Contrary to what you been taught the key to survival for human beings is NOT adaptation but manipulation.
Only animals, insects and aqua/marine creatures were meant to adapt to their environments. human beings on the other hand were meant to manipulate their environment and create new dimensions of their environment. To substantiate what I am saying- compare countries that have merely adapted to their natural environment compared to those that have manipulated their environment and created new dimensions of the same. For example African countries (adapted) vs European countries.
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| photo by McNorris Hakata |
Adaptation means you become subject to your environment, you by necessity have to change to suit the demands of your environment. Everything pertaining to your environment controls your life. The weather, the soil, the terrain, the vegetation etc. In Africa people adapt. The lives of most of her inhabitants are controlled by the environment in which they find themselves in and the sign of this is the lack of infrastructure and sophistication. People die from hunger, from Malaria, from attempting to cross flooded rivers. People become comfortable with living in these conditions that they fail to manipulate their environment and subdue it- adaptation. In such environments there is no creativity or ingenuity. People can easily adapt to poverty which begins to settle in their minds and reach a dangerous state of acceptance.
Bereshis (Genesis)1:28 God blessed them (gave them extraordinary abilities and divine authority); and God said to them (commanded, decreed), "Be fruitful (birth new ideas, create, produce, invent) and multiply (through out the whole earth, in your community, on your continent, in your country), and fill the earth, and subdue it (conquer it, make it subject to your needs, manipulate it); and rule over (Reign, have dominion over) the fish of the SEA and over the birds of the SKY and over every living thing that moves on the EARTH (land).
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| Photo Cred: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com |
The mandate to mankind was to manipulate Earth, Sea and Skies to improve the conditions of his environment. This should only be done in a way that positively builds and enhances that environment. A very good example of this is found with the U.S Navy SEALs (SEa Air Land) . This particular nation took cognizance of the environment they would need to take control of and rule and so train their special forces to dominate in all of the three environments. Indeed it is not only the United States that has in today's context successfully managed to manipulate it's environment albeit the damaging methods taken to achieve such goals but the rest of the world that is now termed as the "developed" world. In these countries life expectancy and the quality of life is much higher than in the "under developed" world, those countries which have merely adapted to their natural environment.
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| Photo Cred: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org |
Imagine for a second what Dubai would look like if her inhabitants had decided to just adapt to the pre-existing desert conditions? Frankly, we wouldn't have a place called Dubai or maybe it would exist but one thing for certain is that it wouldn't be swamped by tourists and traders as it is today, in fact no-one would care. No one ever wakes up planning for a trip into the Sahara desert unless your government or scientific research department has asked you to. The nations of the U.A.E. realized that for them to improve their well being as nations they has to manipulate their desert environment and transform it into a paradise instead of adapting to desert conditions which they had done for millennia past. These and other nations like Israel to add to the list are no longer at the mercy of their natural environment or to weather patterns because they have SUBDUED the earth through the multiplication of their ideas and ingenuity. In Japan they now build flexible buildings that can absorb earth tremors and withstand earthquakes and that is an example of taking control of your environment in this case one could argue that this is a form of adaptation but in essence it isn't adaptation but manipulation.
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| photo cred: www.spreadshirt.com |
Even in business you have often heard the phrase "adapt or die". Truth is that is not entirely true. Adaptation is not the key to survival in business. Take a look at the most successful businesses in the world, did they get to where they are today by "adapting" to existing business conditions? NO they didn't. Let us look at Microsoft for example, it didn't adapt but it completely changed the game and became the market leader in its field. Apple didn't become a tech giant by adapting to it's environment. It was born in an era when personal computers were said to be "a total waste because no one would ever need one" laugh out loud right. These are example of companies that didn't adapt but manipulated their existing environment through innovation and conquered the world. Here is what adapting means in business, it means try your best to fit in, if people don't want personal computers why even make one? It means you cut your head count and expenditure so that you survive (in reality you hope to). It means you are calling your environment "Dominos". In most cases businesses that choose to merely survive end up as debris at the bottom of the corporate ocean of dead companies. Sadly this is not limited to business but applies even to relationships and governments. In relationships I am not advocating for manipulative behavior since this would be a totally different definition to the context of this article but also one does not need to adapt to an abusive relationship.
To adapt we need to transform and to manipulate we also need to transform but the key difference is that in adapting we are transforming to conform to whatever conditions we find ourselves in. We are forced to change but when we manipulate our environment it is our environment that is forced to change to suit our needs. In the end we should reach that balance where we manipulate our environment yet adapting to it's most fundamental core. As we industrialize we need not puncture the ozone layer or destroy the environment for in doing so we also destroy ourselves and that is not manipulation but self destruction for manipulation should be to one's own advantage.
By Simbarashe McNorris Hakata
