The meaning of \u2018\u2019empathy\u2019\u2019 \u2013 the\u00a0\u00a0 ability\u00a0 to understand\u00a0 another person\u2019s\u00a0 feelings, experiences, etc. the capacity to experience or relate to\u00a0 another person\u2019s\u00a0 situation\u00a0 from their point of view. (google.com)<\/p>\n
During the period 2009-2010, I dedicated\u00a0 6 articles on\u00a0 my website with the title \u2018\u2019Why the disappearance of the Primitive Man Neanderthal\u00a0 30,000 years ago, is of great significance today\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0 wanted to\u00a0 describe\u00a0 the circumstances\u00a0 under which the Primitive Man Cro-Magnon, who evolved into The Homo Sapient of today\u00a0 and for a time period\u00a0 had\u00a0 co-existed with the Primitive Man\u00a0 Neanderthal , disappeared\u00a0 from the earth\u2019s\u00a0 surface. As a consequence, the Cro-Magnon dominated and expanded all over the world.<\/p>\n
I described the critical societal and\u00a0 anthropological\u00a0 circumstances which permitted\u00a0 the Cro-Magnon to survive under the very harsh\u00a0 climatic conditions of the last Ice Age.<\/p>\n
The most critical\u00a0 societal characteristics\u00a0 of the Cro-Magnon in contrast to the\u00a0 Neanderthal\u00a0 was first of all, that\u00a0 their societies\u00a0 or communities\u00a0 were highly organized , even though their numbers were limited .<\/p>\n
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There was great cooperation between the members of the tribes which provided the social incentives not only to organize socially but also to construct\u00a0 solid\u00a0 habitations\u00a0 of large dimension,\u00a0 allowing for the protection and the security of\u00a0 all\u00a0\u00a0 members of the community.<\/p>\n
Second, from this inter tribal\u00a0 co -operation , they were able to accumulate a surplus of food supplies , which they shared equally. By insuring a steady surplus of food products and long term\u00a0 habitation\u00a0 compounds , the Cro-Magnon disposed of free time not only to perfect tools for a variety of uses\u00a0 and functions , either for construction or as weapons for hunting , while at the same time they organized highly sophisticated burial sites, embalming their dead and decorating their dead\u00a0 by placing their own costumes, their own jewelry and pottery within the tombs or crypts.<\/p>\n
The Cro-Magnon not only respected their dead members as the living\u00a0 ones , but also recognized the metaphysical dimension of their mortal existence but also what encompasses the whole Universe.<\/p>\n
The Neanderthals were hunters\u00a0 of wild animals\u00a0 and most of the time they lived in caves in order to protect themselves\u00a0 from the harsh climatic conditions\u00a0 of an Ice Age, as well as protecting the tribe\u00a0 from the incursions\u00a0 of wild animals and predators.<\/p>\n
The men lived in separate\u00a0 quarters , while the women and children stayed\u00a0 together.<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0 the men who consumed most of the animals they killed, leaving what was left\u00a0 to the women and children.<\/p>\n
The women and children were responsible for collecting wild plants and wild fruit, as well as gathering wood for their fire places. When there wasn\u2019t enough food\u00a0 for everyone in the tribe, the men sacrificed the children\u00a0\u00a0 to be cooked and consumed by the other members of the tribe, \u00a0\u00a0this meant\u00a0 that there was cannibalism and infanticide within the tribe.<\/p>\n
Archeologists and anthropologists have located the sites where the\u00a0 sacrifices\u00a0 of the young ones took place, discovering their\u00a0 charred skeletons.<\/p>\n
The social structure of the Cro-Magnon was what sociologists identify as \u2018\u2019primitive communism\u2019\u2019. In this societal arrangement,\u00a0\u00a0 all members of the tribe\u00a0 or the community , had \u2018\u2019equal social status\u2019\u2019 , with no special social hierarchy , with no chiefs or privileged members.<\/p>\n
Co operation\u00a0 and camaraderie\u00a0 dominated every aspect of their lives , while the\u00a0 elderly, the women and the children\u00a0 were protected and nurtured\u00a0\u00a0 by all the members of the tribe.<\/p>\n
Anthropologists\u00a0 have isolated\u00a0 a specific\u00a0 human social quality\u00a0 which permitted the Cro-Magnon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to survive\u00a0 the hazardous\u00a0 living conditions of this Last Ice Age. This human social component was\u00a0 the active societal dynamic of\u00a0 \u2018\u2019human empathy\u2019\u2019, which prevailed in their human inter relations\u00a0 and societal roles. They all represented a \u2018\u2019unified active living\u00a0\u00a0 organism\u2019\u2019\u00a0 similar to that of \u2018\u2019the human body\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Empathy\u00a0 as a\u00a0 social construct is no longer very active in the Western developed\u00a0 nations, and I believe that\u00a0 this\u00a0 is one of the main reasons\u00a0 that these particular societies\u00a0 are fractured and decimated\u00a0 economically, politically and culturally. On the contrary, societies which belong to ancient states with old civilizations like Iran, China, India\u00a0\u00a0 and Egypt, where in their everyday\u00a0 life \u2018\u2019empathy\u2019\u2019\u00a0 plays a vital role in their social roles, even when survival is \u2018\u2019a risky business\u2019\u2019 due to the expansionist hegemonic policies of Western\u00a0 developed states throughout the world, they seem to cope and survive as permanent\u00a0 historic political\u00a0 entities.<\/p>\n
*** The key words in describing today\u2019s critical time for all of humanity is \u2018\u2019self-destruction \u2018\u2019 and \u2018\u2019 metamorphosis\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
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The song\u2019s title is \u2018\u2019 I\u2019ll stand by you\u2019\u2019\u00a0 The Pretenders 1994<\/p>\n