History is replete with examples of a psycho being in control-the Roman Empire probably has the best documentation of that-Nero, Caligula, Antoninus, etc, etc...
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Yeah. But them guys were pretty much aberrations to already established cultural norms.
I was meaning the really early establishment of cultural norms in the unrecorded history of dug up peoples.
How many times have we had stuff linked here that’s been dug up by archaeologists that was real head scratchers as to wth? people were doing or thinking?
I’m starting to think a lot of it might well be answered by “because they followed and listened to psychos and mumbling crazies because... touched by the gods”.
So, gotta stick feathers on your head.
gotta paint the dead bones with red ocher.
Hey! you know what will be fun! lets all cut ourselves!
Everyone! tie boards to your heads until your heads are flat!
Occam’s Razor.
In pre-history, the insane were in charge.
Following the crazies IS the likely explanation for those seemingly senseless practices-the Greeks were still saying someone running amok slaughtering people was touched by the Gods, if that madness came to him in a temple-instead of calling him a mass murderer and executing him.
Cutting, whipping, burning yourself in a ritual was normal then-now it is self-harm and will get you a stay in a psych facility-putting boards on a newborn’s head to flatten/raise the forehead was done because that was supposedly a sign of noble status-now it is child abuse and will get you jail time and psychotherapy. I’m sure things would have been much more civilized if our ancestors would have had psychotherapists instead of Shamans...
But infanticide by abortion is perfectly okay, as is using puberty suppressing and other drugs as well as mutilating surgery in an attempt by parents to turn a normal child into a fictional representation of the opposite sex-since some follow the crazies who promote this, are we really as civilized as we think? Pass me that knife-and some of that red ocher and a few feathers-let’s eat some of those mushrooms, drink some fermented cactus juice and let the fun begin...