The Paula Gordon Show |
Conversation 1 Leonard Shlain traces the origins of his interest in how nature shaped humanity for Paula Gordon and Bill Russell. From a biological perspective, Dr. Shlain agrees with the Genesis story that "Eve" was the first to gain ego consciousness. |
Conversation 2 The time homo sapien and "gyna sapien" have been on the planet is a blink of the evolutionary eye, Dr. Shlain says, then describes 2 incompatible and distinct physical characteristics that he believes account for our species' origin, in the crucible of a crisis. He details the human female's problem -- unknown in the rest of the animal world -- and how she figured out the connection between sex and pregnancy. He proposes profound effects for both women and men of figuring out that connection in light of humanity's realization that we will die. |
Conversation 3 We effectively recapitulate the three major insights that changed the human species, Dr. Shlain says, and outlines the first two: women figuring out the connection between sex and pregnancy, which he believes allowed humans to maneuver in the dimension of time; and wishing for immortality. He proposes the origin of language in the need to negotiate sex, then factors into his equation women's need for iron. |
Conversation 4 Throughout the human female reproductive life-cycle, she constantly loses iron, Dr. Shlain reports, reminding listeners that humans were herbivores before leaving our original home in Africa. He explains how he believes we adapted to the planet's most severe Ice Age, then proposes roots for patriarchal, misogynous societies: women's power to veto sex, coupled with men's desire for immortality. Linking lunar cycles to human females' reproductive realities, Dr. Shlain credits women with the discovery of time and other insights that he believes eventually produced art. |
Conversation 5 Something inherent in male-female relations accounts for misogyny, Dr. Shlain believes, then explores the potential for conflict inherent in women's and men's agendas, moderated, he believes, by every human being a psychic hermaphrodite. Darwin's theories have for 150 years provided incredibly predictive tools that leave no need for an "intelligent designer," he says, open to individuals believing what they like about the origins of natural selection. Revisiting the "obstetrical dilemma," Dr. Shlain gives the latest on the "African Eve" and her child. He considers homo sapiens' move from prey to predator and the implications of having “overshot the mark” as predators. |
Conversation 6 As happened 40,000 years ago (the creative explosion,) and 150,000 years ago (the birth of our species,) we are set to transform, Dr. Shlain asserts. He predicts a metamorphosis that will change us spiritually and transcendentally in ways no one can anticipate. |
Acknowledgements It is refreshing to know a person following in the rich tradition of 19th century naturalists, drawing from a wide variety of sources in pursuit of understanding the human animal. It is a pleasure to share the ongoing legacy of the Enlightenment project, in pursuit of evidence-based learning. We thank Dr. Shlain for his willingness to put forth and explore novel and sometimes challenging possibilities. We thank him also for encouraging us our own efforts in that direction. |
Related Links: Leonard Shlain's Sex, Time and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution is published by Viking. His The Alphabet Versus The Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image is a Viking/Penguin book. Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light is published by HarperCollins. Dr. Shlain died of brain cancer in May, 2009. His daughter, Kimberly Brooks, wrote about him for the Huffington Post shortly before his death. Commemorative articles about Dr. Shlain are collected here. In our first program with Dr. Shlain, the conversation focused on The Alphabet versus The Goddess. Evolution is, of course, at the center of Dr. Shlain's thinking. In his 1971 book Sociobiology, Edward O. Wilson presented ideas which evolved into evolutionary psychology. In Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory, Edward J. Larson has summarized and made accessible Darwin's theories in the context of their time and as they've been updated and adapted by modern science. In an earlier book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion, Dr. Larson looked at the ongoing social effects of those theories in America. |