by Loren Brown
October 2, 2001
Nerve has many meanings. One definition: a line, or one of a system of lines, extending across something. In addition, a line is made up of the connection between points. Picture the earth as a smooth, white sphere; a representation of the earth at the beginning of human existence. Soon small dots begin to appear; the ancient empires beginning to form. However, the dots remain unconnected. All of these ancient peoples are evolving completely independent of each other. They had no idea that there was anyone else besides them. Maps had complete continents missing from them!
Then, at a crucial point, one of the dots sent out a line, exploring. Soon other nations followed, sending out tentacles and gathering information. Some of the lines included: Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the New World, Marco Polo and his explorations of Eastern Asia, or even as early as Alexander the Great conquering to India.
However, consequences occurred that the early explorers couldn’t imagine. It’s just like chaos theory: If a butterfly flaps its wings in Madagascar, it rains in Times Square. Whether we intend to or not, every action we commit could possibly have a reaction sometime, somewhere. You never know how something you do could affect someone else. The European colonists didn’t foresee how devastatingly their diseases, something they had no control over, would affect the American Indians. A blanket given in charity could carry a disease and wipe out an entire village. That consequence was entirely unintentional.
Sometimes, there was an intentional interference into newly discovered societies. Europeans saw Africans as slaves for the taking. Soon, they had African tribal leaders capturing other Africans to sell as slaves to the Europeans. That was not their way, and now as a result, we have no idea what might have happened if they had been allowed to progress naturally on their own. The same thing happened with Christian missionaries traveling all over the world, seeing any polytheists as heathens, craving the good word of God to save their souls from an awful hell. It was not these native people’s way to think of God. They worshiped Ra, or Shiva, or even the earth itself. Sometimes, these people were only offered conversion or death; they were forced to abandon their natural beliefs.
Today, we are no longer simple dots and lines, but the earth is a vast network trade, thoughts, and communication.