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"The band de-evolved from a long line of brain eating apes, some of which settled in NE Ohio around Akron where members of Devo eventually appeared years after the A-bomb ended World War II. By the process of natural selection they met and shared the habits of making electronic noise, watching TV, and watching everyone else. They called what they saw around them De-evolution, and they called the band Devo, it made the sound of things falling apart. Spuds yelled and threw things like beer bottles at Devo when they played. But one day in 1977 the suds cheered and threw fits because spudboys in the critics realized ‘We’re All Devo’"(Garr 1).
Devo rocks, but what is De-evolution? Where does it come from? What is in store for the future? In short, De-evolution is evolution going as far as it can go and snapping back. It came from some twisted minds in Ohio learning of other minds in other places. And when the evolution rubber band snaps back we will probably be robot clones. But these answers don’t make much sense on their own and now that your sufficiently confused, let me elaborate. De-evolution was created by, Garry and Mark, two guys going to Kent State College in Akron Ohio, soon after the National Guard killed some student protesters there. Garry said "It showed human beings at their worst. It was real Devo" (Graustark 2). The other part of the theory came from science for Mark was an anthropology major. "De-evolution is a theory, refuted scientifically, that modern man evolved from cannibalistic apes and is now in a state of regression" (Graustark 1). Mark and Garry needed a "new way of thinking" (Marshall 2) and their new way of thinking led to De-evolution. The recognized De-evolution in "Real humans" (Peck 1) it is "Just a reaction, without knowing what was going on. Getting fat, getting mellow, getting drugged out, getting married. Getting real Devo" (Peck 1). This makes the sound of things falling apart. Like the Torah for the Jewish, "The De-evolutionary Oath" gave Devo Fans something rally and repeat. The Oath has 5 rules, "1. Be like your ancestors or be different. It doesn’t matter. 2. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. 3. Wear gaudy colors or avoid display. 4. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. 5. We must repeat" (Hanson 1). All these rules were repeated and alluded to in the lyrics of their songs. De-evolution is everywhere, in more ways than one. The obvious is that De-evolution is the future of society, the overlooked is that Devo gathered their ideas from many different sources. For example the song "Jocko Homo" which states "They told us that, we lost our tails, evolving up, from little snails. I say its all, just wind and snails. Are we not men? We are Devo. We must repeat!" (Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo! 5). These lines allude to the 1933 film Island of Lost Souls "When Dr. Moreau asks the half human, half beasts, ‘What is law?’ They reply ‘Not to eat meat, are we not men?’" (Island of Lost Souls). The title of the song was based on B.F Shattuck’s "Jocko Homo: Heaven-bound King of the Apes". Even the theory itself has a long list of works cited. The word "De-evolution" was based on a Wonder Woman comic book. Even, "The Big Idea - that man descended from mutant, brain-eating apes who today are going crazy is lifted from a book rejected by the science world called ‘the Beginning Was the end: Knowledge Can Be Eaten’ which Garry found in a book store" (Peck 2). Devo repeatedly cites authors B.F. Skinner, who believes that man has no freedom, that previous events influence us to the point of us not making a mental choice at all. So as you can see, Devo isn’t the divine source, they are merely the prophet. Maybe because De-evolution was created by many different ideas, that there is a lot of different ways to view De-evolution and what exactly it means for the future. Some people wonder if De-evolution is good or bad. "De-evolution is beyond good or bad. It is simply a matter of fact. The worst thing is to be uptight about it. Once you decide not to be uptight about it, you just go with it. You choose your mutations carefully. You ride it like a wave. We just happen to be lucky enough to be living during a period of history where everything s devolving. I mean look at your choices of candidates for instance, the republicans had to go out of their way with a chose so ludicrous that it makes Clinton look great" (Watters 1) When we De-evolve, we will not go back to becoming monkeys instead we will be "a world populated by clones that move with jerky assembly-line precision through schools and offices" (Graustark 1). De-evolution was not created, by television or anything else, it is in our genetic codes, "biology is destiny" (Marshall 1) and our destiny is De-evolution. I believe even through all the misconceptions and discrepancies the overall theme of De-evolution has got through to the general population. De-evolution is a theory, just like any other theory. It answers the questions, where did we come from, where are we going, and how are we getting there, in one simple concept. The theory came from a few guys, who combined the thoughts of many other people. The future holds, humans continuing to follow their genetic codes. And Devo? "They are all following the commands of their genetic codes. They are suburban robots here to entertain corporate life forms. Devo says opposites and rebellion are obsolete. The fittest shall survive yet the unfit maybe live. Its all the same" (Garr 1). |