The purpose of this article is to define a real base for the imaginary setting for "The World that he Gave" series of novels. (At present, they are unpublished.)
The power we call electricity is so commonplace that we do not stop to think of the wonder of it, but the early experimenters in this field. A bewildering, yet phenomenal power that was invisible except in it effect. It flowed along solid wire. Where could it be? It was easy to understand how water flowed in pipes driven by gravity. Electricity seemed to behave according to the same rules, but in some strange incomprehensible way. What was the gravity, to make it work? A similar dilemma exists today; how does gravity work? It is not inconceivable that other exciting discoveries await us. The series exploits this idea.
Devolution assumes that we humans once enjoyed a better state than the one we currently experience. The term 'state' encompasses state of mind, the relationship to the Earth and its wildlife, but in particular embodies spiritual status. The latter is such a broad classification that it will need further definition later in this article. In these discussions, it is important that we recognize that the use of the term 'state' allows large variations (of behaviour and beliefs) to exist within each of the states. Therefore, appearances or generalities must not lead to conclusions.
The artefacts for the devolution theory are observations of society and its written records. Essentially these are human behaviours and beliefs. It implies two periods - now and then. It also implies one or more, future states for humans on Earth. Some believe that a third state exists today and has been here in greater or lesser degrees for about two thousand years.
The theory of evolution also has many well-known artefacts, which are mainly the fossilized remains of plants and living creatures that died long ago. The process is so common that it supplies much of the Earth's fuel as fossil fuels.
Observers of fossils make assumptions as to their age and species from many scientific measurements and some very unscientific comparisons. Fossilization takes place in an amazingly short time, sometimes quickly enough to fossilize soft tissue before it rots or otherwise decays. It even occurs within the living human body by fossilizing organic foreign objects within months to a few years.
It is described as 'turning to stone' or petrifaction. Typically, calcium and silicon based minerals replace some or all of the organic matter while retaining the original structure and size. The presence of water supplies a ready source of minerals necessary in the process. Determining the age of the artefact when other materials have replaced the organic materials, is clearly a challenge. If we could only reverse the process and bring the fossils back to life, what stories would they tell?
Devolution of humankind is only a theory and not a philosophy, which would need to be a far more detailed analysis of current human behaviour and thus falls outside of the definition of our limited artefacts.
