Very interesting perspective on genetics being the most valuable form of property and the fact that this runs counter to Liberalism in some respects (if I'm understanding you correctly). This was a good article as usual. I doubt China pulls humanity backwards even if they somehow gained overwhelming strategic dominance which seems unlikely. I think they have learned over time how important it is to have the technological upper hand. Geopolitical and market based competition will continue to propel technology forward unless a ceiling or a roadblock of some sort is reached.
Another interesting, multidimensional essay. The remarks on the etymology of religion reminded me of my first web-posting on religion that begins, Religion from the Latin religare "to bind back." In other words, "to live one's life in a constipated fashion." Or, as someone (Robert Anton Wilson?) once said, "Convictions create convicts." https://drj.virtualave.net/other/religio/religio-old.html (I now have a less negative page on religion, linked at the top of my original essay.)
The following nit-picks aren't meant to discredit the overall argument, which I think is worth considering. I especially enjoyed the material about the Lollards. And I agree the our genes are the most fundamental form of property. So much of our behavior is (usually unwittingly) driven by our efforts to get our genes into the next generation.
First, I question the statement "For most of history, land was not free." It seems to me that land was free during the entire hunter-gather phase of human evolution, that is, 99% of our history. Nobody owned land during that phase because there was no point in trying to own it. Human bands freely roamed so as not to use up all of the resources in one area. It was not until the advent of agriculture that people settled down and claimed land as their permanent property to be reused indefinitely to grow crops.
Second, I had trouble with the sentence "Property was transferred as a result of marriage or awarded in warfare." Awarded? Don't you mean seized?
Finally, the untestable hypothesis that our brains are channeling devices for incorporeal minds has always struck me as a sad, desperate attempt to escape our mortality. It is wishful thinking from people who are afraid of dying, not an hypothesis generated by the detection of mind-waves being captured and transmitted by brains.
Very interesting perspective on genetics being the most valuable form of property and the fact that this runs counter to Liberalism in some respects (if I'm understanding you correctly). This was a good article as usual. I doubt China pulls humanity backwards even if they somehow gained overwhelming strategic dominance which seems unlikely. I think they have learned over time how important it is to have the technological upper hand. Geopolitical and market based competition will continue to propel technology forward unless a ceiling or a roadblock of some sort is reached.
Another interesting, multidimensional essay. The remarks on the etymology of religion reminded me of my first web-posting on religion that begins, Religion from the Latin religare "to bind back." In other words, "to live one's life in a constipated fashion." Or, as someone (Robert Anton Wilson?) once said, "Convictions create convicts." https://drj.virtualave.net/other/religio/religio-old.html (I now have a less negative page on religion, linked at the top of my original essay.)
The following nit-picks aren't meant to discredit the overall argument, which I think is worth considering. I especially enjoyed the material about the Lollards. And I agree the our genes are the most fundamental form of property. So much of our behavior is (usually unwittingly) driven by our efforts to get our genes into the next generation.
First, I question the statement "For most of history, land was not free." It seems to me that land was free during the entire hunter-gather phase of human evolution, that is, 99% of our history. Nobody owned land during that phase because there was no point in trying to own it. Human bands freely roamed so as not to use up all of the resources in one area. It was not until the advent of agriculture that people settled down and claimed land as their permanent property to be reused indefinitely to grow crops.
Second, I had trouble with the sentence "Property was transferred as a result of marriage or awarded in warfare." Awarded? Don't you mean seized?
Finally, the untestable hypothesis that our brains are channeling devices for incorporeal minds has always struck me as a sad, desperate attempt to escape our mortality. It is wishful thinking from people who are afraid of dying, not an hypothesis generated by the detection of mind-waves being captured and transmitted by brains.