Brian GeorgeI have a new piece up in Metapsychosis called "The Long Curve of Descent." In it, I ask whether humans have been evolving or devolving over the past 12,000 years. I also compare and contrast the roles of the "healer" and the "catalyst." Take a look if you have a chance. Excerpt:
One
morning, when I was four years old, I was sitting on the third-floor back porch
of my family’s three-decker. It was 1958, and Worcester, Massachusetts, was
still regarded as the industrial heart of New England. Looking out, I could see
smoke puffing from tall smokestacks, a freight-yard and a railroad bridge,
hills with houses perched on them that rolled into the distance, and, a few
miles off, on one of the highest hills, the gothic architecture of Holy Cross
College. How wonderful the day was! I could not have asked for a more perfect
moment. My grandmother had given me a large chunk of clay. And then, I was no
longer looking out over Worcester; no, I was hovering above the Amazon, making
snakes, canoes, and villagers out of the substance in my hands.
As I
worked, however, I became frustrated. It occurred to me that I had succumbed to
a creative block. I grew angry. I could not believe what I was seeing. My hands
were small. My mind just barely worked. My imagination seemed like a blunt
instrument. As absurd as it sounds, I remembered what it was like to create
real snakes and villagers.
Continue reading at
