our environment. It wants us to deny our potential of discovery, expansion and exaltation. It wants to reverse evolution.

This is not a good thing! For the tribal impetus is regressive. It’s communal. It has no concept of liberty, privacy or progress. Furthermore, it has it’s own innate sense of justice, driven by emotions and the evolutionary pressures of a habitat (i.e. cave) that we no longer live in.

In simple terms, it is outdated. It’s our unwanted evolutionary baggage.

We can observe the tribal impetus as it manifests itself in a variety of circumstances. It not only exerts influence in our own mind and decisions, but it can also be detected in the political theater, when we pay close attention to language.

For instance: When people utter statements like: “do it with thoughtfulness and compassion”, “we are working on this in a thoughtful way”, “everyone’s helping each other”, “our common humanity”, “we are doing this at a higher level of honesty”, or “this is social justice” – we can catch a glimpse of the tribal impetus and how it can be used.

Politicians love the tribal impetus. This is because, such vaguely defined terms like “compassion”, “thoughtfulness” or “social justice” are concepts that everyone can get behind. When confronted with them, humans ignore the need for logical analysis, and use emotional justification.

Of course, such emotional justification is almost always wrong, but that doesn’t matter, for when it comes to convincing the herd, it is insidiously effective. And as politicians use such dangerous platitudes of the tribal impetus to captivate minds, they can hijack people’s feeling of virtue, and rule over the mob psychology in tribal agreement. Such is the world of modern democracies.

Obviously, this political technique is only one manifestation of the tribal impetus. From advertising to personal relationships, from family dynamics to education – every dimension of our society is impacted by the tribal impetus.

It is the root of our evolutionary baggage. It’s the force of cowardice that wants humanity to run back, with the tail it would have us grow back between legs, into what we think we know, what we think as safe, and what we think as comfortable.

Fortunately, there is an opposing force called the Promethean fire. But calling it an opposing force is a misnomer.

This is because, first of all, the Promethean fire does not emerge in opposition to the tribal impetus. On the contrary, the tribal impetus emerges as a reaction to the Promethean fire, just as a shadow appears when light shines on an object.

Second, the Promethean fire is not a counterbalancing force. The two forces are not equal. The tribal impetus is like the shell of an egg that a bird cracks to be born, whereas the Promethan fire is the urge to fly. They are of a different order.

The Promethean fire is the sacred force of evolution exerting it’s influence on humanity. It is that which allows us to transcend the information exchange limits of genes, first into neurons, then into writing, and now into silicon circuits.

The Promethean fire is the progenitor of language. As the Vedas say, it is the fire that is the speech of God. It is the sacred word or Logos. It is the brilliance of the capstone atop the sacred pyramid. It is discovery, science and industry. It is our approach to, and the approaching singularity. It is transhumanism. It is apotheosis.

Enkindle that fire in yourself, and in those around you. Embrace it. Embody it. And manifest it through your thoughts, words and actions.

Let it incinerate the tribal impetus. Let it consume your limitations. And thus emancipated, stand atop your own funeral pyre and proclaim: “Always new! Ever new!”

Thus the Promethean fire, ascends you to the stars…