So. The film version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy came out in American theaters today. Based on a number of negative reviews I’ve read of it, coupled by clips I’ve seen of it, I’ve decided not to see it. Or at least not pay money to see it. I believe my initial reaction to M.J. Simpson’s infamous review was part sadness, part utter lack of surprise. So I decided not to see the movie and went on to think about more interesting things.

“Bellum omnium contra omnes“–Hobbes’ “war of all, against all”–was the first word on the “state of nature.” It was a hypothetical then, a possible time when humans may have existed without government. Hobbes’ blatant stance against the very principle of empirical research ensured that this remained only a hypothesis, but he could hardly have tested it then even if he had been so inclined. Philosophers were only beginning to consider the possibility of the scientific method, and Hobbes was a strong proponent of the superiority of philosophical thought experiments. Anthropological data was only beginning, and even what little there was, was generally of the form of imperial apologia, describing the horror of barbaric pagan ways, and how desperately they needed the salvation of Christendom and European civilization. Hobbes’ “state of nature” owed much to Judeo-Christian mythology of the “Fall of Man,” and the inherent sinfulness of humanity. The individual human in the “state of nature” was, in Hobbes’ philosophy, a solitary predator whose cruelty was matched only by his cowardice. The result of such “anarchy,” in the traditional, perjorative sense of the word, was a life that was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Today is the largest secular holiday of the year, Earth Day, the 35th celebration of the holiday since its inception in 1970. Founded under the auspices of Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day became popular thanks to grassroots support and the budding environmentalism of the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Earth Day will doubtlessly pass with little remark, and possibly some self-congratulation from the Bush regime concerning its “Clear Skies” initiative. Environmentalists have become victims of their own success. To all appearances, the environment is now fine. It has ceased to be an issue, and we have become complacent in our assurance that the earth is doing just fine. If Earth Day means anything now, it’s only to note our historic victories and celebrate the environmentalist triump. Appearances are decieving.

Considering I haven’t been a practicing Catholic in years, it came as a surprise when I felt a twinge of sadness at Pope John Paul II’s death. Even more shocking was the mild awe I felt upon seeing Pope Benedict XVI, especially since I—hated—his alter-ego, Cardinal Ratzinger.

This can mean only one thing: there’s still Catholic in me. And therefore I have a duty to help out the new Pope in this his time of need. Therefore, brought to you for the first time here on Anthropik, is my 5-Point Plan to save the Catholic Church.

Hi, how are you doing? Good? That’s nice. But I don’t really care. You see, if you were an outside observer, such as one of those Martians who seem bent on conquering all such hypothetical situations in the known galaxy, you might think that I was expressing concern for your well being. As anyone who has lived in our society long enough to learn how to speak has come to realize, however, is that “How are you doing?� is not in fact a question. It is a greeting. Or at worst, a pick-up line for people who spend their days watching re-reruns of Friends, the show that proved that it is indeed possible to be about-nothing-er than Seinfeld.

A week ago yesterday was the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, which began 11 years ago this month. In 100 days, one million Rwandans–primarily Tutsis–were brutally murdered. All while the rest of the world did nothing. Almost exactly a year ago, General Romeo Dallair told an audience, “It’s up to Rwanda not to let others forget they are criminally responsible for the genocide.” He’s right. The First World sat back, watched the genocide, and allowed it to happen–because Rwanda was of no strategic importance. Right now, it’s happening all over again, this time in Darfur, Sudan. I’m not known for supporting the United States government often, but here is one example where they did the awful, right thing, for the most horrific of reasons.

Thousands of years ago, humans crossed the Beringia land bridge into North America. On April 11, 2005, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress voted to classify feral cats as an “unprotected species,” thereby making it legal to hunt them. What do these events have to do with each other? Well, let’s see.

Jason and I were eating dinner at Uno’s one night when Jason wondered aloud, “What if, instead of seeing reflected light, we saw temperature?” Temperature constantly changes, with a single thing - let’s say, an apple - swirling between hot and cold. We currently see that the apple skin absorbs all light waves except red, and conclude therefore that the apple is red. Naturally, no apple is red. No apple has ever always been red, nor will any apple always be red. The words “apple” and “red” are not synonyms of each other, nor is “red” the only defining characteristic of an apple. If we all had heat vision in place of color vision, we would see the apple constantly in flux. We would see the world changing all the time, and realize that nothing is.

Rob McMillin, it would seem, is not a fan of my work. He had some choice words concerning my recent piece, “The Opposite of Malthus,” which seems to be enjoying some circulation among the Peak Oil blogs out there. I won’t indulge in the sort of ad hominem sophistry the critique levels against me–my mother taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. But, such a response from the “Peak Oil Optimist” has combined with some of the responses I’ve gotten from IshCon to make me consider the nature of “optimism” when dealing with matters of such hefty import.

In the years since 9/11, a quote from Benjamin Franklin has enjoyed renewed popularity in certain circles: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” The loss of civil liberties and freedoms suffered by the United States’ citizenry under the second Bush regime, though significant, remain small when compared to the freedoms lost 10,000 years ago when our forebears (memetically, if not genetically) took up civilization. As we have already seen, fear of an uncertain future drove the development of hierarchy and the adoption of agriculture–two inextricably bound phenomena which may even be better seen as different aspects of the same process. We have already explored how competitive feasting gave some measure of security by essentially creating a second network of reciprocity between groups, just as had previously existed within groups. But I also mentioned trade as another elite activity which provided group security, and that point deserves further elaboration.