Decolonization is a Decentralization Movement

Combining these two buzzwords to promote an important opportunity for human evolution and development

First, I would like to start with a simple history lesson that provides the framework and a definition of terms for the decolonization movement that is actually functioning more like a decentralization-of-power movement. We are colonized and it's not going anywhere, yet, there is a resurgence happening right now in remembering our nomadic origins as a species. There is also a growing movement to legitimize metaphysical tools and strategies to reconnect with our own innate knowing and strengthen our intuitive faculties.

Last year, I discovered a very important Instagram account ran by an anonymous woman, who I believe gave great thought into keeping her identity secret. However, she compiles and cites 100% reputable sources for her posts. Her handle is @ancestralhabits on Instagram. I highly recommend following her research work, as she is compiling very dense research into digestible bites for us to draw insights from and create a bigger picture for understanding the history of our species. I am citing her account and posts as my sources and you can go to these posts and look up her references from there as she compiled this data that I am sharing about our evolutionary history. I want to make it clear that I did not compile this anthropological and evolutionary science data and I want to make sure she gets credit for her wonderful summaries of this research, which is a craft in and of itself that I admire and respect. So, thank you to @ancestralhabits!

A Brief History of our Species

Anthropologists believe that roughly from 250,000-12,000 BCE, our prehistoric human ancestors lived as: nomadic, hunter-gathers, in small pods of 150 or less people. This is over 95% of our existence as a species! Anthropologists also overwhelmingly agree that the social standards of these pods were run by social egalitarianism and authority was mostly informal.

So, what changed about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago? We became agrarian, sedentary beings and we stopped walking the Earth as one big home! We grew gardens, raised livestock, and created small cities. Our population grew and we went on to build very formal civilizations with very formal authoritarian structures to manage the influx of people and distribution of resources. Gardening created a whole new paradigm for humans, which is weirdly not common knowledge and was arguably the birth of centralized authority in our species. It is hard to believe that something as innocent as gardening is the most likely of culprits that led to such an unequal existence for humans.

"Anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago. About 100,000 years ago we began migrating across the globe. [Between 200,000-100,000 years ago, the] population remained low, probably less than 1 million people. With the advent of farming (10-12.5 years ago), growth picked up. By 1 AD, world population reached approximately 170,000,000 people. It took 200,000 years for the human population to reach 1 billion and only 200 years to reach 7 billion." Sources here and here.

And, something else to really think about here...

"Population size is a tricky topic to cover accurately, but there are clear patterns that stand out. During our first ~180,000 as a species, from ~250kya-74kya, we largely lived a nomadic existence in small bands of hunter/gatherers. This lifestyle caters to a more organic population size, comparable to other great apes on the planet at the time. Becoming stationary lead to exponential (unnatural?) population growth, which inevitably lead to social hierarchies and inequity." Source here.

It is very clear that colonization, conquering, imperialism, and totalitarianism grew out of this ENORMOUS population growth and we as a species have yet to actually catch up to our own extreme growth as a species and create equitable systems and societies.

When I was introduced to this information, MY MIND WAS BLOWN. As in, wow...is this common knowledge? Do we even realize what has gone down over the last 10,000-15,000 years? And, and it seems like we are at this moment in our evolution as a species, where we can finally begin to grasp the bigger picture of our history and how we can begin heal. Everything begins with understanding and awareness. I believe, and this is my personal opinion, that understanding and awareness is the most important form of empathy there really is.

Therefore, what I mean by decolonization is a move away from such an overt display of centralized power in our civilized state. A huge part of this paradigm shift is Bitcoin + blockchain technology that has created a decentralized network and ledger that tracks the distribution of resources, similar to mycelium. This is an ongoing process as we adopt digital currencies and blockchain technology into the mainstream.

In addition, I would like to share my top 3 passions that I will be focusing on within the decolonization/decentralization movement:

1.) Support and Promote Female Leadership

2.) Support, Educate, and Promote Cosmology as a MYSTIC AND LINGUIST and legitimize our knowledge as reputable and worthy of RESPECT

3.) Support, Educate, and Promote the expansion of data in professional settings to study and analyze right-brain, heart-centered intelligence. I intend to challenge the status quo that continues to discredit these tools and human gifts, like analyzing our dreams and premonitions, as "woo-woo" or better yet, my favorite "pseudoscience."

I intend to use my training in Linguistics ("the SCIENTIFIC study of language and its structure, including the study of morphology, syntax, phonetics, and semantics.") to discredit the pseudoscience claims and build a secular case for being in dialogue with meaning as a fundamental and neurological, biological function of being human.

We co-create all disciplines of study through the codification and classification of language along beside an ever-evolving dialogue with meaning (semantics). And, then we build the syntax and symbology to capture the meaning. For example, math is just another type of language used to be in dialogue with the meaning of space in physics. Our ancient ancestors used stories, music, art, and ceremonies to capture these same cosmic truths using an accessible format to inform the people, which is also another type of language. Why are we bullying the mystics and artists who do not use math to understand the cosmos? When it is very clear these are different languages all trying to say similar things? The bigotry in mainstream science needs to be challenged in this decolonization movement.

In sum, the achievements of modern science have given us humans an expansive technological advantage, of which have added and continue to add enormous value to our species. But, the persistent disrespect and bullying of mainstream science towards mysticism is well due to be challenged for the next round of human advancement that is upon us. The ideal situation would be to build an ever-evolving conversation of intersectional research to learn from one another and collaborate together on future innovations. These are my primary passions for helping our species achieve a more just and peaceful world for all.

About Kate: I hold two bachelors of arts degrees from The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in Linguistics and Italian Studies. I am a Renaissance Woman determined to blend artistry, innovation, and consciousness with the business world. I have 13+ years of business and product development experience across an array of industries and I am currently composing and producing my first full-length album. My artistic platform is called Priestess House: where cosmology meets our reality.? I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan with my two sons, George and Peter.

Sources

Ancestral Habits [@ancestralhabits]. "The Prehistoric Human Social Structure was Egalitarian." Instagram, December 27, 2023. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C1W-17QOU3s/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ancestral Habits [@ancestralhabits]. "What was the Population Size about 100,000+ years ago? And how does extreme growth impact human culture." Instagram, August 16, 2023. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/CwAuQZcOKZ7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==