Page 44 - Effable Encounters

The African Dog

“That our planet is undergoing a rather unique experience in the
history of the survival of the fittest, one that the orthodox theorists
are not recognizing. This is where the story of the African dog is
relevant. All dogs began with one sort of dog, a medium-sized short-
haired animal adapted to a generic savannah environment, its original
habitat; all the specializations imposed by subsequent migration,
isolation, and human breeding for appearance or function have been
built on that genetic core. Human culture may be seen as following
the same pattern: basic, common elements supporting a vast variety
of forms diverging through time and space, right up until modern
times. Then the turbulence of our era began, and the contact of
previously isolated populations produced, among other things,
African diaspora music. But how should we see the progress of this
process? What is the model we can use to predict its future? The
African dog.”
Ari Mosca paused to wipe his face and order another round of
beers. They were no longer alone in the room; couples and small
groups of barely-bearded youths were filing in through the narrow
entrance-cum-fire exit and finding table space.
“As you discovered in the literature, Professor, it has become an
accepted tenet of genetics that were all the dogs in the world, from
Chihuahuas to Saint Bernards, allowed to freely mix and mate, within
a calculable number of generations the entire canine population
would again look exactly like the African dog. All the overlaid
specializations would cancel out and drop off as recessive traits; this
reflects the conservatism of evolution, as seen in the recapitulation of
phylogeny in ontogeny. And this is what is going on right now with
human culture. National groups have in the past attempted to
maintain some alleged cultural ‘purity’ by excluding foreigners and
their influence; those efforts have become laughable in the context of
mass communications via computer link-ups to satellites, owned and
operated by multi-national corporations driven by profit—or success,
in evolutionary terms.”
“Then you think my theory has some practical application?”
“I certainly do! Humans, when culturally mongrelized, will return
to the basic common denominators of music, elements our early
ancestors knew quite well: the rhythms, vocal styles, instrumental
sonorities and ritual evocations of tribal identity and solidarity. A

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