How Humans Have Evolved: Understanding Growth Through Sacrifice and Fear

Part 2 of 3

This is part 2 of 3. Each part becomes more comprehensive as we explore our evolving understanding of the divine through the lens of sacrifice and demons.

Introduction

Human development isn't just about growing physically or learning new skills. It's about how our entire way of thinking and understanding the world has changed over thousands of years. We can see this evolution clearly by looking at two important aspects of human experience: what people have been willing to sacrifice (give up) for their survival and growth, and how they've dealt with their fears and what we might call their "demons" - the things that threaten or challenge them.

From our earliest ancestors to modern humans, each stage of development shows different patterns in how people understand sacrifice and face their fears. These patterns help us understand not only where we came from, but where we might be heading as a species.

Stage 1: Survival Mode (250,000 - 40,000 years ago)

In humanity's earliest stage, life was all about basic survival. People lived in small groups and faced constant threats from wild animals, starvation, and harsh weather. During this time, sacrifice meant the most basic trade-offs needed to stay alive - parents going without food so their children could eat, or individuals risking their lives to protect the group.

The "demons" of this era were very real and immediate: hungry predators, bitter cold, and rival human groups competing for the same resources. There were no abstract ideas about good and evil - just very real threats that could kill you at any moment. People's responses were purely instinctual: fight, run, or hide.

This stage was crucial because it established the basic understanding that sometimes individuals need to give something up for the group to survive. It also showed that threats exist beyond just ourselves.

Stage 2: Magic and Spirits (40,000 - 10,000 years ago)

As human thinking became more complex, people began to see the world as filled with invisible spirits and magical forces. This was a huge leap in mental development - humans could now imagine things they couldn't see or touch.

During this period, sacrifice became much more elaborate. People began offering human lives - sometimes virgins or prisoners - because they believed these offerings could influence the spirit world. They thought that by giving the spirits what they wanted, they could control things like weather, hunting success, or tribal warfare.

The demons of this stage were no longer just physical threats but spiritual ones - evil spirits, angry ancestors, and supernatural forces. Shamans and spiritual leaders emerged as experts who could perform rituals and make offerings to protect their communities from these invisible dangers.

This stage was important because it showed humans developing their first systematic beliefs about non-physical reality and the power of ritual to influence the world around them.

Stage 3: Power and Control (10,000 - 3,000 years ago)

As humans developed agriculture and permanent settlements, a new type of consciousness emerged focused on individual power and dominance. This period saw the rise of kings, warriors, and social hierarchies.

Sacrifice during this era became a tool for showing power and creating fear. Rulers would stage dramatic public human sacrifices - often using conquered enemies or slaves - to demonstrate their control over life and death. These brutal displays were designed to intimidate subjects and rivals alike.

Demons were now seen as powerful enemies that could be defeated through strength or magical power. Warriors and rulers gained respect by conquering demonic forces, often through elaborate rituals that proved their superior strength. The focus shifted from appeasing demons to overpowering them.

This period established patterns of hierarchical thinking and power-based problem-solving that still influence human behavior today, though the extreme practices have mostly disappeared.

Stage 4: Order and Religion (3,000 years ago - 1500 CE)

This stage brought the development of the great religions and moral systems that shaped much of recorded history. It represented a major advance in moral thinking and social organization.

One of the biggest changes was that human sacrifice was largely replaced by animal sacrifice. This shift showed growing recognition that human life had special value. Animal sacrifices became elaborate ceremonies performed by priests, often tied to religious calendars and designed to maintain proper relationship with divine powers.

The focus of sacrifice shifted to obedience, purification, and earning divine favor. People sacrificed animals, crops, or changed their behavior to show submission to higher powers and commitment to moral order.

Demons evolved into agents of evil that tested people's faith and moral strength. Instead of external spirits to be appeased or enemies to be conquered, demons became moral challenges that required spiritual discipline to overcome. Religious practices like exorcism developed complex theological explanations, viewing demon possession as a spiritual illness requiring divine help through prayer and moral purification.

This period established the foundation for systematic moral thinking and organized religion that continues to influence billions of people today.

Stage 5: Science and Individual Achievement (1500 CE - Present)

The development of scientific thinking and focus on individual achievement fundamentally changed how humans understood both sacrifice and demons. This rational, scientific worldview moved away from supernatural explanations toward natural and psychological ones.

Sacrifice became primarily about personal discipline and strategic choices rather than religious offerings. The concept evolved into hard work, giving up immediate pleasure for long-term success, and making strategic decisions about what to pursue in life. Instead of offering lives to supernatural powers, people learned to sacrifice present comfort for future achievement.

This approach led to sophisticated understanding of trade-offs, delayed gratification, and strategic planning that fueled scientific and industrial progress. Education became a primary form of sacrifice, where people gave up years of potential earnings to gain knowledge and skills.

Demons underwent their most radical transformation, being redefined as inner fears, mental health issues, and psychological struggles rather than external supernatural entities. Psychology emerged as the main approach for understanding and treating these internal demons through therapy and rational methods.

Mental illness, addiction, and phobias were reconceptualized as treatable conditions rather than supernatural problems or moral failures. This represented a revolutionary advance in understanding human psychology and mental health.

Stage 6: Social Justice and Healing (1960s - Present)

This stage emerged from growing awareness of social inequality and environmental problems. It emphasized empathy, social justice, and collective responsibility as primary values.

Sacrifice became an intentional act of empathy and social responsibility. People began voluntarily giving up privilege, convenience, and comfort for the sake of justice and equality. This included environmental sacrifice - limiting consumption and accepting inconvenience to protect the natural world - and social justice sacrifice, where privileged people give up advantages to support marginalized communities.

This stage also developed understanding of how entire groups of people had been sacrificed throughout history for the benefit of others, leading to movements for reparations and other attempts to address historical injustices.

Demons were reimagined as representations of trauma, social conditioning, and cultural problems rather than individual psychological issues. The focus shifted from individual treatment to collective healing and systemic change.

Therapeutic approaches expanded to include family therapy, community healing, and social justice work as ways of confronting demons. Many individual problems were recognized as symptoms of larger social issues like poverty, discrimination, and historical trauma.

Stage 7: Integration and Authentic Connection (Late 20th century - Present)

This emerging stage attempts to integrate insights from all previous stages while overcoming their limitations. It recognizes partial truth in each developmental level while seeking more comprehensive approaches to human challenges.

Sacrifice is understood as voluntarily releasing ego attachments that prevent authentic connection and inner freedom. Rather than sacrificing to external authorities or causes, this involves letting go of rigid identities and defensive patterns that limit genuine relationship with reality.

This type of sacrifice is more subtle and ongoing than previous stages, involving continuous willingness to release fixed perspectives and behavioral habits that no longer serve growth. It represents a shift from external sacrifice to internal transformation.

Demons are recognized as psychological patterns that require integration rather than elimination. Instead of fighting or analyzing demons, this approach involves welcoming shadow aspects as sources of energy and information that have been disconnected from conscious awareness.

Rather than seeing demons as enemies, they are understood as parts of the self that need to be reclaimed and redirected. This contributes sophisticated understanding of human development and systems thinking.

Stage 8: Unity and Global Consciousness (21st century - Emerging)

This stage represents an emerging level of consciousness characterized by direct experience of interconnectedness and unity. It transcends the separation between self and others that characterizes earlier stages.

Sacrifice becomes an expression of unity rather than a choice or strategy. Letting go is experienced as natural participation in the interconnected flow of life rather than giving something up for future benefit. The boundary between giver and receiver begins to dissolve.

At this level, individual welfare and collective welfare are recognized as ultimately identical, leading to spontaneous generosity and service that flows from recognition of unity rather than moral obligation.

Demons are understood as distorted expressions of unintegrated energy in collective consciousness. Rather than individual problems, demons are recognized as collective shadow material that affects entire communities and cultures.

The approach involves collective healing work that addresses systemic patterns of separation and dysfunction through practices that enhance unity and coherence.

Stage 9: Transcendent Unity (Possible Future)

This represents a possible future development of human consciousness characterized by complete transcendence of separation and effortless expression of unconditional love.

Sacrifice would be experienced as effortless surrender where the boundary between giver and receiver completely dissolves. Action would flow spontaneously from love and wisdom without psychological effort or moral choice.

The concept of demons would completely dissolve, as all perceived opposition would be recognized as expressions of the same underlying unity. There would be no enemies to fight or problems to solve, only different expressions of infinite consciousness.

Conclusion

This journey through human development reveals the remarkable evolution of consciousness that continues both individually and collectively. Each stage has contributed essential insights while also revealing new challenges requiring further development.

Understanding these stages helps us recognize our own growth journey and appreciate different worldviews. It promotes tolerance for various approaches to life's challenges and suggests directions for continued development.

Most importantly, this understanding reveals that humanity's greatest challenges can be addressed through continued consciousness development rather than just technological or political solutions. The problems created at one level of consciousness typically require solutions from higher levels of development.

Each individual has the potential to experience this entire developmental journey within their own lifetime, contributing to collective evolution while discovering their deepest nature and highest potential. By understanding where we came from, we can better navigate where we're going as individuals and as a species embarking on the next phase of our evolutionary journey.