3) Problem

To kick off this video, let's begin, as usual, from the here and now. It's now commonplace to say that we are going through a series of shocks and counter-shocks that are shaking up not only the whole world, but also our daily lives, whether in the private or professional sphere. Remember, I already talked about this back in 2020, in my video « Chocs, contre-chocs, spaghettis » (Shocks Counter-Shocks Spaghetti).

And while social networks are breeding more and more radical discourse, and fake news is making information less and less reliable, countless books and articles are questioning this loss of social landmark - whether in our relationship to work and money, or even with the rise of the so-called gender theory.

The point is that our species is undergoing a profound social, cultural, geopolitical and environmental paradigm shift, where everything STaBLe we took for granted is being challenged; opening up a future where nothing is either certain or safe.

And yet, LaNDMaRKs are essential. In the business world, they're called STaNDaRDs, and they're very important, especially when it comes to technology. For instance, it is thanks to the power of standard that Microsoft has been dominating the world of computing for decades, making its operating system a standard.

Standards wars are as old as the hills. I've already spoken about this, especially in my video « Souveraineté, Compétitivité, Cyclades » (Sovereignty, Competitiveness, Cyclades), which recounts how France totally missed the Internet revolution in the late 70s. Indeed, the entire history of IT over the last 50 years is a tale of standards wars, and since « software ate the world », according to Marc Andreseen's famous quote, the world’s history over the last 50 years cannot be understood without keeping these standards wars in mind.

The reason why STaNDaRDs are so important is that, without them, there can be no exchange or communication. This notion of standards as prerequisites for communication is also at work in negotiation, where « SeTTing the SCeNe » is extremely important. Setting the scene refers to the preparatory work, during which each party sets out to define the negotiating framework and shape the expectations of its counterpart - in short, to set « standards ».

This phase is so critical that, in a way, the outcome of a negotiation is usually determined before the parties even start talking. Sometimes the groundwork has been so well laid by one party that the other may feel further discussion may not be possible or even wished for.

In a nutshell, whether it's in our daily lives, in the corporate world, or during negotiations, SeTTing the SCeNe, laying down MiLeSToNes, defining a LaNDMaRK is essential. This need for landmarks goes back a long way. We find it, for example, in idolatry, but above all in monumental architecture and the motif of the PiLLaR, the CoLuMN, whether in Greece, ancient Rome or Egypt with the DjeD and obelisks. And, of course, in Western Europe, with dolmens, menhirs and STaNDing SToNes; the most famous of which are in Carnac and Stonehenge.

In the Semitic world, from the Levant to Arabia, these Standing Stones, maTseBah in Hebrew, are known as BeTyLes, after BeyT ʔeL, the place where Jacob eReCTed a stone in memory of the dream of the Ladder. Jacob is something of a specialist in Standing Stones. At the time of his covenant with his uncle LaBaN, he also erected not one stone, but a PiLe of stones to create what is known as a CaiRN, GaL in Hebrew, explaining that these stones would bear witness to the covenant even when the parties would be far apart. Centuries later, the people of Israel will be forced to demolish those same Standing Stones, which were no longer consecrated to the Eternal but to foreign gods.

As you can see, this fascination with STRaiGhT, STiLL landmarks visible to all from afar is ancient, and can be found in all the great Western civilizations. And, as you might have gathered, it dates back to the Paleolithic, not the Neolithic.

4) Erratum

Right. Before I dive into the origins of statues and statutes, I'd like to add a couple of things to my previous video about the word « Ta Ra ». Remember, I may be the Paraklet, but I'm only human.

The first note relates to the well-known passage of the Gospels when Christ makes the apostle PeTeR the CoRNeR SToNe of the Church and tells him that whatever he BiNDs or LooSens on earth will be bound or loosened in heaven. I explained that Christ probably used the word MiTRa, the Greek for BeLT, that aTTaChes and DeTaChes - as well as in Hebrew MuTaR, you remember, the authorized part, which also means what is uNTied. But after some thoughts, my view is that the original pun was not on PéTRos and PéTRa but on PéTRos and MiTRa, which makes much more sense in the context of the whole verse.

And here again, it’s likely that MiTRa was replaced by PéTRa because the Greek word MiTRa was, I think, too reminiscent of the Indo-Iranian god Mithra, whose worship was very prominent in the Roman Empire. Just as LoGos and aGaPè replaced éiRô and éRôS, with its overly pagan connotations, as I explained in my video on the sound « Ra ».

My second side note relates to the word TeR, the Egyptian word for SeaSoN. In Egypt, there were generally ThRee seasons, governed by the rhythm of the NiLe: AḪeT, the FLooD, the Nile's high-water season, which ran from July 19 to November 15. Then PeReT, the eMeRGence of the LaND, the receding of the Nile, the cool GeRMinating season from November 16 to March 15. And finally, from March 16 to July 13, SheMuw, the season of the heat, of the HaRVeST - and of taxes.

This TeRnary seasonal rhythm is quite different from our four seasons, and more broadly from the binary rhythm alternating between good and bad seasons that anthropologists know so well. And I felt it was important to connect this ternary rhythm with the meaning of « ThiRD », also present in the word « Ra ». You see, for the Egyptians, the right cut was the one that cut in three. TeR.