The Sabbath Manifesto aims to reinterpret the ancient Jewish tradition of resting on the Sabbath in a way that is relevant for modern life. Based on ten principles, it has been created by a small group of Jewish artists, writers, filmmakers and media professionals in the US. The ten principles are:
1. Avoid technology
2. Connect with loved ones
3. Nurture your health
4. Get outside
5. Avoid commerce
6. Light candles
7. Drink wine
8. Eat bread
9. Find silence
10. Give back

The group are especially hot on stressing that the principles exist as guidelines only and can be interpreted by the individual. To some, avoid technology might mean put the iPhone away (they provide a cute iPhone sleeping bag to help your effort), while to others it might mean avoid all modern technology.

The relevancy of the Sabbath Manifesto reaches much further than the Jewish community,to all people who want to slow down life.  Infact, here is a comment from a Muslim reader, on the Sabbath Manifesto website:

“I’m not Jewish, actually I’m Muslim but I felt compelled to share my story with you. A few months ago I was feeling overwhelmed with all the “connectivity” that I was practicing that I made a decision to unplug. I cancelled my Facebook page, stopped twittering totally, really just tried to minimalize my online life. Today I am taking my son on a camping trip for the weekend. I’m going to introduce him to the great outdoors and re-connect with him. I truly appreciate what you are doing and I totally support it.”

The Sabbath Manifesto

Image: Sara. Nel

I’ve always loved the idea of human wings, but why would evolution give them to us?

As we reflect human evolution here at jorg&olif, it is challenging to consider it without giving some thought to the leaps and bounds in medical science. When we have technology at our fingertips, evolution is no longer a biological natural selection concept. We can play with our genes.

While some are excited by this, I know that the potential of medical science hugely frightens me, particularly after reading Bryan Appleyard’s thought-provoking book, How to Live Forever or Die Trying. It ponders questions about what eternal life would mean for humans, and what would happen if “death became negotiable, would we still fall in love or have children?” Plus, it raises a valid question as to whether living forever is deeply selfish, given the infinite potential of population. Could that cause a slow and devastating extinction?

Apparently, the first person to live to be 1,000 years old has already been born…

Gene manipulation could be seen as slowing down and considering humans more carefully. But, in my eyes it is actually speeding up what has only ever been a natural process.  Are we rushing into the unknown?

Some evolutionary theorists such as Oliver Curry believe that H.G. Wells 1895 novel The Time Machine and Aldous Huxley’s 1932 book Brave New World – where there are distinct divisions of human classes – may be quite insightful. We just need to wait 100,000 years for it to be verified. In the meantime, the next 1,000 years will make us all equally coffee-coloured.

Curry, who has been working in this area for some time, does not specifically confirm my theory of super-strength thumbs but I think it’s quite suggestive given his comments that we may “pay a genetic price for technology”.

With our technological direction, there is another alarming statement from Curry: “Social skills, such as communicating and interacting with others, could be lost, along with emotions such as love, sympathy, trust and respect.”

As humans evolve, I am sure that our emotions are developing too, and, aside from the horrors of modern-day war that tends to stem purely from greed (or those fighting it), compared with 100 years ago, we appear to be a more social race, where new dads get paternity leave, minority groups can vote and fundamentally we all believe in equal rights.

And don’t we slow down to debate the philosophies of utilitarianism, libertarianism and moral worth and, – the most contentious of them all – religious beliefs and what we teach our children about evolution? Through social evolution, we have choices and, I believe, responsibility.

A caring species, in times of need when there are no sides, we more often than not come together in times of natural disaster to support and soothe our fellow homosapiens, such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and more recently, the Haiti earthquake.

Regardless of how we may act under political and corporate duress, as a collective we don’t really like destruction.

We must be reminded of what Charles Darwin himself stated:
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.

Darwin Day

Image 1: Ryan Somma
Image 2: Paul Keller
Image 3: Woodley Wonderworks