It's the innate nature of most all living organism to maximize the survival of its genes. Species have gone to great lengths and great sacrifice to see this goal through. The two most notable observations of such are (i) the window spider, with the male giving it's life as sustenance to his partner, so as to maximize her likelihood of bringing his offspring to term and (ii) the wild salmon, which from the time of birth has the single focus of building and storing enough energy in preparation for its thousands of miles journey, upstream towards self-immolation, so that its progeny might find life in the same warm, oxygen rich waters that begat it. Man too possesses this instinct. Dating back to 2 million B.C., Homo Habilis sought to assist it’s decedents by passing on the knowledge of stone tool making, and, in 1 million B.C., as it’s ancestors did before him, Homo Erectus passed on fire. In these hunter-gather civilizations, acquiring this knowledge or these skills often represented a rite of passage young must endure in order to be accepted by society into adulthood. As the Agricultural Revolution bloomed during the very early beginnings of the Bronze Age, larger communities began to form and education became more formalized. The Ancient Greeks were among the very first to establish institutions of learning. In the city-state of Athens, the young were sent to school at an early age to study the arts, while in Sparta they were sent to school to master military skills and train to peak physical fitness. From Ancient Sparta and China through to feudal Europe and Japan, the master-apprentice relationship flourished under the code of the warrior—loyalty, valor, truth, honor and compassion. Nonetheless, there have been times throughout history when that code has been broken, when an apprentice would challenge his master’s skill or knowledge or venture out on his own before his training had concluded. History has not been kind to those seeking glory before their rightful time has come, perhaps as a footnote in some other great man’s march towards destiny, more often nameless and forgotten altogether. I document this, so that those who study it, lest not repeat it. For even in learned times such as these, men of weaker constitution abound. As a wise old man, my time will come, but has not yet. Throughout which though, I shall show compassion.

ClownSchoolDropouts - 109
Thai Horse Fighters - 98