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Human Thermodynamics and Culture (II)

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Human-Earth System Dynamics

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Abstract

Historians and anthropologists have highly simplified, if not dismissed, the biological factors that may have decided or influenced the dynamic behaviors of humans and civilizations. As a matter of fact, human emigration throughout the world was a response-to-challenge process. Thus, humans coming out of Africa must have been physically inferior to those who continued to stay in or near to their original homes. In all circumstances, physical weakness may provide incentives (whereas physical advantages may provide disincentives) for humans to develop complex societies from previous simpler ones. Not all human and cultural evolutions are consistent with what Darwin called “natural selection.” Nevertheless, they all conform to the basic law of human thermodynamics: that humans’ mental output and physical output are roughly negatively correlated. As a result, language, religion, and culture as a whole are created by those who are (or who think they are) weak.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cited from Chomsky (2000, p. 4).

  2. 2.

    Cited from Trimble (2012, pp. 1–2).

  3. 3.

    See, for example, Smith et al. (1975) and Williams and Stevens (1972).

  4. 4.

    See, for example, Jakobson (1962, pp. 538–45) and Bancel and de l'Etang (2008, pp. 417–38).

  5. 5.

    See, for example, Eagly and Wood (1999) and Hughes and Hughes (2001, pp. 118–19).

  6. 6.

    See Guo (2018, Chap. 5) a more detailed description of the cultural meanings and historical evolutions of the two Chinese characters.

  7. 7.

    Note that the differing lengths of animals’ necks also influence the types of their voices.

  8. 8.

    Generally, cheetahs lose around 10–15% of their kills to other predators (Sunquist and Sunquist, 2002, pp. 14–36); sometimes the percentage was found to be as high as 50% (O'Brien and Wildt, 1986).

  9. 9.

    See Bower (January 27, 2011), Bowler et al. (2003), Croft (2012, p. 261), and Wells and Read (2002, pp. 138-40) for more detailed analyses of humans’ early migration throughout the world.

  10. 10.

    Source: http://www.worldebooklibrary.com/articles/eng/Incas, accessed 2017-2-11.

  11. 11.

    Cited from Anderson (2012, p. 107).

  12. 12.

    Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/botswana/history, accessed 2017-11-24.

  13. 13.

    See, for example, Bonner (1982, pp. 9–27) and Kuper (1997, pp. 9–10).

  14. 14.

    Based on Bonner (1982, pp. 60, and 85–88).

  15. 15.

    Calculated by author based on the English translations of “The Epic of Gilgamesh” (available at http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/) and of the “Hymn to the Nile” (available at http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/hymn_to_the_nile.htm)—all accessed 2017-04-24. The figures for the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and the “Hymn to the Nile” can be underestimated since the syllable ‘wa’ may have mutated when the original texts were translated into English.

  16. 16.

    See Sima (91 BC, vol. 47, No. 17).

  17. 17.

    Cited from Mencius (c. 300 BC, Book VI, Chap. XV).

  18. 18.

    See Mark (3: 21, 31–32, and 34–35).

  19. 19.

    See, for example, Gowler (2007, p. 102) and Charlesworth (2006, ed., p. 127).

  20. 20.

    Cited from Greenblatt (2011, p. 174). The quotes are from a letter of Poggio to Niccoli, May 18, 1416. It is worth noting that Niccoli's and Poggio’s cursive scripts have developed into Italic and Roman types, respectively.

  21. 21.

    Cited from Weber (1904, p. 7).

  22. 22.

    Cited from Watt (1974, p. 8).

  23. 23.

    Cited from Gethin (1998, pp. 20–21).

  24. 24.

    Cited from Greenblatt (2011, pp. 8f, 183, and 262f).

  25. 25.

    Cited from http://www.iep.utm.edu/lucretiu/. Accessed 2015-12-3.

  26. 26.

    Translated by author based on Sima (91 BC, vol. 130, No. 70). Words within square brackets are added by author.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    Data source: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=vai (accessed 2016-11-18).

  29. 29.

    See Tuchscherer and Hair (2002) for more details.

  30. 30.

    Sources: http://thewildwest.org/nativeamericans/native-american-faces/92-sequoyah (accessed 2016-11-18) and Davis (1930).

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  1. Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China

    Rongxing Guo

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Guo, R. (2019). Human Thermodynamics and Culture (II). In: Human-Earth System Dynamics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0547-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0547-4_3

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