Appreciating the primitive generations of Homo sapiens

 Writers who engage accuracy, precision, and depth accept that they must overcome personal prejudices if they will pursue the ineluctable truth. “Ineluctable” means – together -- not to be avoided, changed, or resisted. Among my prejudices is higher power, commonly referred to as church and state, or doctrine and discovery. But I think each person responds to physics and progeny, such as psychology.     

I thought some people were so righteous that I could not improve their opinions. But perhaps this chemical engineer ought to share some perspectives on Dr. Victor Davis Hanson’s 2025 speech at Hillsdale College; singjupost.com/transcript-of-victor-davis-hanson-2025-commencement-address-at-hillsdale-college/ . Please read Hanson’s speech.

My reaction

                First, Hillsdale notoriety seems to counter the NYT’s infamous “The 1619 Project”, published in 2019. It may have inspired President Trump’s 1776 Commission, September 2020. Hillsdale announced its “1776 Curriculum” on July 22, 2021. Replacing the worst presidency ever, Trump reinstated the 1776 Commission on January 25, 2025. It seems that presidential debate may end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, developed during the recent 7 decades from Latin-American-Catholic-Marxism or Liberation Theology versus western tradition. The 1619 vs 1776 seems a gift to civic integrity, as it may inspire new perspectives on tradition -- even replace G.K. Chesterton’s “the democracy of the dead” with pursuit of statutory justice using the United States republic, a unique form of governance.

                Second, long-standing faith in theology seems arrogant toward whatever constrains the consequences of human choice. To understand benefits of physics empowers goodness. Goodness existed at the big bang, 13.7 billion years ago, ya. Awareness on earth began 3.8 billion ya when prokaryotes emerged. Wisdom began 200  thousand ya when Homo sapiens emerged with fast, high-capacity brains. Writing and grammar empowered wisdom-accumulation about 10 thousand ya. At least one civilization, Sumer, began recording wise collaboration for civic integrity 5500 ya. Competitive monotheism distracted integrity 3700 ya. Homo sapiens is above theism, without which there would be no atheism – only chosen goodness.

                Third, primitive-fear of mysterious phenomena may be resolved by research and discovery, yet rationalization and faith continue to compete for human attention/commitment. For example, the sun’s rays could kill humans on overexposure, so many civilizations, including Sumer, constructed sun deities and tried to bargain with them. But research informs us that the sun is a natural nuclear reactor. Similarly, all deities may be eliminated. Yet the pursuit of deity persists and became divisive when monotheism supplanted polytheism. Physics and it’s progeny including psychology offer bountiful unknowns to research, while imagination generates infinite mystery. Honest opinion eventually yields to integrity grounded in physics.

                I write opinion, because I do not know much of the ineluctable evidence. I restrict my opinion to what I experience or observe, and therefore do not comment on ideologies foreign to me, such as Confucianism. I think Hanson and Hillsdale favor a conservative view rather than engage the power, authority, and responsibility Homo sapiens possesses. Homo sapiens may research every discovery on earth and maintain a journal of achievement.

Hanson encouraged Bible readers rather than Homo sapiens

                Hanson overlooks Homo sapiens opportunity, by choosing satisfaction with Judeo-Christian values --- preferential use of books in the complete Bible. Its books originated less than 3700 ya in Mesopotamia, developed 2700 ya in Judea, added competition 1900 ya in Judea, enjoyed promotion 1600 ya in Rome, then suffered ancient competition 1400 ya in Mecca. Nevertheless, Homo sapiens survives.

Using exclusive words, Hanson confuses himself into neglect of the best of discovery older than 3700 years. For example, whereas the Code of Ur-Nammu, 4100 ya, prohibited the powerful from exploiting the weak, the Code of Hammurabi, 3700 ya, specified a welfare society. Subsequently, nations competed to skim welfare funds – church through philanthropy and state through taxation. When church and state partner, citizens are doubly subjugated, whether they “believe” or not.

Hanson subtly obfuscates Judeo-Christianity with words and phrases like, “heaven on earth perfection”, virtue, reverence, “judge not , , , “. Hanson juxtaposes 7-decades-old Marxist-Catholic Liberation Theology, citing “self-loathing”, “shame”, and “situational ethics”.  By limiting past interest at 3700 ya, Hanson overlooks that in  primitive cities like Nippur, wealthy students between adolescence and young adulthood attended school to learn cuneiform script and Sumerian and Akkadian languages; then agriculture, architectural design, astronomy, botany, engineering, history, literature, medicine, philosophy, religion, and zoology (worldhistory.org/article/2203/mesopotamian-education/).

                Hanson seems convinced “2,500 years of prior Western educators . . . in Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem [discounting Bagdad] first founded the disciplines and the boundaries of their all-encompassing knowledge”. He neglects the primitives who informed the ancients. Primitives employed polytheism to rationalize mysteries yet grounded “classical aspects of philosophy, literatures, language, history, mathematics, and science”. The recent 5500 of Homo sapiens’ 200,000 years provides modernity the opportunity to discover whatever constrains the consequences of choices. But the ancients failed their descendants by rationalizing competitive monotheism instead of researching the ineluctable evidence. We, the 2026 generation have the opportunity to collaborate for goodness-which-motivates-good-behavior.

The United States republic

Hanson invokes appreciation for “a system, a constitution, and an infrastructure that allowed [“us’] to start our own lives materially and safely far ahead”. But he does not recognize that the United States republic proffers intentions “to ourselves and our Posterity”. The intentions are stated in the preamble to the United States Constitution. I would love to read the interpretation that Hanson trusts-in and commits-to.

The United States republic is unique. The civic faction, We the People of the United States, pursues one vote for each qualified citizen. The civic faction empowers its city, county, state, and collectively, the nation. The civic faction accommodates pure-democracy in municipal, county, and state elections and prevents any-democracy in federal elections. It upholds State Constitutions that support the republic. It offers means for the engaged faction to amend the United States Constitution. The civic faction pursues good behavior “to ourselves and our Posterity”, hoping Homo sapiens benefits from goodness and statutory justice.

The civic faction, We the People of the United States, may, can, and ought to-reform modern education departments, in order to stop teaching students that they are born Homo-sapiens-sinners and that their purpose is to learn the skills the nation needs. The next generations of teachers could practice, facilitate, and encourage comprehension and intention to develop personal human being: goodness-which-motivates-good-behavior.

Conclusion

                I appreciate the churches who, during 7-8 decades of my life accommodated my curiosity enough for me to discover that this person always was unchurched yet pursued the goodness influenced by reports about an ancient political philosopher: Yeshua the Aramaic-speaking Judean of 2000 ya. It matters not to me how accurate, precise, and deep those reports are, because I also have ineluctable evidence discovered by the recent generations and living civic citizens, whether they know of Yeshua or not.

I hope my writing motivates Hanson to expand regard for the primitive generations without compromising his goodness, which I admire.

#USpreambler,#acivicpeople,#goodnesswhich

Copyright©2026 by Phillip R. Beaver. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the publication of all or portions of this paper as long as this complete copyright notice is included.