Homo Schizo I: Human and Cultural Hologenesis

Author: Alfred de Grazia Year: 1983 Publisher: Metron Publications, Princeton, N.J. Series: Quantavolution & Catastrophe

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Source: https://grazian-archive.com/quantavolution/QuantaHTML/plaintext/homoschizo_1.txt

Synopsis

Homo Schizo I is de Grazia’s theory of human origins and human nature rooted in catastrophe. “Homo Schizo” — schizoid man — is de Grazia’s model of the human species as fundamentally split, fearful, and divine-seeking as a direct psychological consequence of evolving under conditions of periodic catastrophe.

The argument is that humanity’s religious impulse, its tendency toward hierarchical authority, its capacity for both creativity and violence, and its schizoid cognition all derive from ancestral trauma inflicted by celestial catastrophe. Natural religion, divine kingship, and sacrifice rituals are all interpreted as cultural adaptations to recurring sky-terror.

This volume focuses on cultural hologenesis — the simultaneous emergence of human culture worldwide at the same moment, explained by a shared catastrophic trigger rather than gradual diffusion. It provides the anthropological and psychological framework underlying the entire Quantavolution series.

Key Themes

• The “schizoid” character of humanity as a catastrophic adaptation
• Cultural hologenesis: simultaneous world-wide cultural emergence
• Divine kingship as a political institution born from sky-catastrophe
• Human sacrifice and religious ritual as replays of catastrophic memory
• The neurological and psychological effects of repeated celestial catastrophe on early populations

See Also

• Author Index
• Homo Schizo II — companion volume on human behavior
• Divine Succession — gods as celestial bodies

Keywords: #Homo #Schizo #Cultural #Hologenesis