Urfa man now has a silent hall of his own in one of Turkey’s greatest archaeological galleries. More importantly, we can now see that Urfa man has the same body stance of the T-shaped man-pillars at Gobekli (and in many of the Tas Tepeler): his arms are in front of him, protecting his penis.
His obsidian eyes still stare wistfully at the observer, as lustrous as they were 11,000 years ago.i
Aside from having the temerity to polish his knob in public, what can we learn from Urfa Man and his ancient birthplace at the eastern edge of modern-day Turkey? Quite a bit!
- Civilisation leads to farming (ie. slavery), not the other way around, which means that our less globalised world in the 21st century will also be one with less slavery.ii
- The future of “work” is more like the life of hunter-gatherers: time characterised by intense focus and then prolonged leisure.iii
- Concentration therefore becomes the main unit of input.iv
- This leaves us more time for fun!v
- So we’ll have more time to play pocket pinball, shake hands with the milkman, and sing soprano like Urfa Man!vi
Indeed, it’s “progress” all the way down. Isn’t that something to celebrate?vii
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- via “Is an unknown, extraordinarily ancient civilisation buried under eastern Turkey?” by Sean Thomas for The Spectator (archived). ↩
- As Marc Andreessen reminds us, the Ancient Romans ruled with world without offices! So did the American Founding Fathers. Can you imagine? ↩
- As demonstrated at the new BIG/Heatherwick-designed Google Campus at Bay View and Charleston East.
↩ - As Tom points out, playing off Dror:
Maybe this is what “post-capitalism” means? It means pre-agricultural! ↩ - Such as watching hockey games! Just as in another time and place we watched tlachtli, instead of, y’know, spending 19 hours a day in front screens like disgusting degens. Why not find the Léger-er side of life! ↩
- As 4-6 year old boys (such as my own) – and those who never matured past this stage – are wont to remind us, penises are the source of nearly endless amusement! Of course it’s not just penises, poop is funny too! Some cultures manage to channel this amusement towards productive ends… but maybe “productivity” needs to be redefined for this new/old era? ↩
- Since this is such a delightfully short post this week, now y’all have oodles of time to read not just the elite footnotes but also AAAAAALLLLL the hyperlinks.
Right guys? Guys…? ↩