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The Project
by George Schaade
The project began over 5000 years ago. At that time I thought it would
only take a few hundred years to complete, but I gravely underestimated
the intricacies of the work and my own enthusiasm for it. In the
beginning it was to be a simple exercise in collecting data on an
ancient era of human history, namely the Pre-Dymbrini Period. Because
of the scarcity of artifacts, I mistakenly assumed that the project
could be finished in short order. As I became more involved in the
work, I realized that despite the lack of documentation the information
would require a great deal of analysis and interpretation. Each
translation raised new questions that have lead me to present theories
about the people of the time. This will introduce you to the evidence I
compiled and the conclusions I reached.
Studying a period of time that is almost 800,000 years in the past has
presented many challenges but has also reaped great rewards. In
researching the project I’ve had to learn several ancient languages,
both written and oral. I collected thousands of two-dimensional images,
audio files, and actual artifacts. Time, which is one of our greatest
assets today, worked against me in trying to piece together these
physical fragments of the past. Much of the evidence was destroyed by
the primitives themselves and what remains carries the scars of 800,000
years of battling entropy.
Until now the Pre-Dymbrini Period has been quickly dismissed as an era
of violence and destruction. No one can deny that the primitives of the
era had their moments of explosive violence, but I discovered they
could also be gentle and introspective. The limitations and
requirements of their physical bodies dominated their existence, yet
they did produce crude forms of art. There may have been some that even
sought intellectual enlightenment. Some of my colleagues may say that I
give the people of the Pre-Dymbrini Period too much credit. But within
the project I will present evidence for my conclusion that these
ancients show the beginning of the mental attributes we have today.
The documents I collected indicate that from sapience to the first
visit by the extra-terrestrial Dymbrini may span as much as 100,000
years. One source speaks of a “Darwin” as being the first sapient but I
may be misconstruing my translation. Nevertheless, self-aware humans
populated the earth very quickly. Their large numbers are of course
related to their fascination with procreation. The exact means of
propagation can be seen in the reproduced images that remain from an
analog magnetic tape artifact titled "Debbie Does Dallas".
With the emergence of self-awareness came the urge to come together in
collectives called cities. This may sound counterproductive to us today
but one must remember that primitives were still in corporeal form and
continually needed assurance from others that their physical appearance
made them worthy of the propagation ritual. This idea is supported by
the numerous “Advertisement” documents.
The preponderance of evidence is, of course, dedicated to the violence
of the period. Cities or other groups of humans would viciously attack
others. The reasons for these attacks would vary. It might be to
possess material goods needed for their bodies or to promote
self-aggrandizement or to force others to participate in a mysterious
ritual called religion. Pieces from an audio file describe the
fierceness of these attacks. “...marching down the field...hitting,
slashing, clawing their way through the defense...nothing could stop
Lombardi’s juggernaut as it layed waste to everything in its path...”
It’s easy to understand why the era has been ignored for so long.
If the evidence of malicious destruction and human atrocities had been
all that I found, I probably would have dismissed the project very
quickly. But early in my investigation I acquired from the Dymbrini an
artifact that changed my entire perspective of the period. Though not
an original document it is an exact reproduction. On one side of the
page are several columns listing those primitives that had ceased to
exist. These deaths, or obituaries as they were called, were what first
intrigued me. How could they celebrate victory in war and also use
words like “beloved”, “forever missed”, and “lovingly remembered” when
speaking of their dead? Surely they anticipated death when they
participated in war. The time period had always been characterized as
irrational and this seemed to support that idea, until I looked on the
other side of the document. Here was another listing but this was of
births. Again there were loving, gentle, caring words like “proudly
announce”, “happy”, and “beautiful”. I found it curious that both the
beginning and end of a primitive life could cause such high exaltation.
It was then that I realized there was much more to these early humans
than I had first expected.
The thin construction of the artifact was symbolic of their short
lives. On one side was life; on the other death. On one side was joy;
on the other sorrow. It’s logical to assume that these emotions filled
the short space between. The development of the emotions and feelings
that we admire today occurred during this period and with these people,
and was not a later evolutionary phenomenon. If my theory is true, how
can we explain the irrational behavior of their violence? I don’t
believe it’s a matter of explaining but simply accepting. The humans of
the Pre-Dymbrini Period were irrational. That is their beauty; that is
their art. Their irrational thoughts and actions set them apart from
those that follow. All of this made me consider, can there be something
gained by thinking irrationally? Is there some advantage to allowing
the mind to reach beyond reason and fact? I believe there may very well
be.
My conclusions are sure to create discussion among my colleagues, so I
have made the entire project available for scrutiny. That area of my
consciousness that contains the project is now open. Anyone may review
all of the documents and address my theories. I welcome your comments
and questions.
*****
There have been numerous remarks and inquiries about the project. All
of them have been posted at the end of the main body of the work. Some
of the deeper and more purposeful remarks are located here at the end
of the summary.
Query from .00835 meV:
Is there a connection between physical bodies and irrational thinking?
Do you imply that irrational thought was part of our evolution?
Reply to .00835 meV:
It is difficult for us today to comprehend all of the complexities of
having a physical form. The needs of the primitive bodies were vast and
often elusive. For example, they were compelled to consume creatures
and plant life in order to produce energy to fuel their other needs
such as procreation. The inefficiency of this is obvious but it doesn't
necessarily mean their corporal bodies created irrational thoughts. At
the same time I have no explanation for their consumption of a
commodity called tobacco which severely damaged their bodies without
providing any advantage.
I do believe that illogical thinking is part of the evolutionary
process and I believe that it first developed during this Pre-Dymbrini
Period. There is no doubt that emotions were exaggerated during this
time and this often lead to emotional distress and inadequate use of
reason. It's not difficult to believe that the high-pitched emotions of
the individuals evolved into irrational thinking although unrealistic
expectations and irresponsible conduct probably played a role also.
Query from 1.14923 meV:
Your audio files are all in the ultra low frequency band of the
electromagnetic spectrum between 300 and 3000 Hz. Was this typical of
the primitives?
Reply to 1.14923 meV:
Yes. Their main means of communication was by producing sounds using
this band range. The sounds came from a hole near the top of their
bodies. This is the same hole used to consume products that were
converted to energy (see previous post). They had at least five senses
that were closely connected to their physiological capacities:
Producing sounds, consuming commodities, receiving data, procreation,
and pain.
Query from .82467 meV:
I can't accept your hypothesis that the Pre-Dymbrini humans advanced
the species by having irrational thoughts. They were nothing more than
savage beasts. Your own evidence is filled with references to their
violent nature. Violence is irrational, people are violent, people are
irrational.
Reply to .82467 meV:
There is more to irrational thought than just violence. A Dymbrini
report mentions that following first contact they were surprised to
learn that the humans of the period had discovered exothermic nuclear
processes but had not yet destroyed themselves. It was not from lack of
trying. It would seem that a city called Napoleon used a fission device
to destroy the neighboring city of Chernobyl. But here is my point:
Although violence came from their irrational thinking they also used
their discovery to create the nuclear family, atomic clocks, and the
Ford fusion. We may not fully understand these discoveries but all are
believed to be benign if not beneficial advances in the evolutionary
process.
Query from .09803 meV:
Your project mentions the art of the humans. I don't understand what their art is?
Reply to .09803 meV:
Art is the human expression of creativity and imagination. Today the
only art we have is the investigation and study of knowledge. At times
some of our investigations can be quite creative so in that regard this
project is art. Because of the demands of their corporal bodies the art
of the primitives were responses to their physical needs. Most of their
art was visual corresponding to wavelengths ranging from 380 to 750
nanometers or in terms of frequency 400 to 790 terahertz and limited to
two and three dimensions. A Dymbrini report posted just after the first
global purification described a two dimensional piece of art called
"Morning, Lisa" which was created by Leo. The same report speaks of
"Roll Over" by Beethovan also surviving The Great Purge. No matter what
form their art took, it was produced from imagination and was
appreciated for its beauty and emotional response which was needed for
the propagation ritual. So by being irrational a primitive might use
imagination to create a piece of art that then evoked an emotion that
of course was irrational. A cycle was established which is why I call
their irrationality their art.
Query from 1.69843 meV:
Why did the religion ritual play such a large role in the violence of the time?
Reply to 1.69843 meV:
Subsequent to the project my research has revealed more about this
strange activity. The humans placed a great deal of importance on
religion which sought to explain the existence of everything. There
were several conflicting opinions on this subject. The followers of
each opinion formed its own customs and rituals in order to better
identify and distinguish themselves from other groups. Unlike our own
time period that encourages diversity of thought, differences during
the Pre-Dymbrini Period often resulted in conflict.
These religious groups were established by one or more gods which were
invisible superior beings with super powers such as x-ray vision,
levitation, and telekinesis. Many of the humans involved with these
organizations believed that once their physical bodies failed their
existence would continue on a higher plane. Trans-dimensional
discorporealization was still hundreds of millennia away but they were
still considering such things.
Query from .11118 meV:
Your data implies a hierarchy among the humans. Did such divisions
actually exist in this time period? What determined those groupings?
Reply to .11118 meV:
It was known as the class system. All humans were assigned a class at
birth and it became virtually impossible to change classes. Most humans
were sorted into the Silent Majority Class. There was nothing
particularly special about this class. They lead nominal lives
consuming a product called chicken freud steak that increased their
size but decreased their lifespan. The rest of humans were divided into
three classes. The Beautiful Class constituted those humans who had
physical characteristics that others deemed praiseworthy. This allowed
the Beautiful to extort most of their needs from the Silent Majority.
Their physical features were very advantageous in initiating the
propagation ritual. The second class was the Rich Class which possessed
most of the resources and territory that the other classes needed. The
feudal power that came with control of these assets made it possible
for the Rich to elicit homage, labor, military service, and propagation
from the other classes. The highest class of humans was the Rich and
Beautiful. As their name implies this group combined the persuasiveness
of the Beautiful with the power of the Rich.
Query from 1.31752 meV:
One of your artifacts makes reference to a "sense of humor" but this is
not included in your list of five senses that humans used. How do you
account for this discrepancy?
Reply to 1.31752 meV:
It is understandable why you are confused by the phrase you cited. The
"sense of humor" that humans possessed is not one of their primary
senses. It is a secondary sense that can be categorized under their
primary sense of sound production. As they produced sounds they
occasionally created humor. The origin of humor can be traced to a
human named Helen Curly Clown.
My studies have led me to believe that humor may be the key to
understanding the irrational behavior of the human condition. I
translated several excerpts that were labeled humorous. Most of these
examples described actions that invoked cognitive deficiency,
absurdity, or inadequate use of reason. I concluded that humor was
irrational. Much of the humor produced pleasurable responses from other
humans but occasionally the humor created anger which, as we already
know, leads to violence. Therefore humor may in part be responsible for
some of the violence of the time.
Query from .26874 meV:
Within the project there are several references to something called the dream. Could you explain what this is?
Reply to .26874 meV:
In our time information and communication takes place on a single
frequency which makes our connotation explicit but during the corporal
period many of the transcribed words carried two or more meanings. This
is the case for the word 'Dream'. One definition implies an ideal state
of being. Another meaning refers to a succession of images, thoughts,
or emotions that occur during the person's time of rest. This second
interpretation is the most intriguing. Due to the fragility of their
bodies humans were required to rest their bodies frequently. While in
this state their thoughts were caught by a dream catcher device called
a television. Later they would spend great lengths of time viewing
their thoughts and images.
Query from 1.02473 meV:
First let me thank you for your diligent research. Unfortunately I have
trouble developing an appreciation for the Pre-Dymbrini people. Their
actions, emotions, and objects do not resonate with me. I have trouble
comprehending them. Is this due to the length of time,
discorporealization, or apathy?
Reply to 1.02473 meV:
The memory loss that came with our discorporealization is the major
contributor to the disconnect that we feel for these people. Though it
has been over half a million years since we gave up our corporeal
existence, we have not spent that much time studying our past. Apathy
may be the reason many have chosen not to investigate the project but
for those like yourself that would not be a factor.
Your inquiry has given me pause for thought. How can we ever understand
the experience of being Pre-Dymbrini? Is it possible for us to return
to a corporeal existence, i.e., recorporealize? Would
recorporealization induce another memory loss like discorporealization
did? I must give this more thought.
*****
Addendum
At the center of the project is an attempt to understand the
irrationality of the Pre-Dymbrini humans. Much of what they said and
did appear to be less useful or more illogical than alternatives. This
irrationality is very difficult to analyze empirically because there
are no standards for judging such behavior. It may be that true
understanding of irrational activity can only come from having an
actual body.
Following extended research and prolonged discussions with others I can
conclude that recorporealization is possible. In accordance with our
quest for knowledge I will therefore undergo recorporealization.
Perhaps we can then establish whether there is a connection between
irrationality and the human body. As it is still unknown if my
transition will result in a loss of memory I will rely on others to
observe and document my metamorphosis.
Afterword as recorded by 1.02473 meV
I can report that our colleague successfully recorporealized to a
physical form. As expected there was a total memory loss. Unexpectedly
214,788 supporters of the project followed the author into
recorporealization and many others are considering the conversion.
My observations show that the initial problems faced by these new
entities include finding products that their bodies can convert to
energy and finding ways to protect their fragile forms from external
conditions. If they cannot obtain these states their bodies deteriorate
and they cease to exist. Because maintaining existence is paramount to
them, some of the subjects resort to violence. The reason for this
violence is logical and does not contribute to an understanding of
irrationality among the Pre-Dymbrini who were capable of overcoming
these problems. Consequently a conundrum is created. Having a physical
body results in moments of irrationality which can lead to violence but
if the reason for the violence is rational then we cannot say that all
violence is irrational. Therefore the Pre-Dymbrini people may very well
have had deep, intrinsic skills that emerged in art, imagination,
emotions, culture, and the reproduction ritual.
I will observe and report on the progress and interaction of these recorporealized individuals. The project continues.
THE END
© 2019 George Schaade
Bio: George Schaade is a former teacher that has been writing
science fiction, fantasy, and humor most of his life. He loves
exploring the quirks of human nature and pushing the boundaries of his
own imagination. His stories often have an unexpected twist or a
shocking ending.
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