Pyramid Schemes. Pretty much everyone has heard of one of these and been warned to avoid getting involved with one. Yet, here is our culture. We respect the Great Pyramids of Egypt as one of the wonders of the world. The dollar has one on the back of it. We get our nutritional recommendations from one. We tend to arrange ourselves with a few above the the many. So we accept that some pyramids are okay.
Metaphorically, absolutely. We are in fact sitting atop a huge number pyramids. Biologically, we are nearly identical to humans from 1000 years ago, yet our lifestyles are totally different. It’s a difference of environments. By the will and ingenuity of mankind, we’ve constructed cultures and technologies that have vastly changed the average human lifestyle. It’s a true credit to our race and nature that we are able to adapt and enhance ourselves this way.
I guess that’s the difference between a good pyramid and a bad pyramid though. Gauged by our ability to adapt to and accept the changes it might bring. We can attribute a lot of devastation in mankind’s history to various failed or misguided pyramids. The wrong pyramid at the wrong time can be just a disaster. Without having psychic abilities, you would think we’d have ended ourselves by now statistically. Well, fortunately we have that ability in the form of… pyramids. Governments, laws, religions, books… all created to protect us from ourselves as we construct new pyramids. Essentially, “yo dawg, I herd you like pyramids, so I put a pyramid in your pyramid so you can pyramid while you pyramid.”
With this in mind, it must be critical that we stay vigilant towards the pyramids we build as we go through our lives. If one falls, any that are above it are likely to as well (according to physics anyway). This may not be enough however. What about the pyramids we currently stand on, that our ancestors built? How can we judge their soundness? If we have a compromised foundation, then what exactly are we doing, but created a higher point to fall from inevitably? How risky are you feeling? Do the consequences matter? Would you benefit?
postsapien 