The House in Toto (Sid)

Ernst Haeckel's fraudulant illustration

I imagine that for a thousand generations the earliest memory of millions of human beings was fire. On cold nights the youngest children were bundled up and put near the the glowing coals. At times they would lie on their side, unable to sleep, hypnotically drawn into the ember kingdom. And so it was for me when I was a little child. This is my earliest memory. My family was asleep. I remember being bundled up, lying on the floor, staring at a flame seen through a small mica window. The propane space heater provided the only heat. The isinglass peephole provided the only light. Admittedly, it wasn't quite as dramatic as a fire pit erupting into the sky every hour when stoked by a squat fellow with a protruding brow and a bearskin poncho. But the mystery of fire connected me to those millions of moments over a thousand generations. It is my good fortune to have this memory. The earliest memories are bound to have a mysterious and magical aura. It is hard to imagine a hot air duct under the nursery window being that magical memory.

My second earliest memory is a combo package: song and dance and a full moon. I remember our family, mother, father, older sister, and me joining hands and dancing around the maple tree just alongside the front door and singing “Buffalo Gals, won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. Buffalo Gals, won't you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon.” Delightful! But with deep significance. Like the fire, the Buffalo Gals dance recalls a mysterious and magical development in human history, nature worship. This connected me to Druid dances done for thousands of years. Again. I will count this childhood memory as a psychic advantage over children's programing on the TV.


My third earliest memory is my sister singing and performing just for me, “I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout. When I get all steamed up hear me shout. Then tip me over and pour me out.” Of course she included akimbo posturing and a tipping-over motion. I couldn't get enough of it! I laughed and giggled as if I were being tickled. This traditional routine goes way back. It recalls the industrialization and urbanization of man in the last thousand years. This connected me to another significant moment in Human history. And again. I will count this childhood memory as a psychic advantage over, let's say, Guitar Hero.


“Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” entered my vocabulary in the simplified version, “ontogeny repeats phylogeny” at the Reppert School of Auctioneering, Decatur, Indiana. Odd, you may be thinking. Odd Indeed! Two questions likely spring to mind, “What does it mean?” and “What does it have to do with auctioneering?” These I shall attempt to answer.


You are probably familiar with basic outlines of the “Law of Recapitulation”. It is commonly taught in high school Biology, and sometimes even college Biology, that human embryos go through a stage of development where they have gills or “gill-like structures”.The theory is that embryos exhibit the stages of evolution of the species. A fish-like stage, an amphibian-like stage (complete with tail), etc.. This theory goes back to1868. In 1868 Ernst Haeckel published the law which states, “The development of the individual organism obeys the same laws as the development of the whole animal species” or, more succinctly, “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”. This law was wildly popular and was taken up with great enthusiasm by the supporters of Darwin's “Origin” published in 1859. The law leaked over into the humanities as such ideas are wont to do. It was also taken up by the near sciences like Psychology and Education where it remains a strong and productive force. Of course the gill thing is complete and total nonsense. Human embryos don't have gills. Haeckel was accused of and admitted academic fraud in his illustration (shown above) that supported his theory. The “Law of Recapitulation” was never proved anything but false.


And auctioneering? At the welcoming / introductory lecture of the Reppert School of Auctioneering, the lecturer said that many of the students sitting before him were very insecure about not having a college education. This was understandable as the knowledge gained in four years of intense educational study would seemingly put non-graduates at a disadvantage. He said that the sum of a college education can be boiled down to one phrase, “ontogeny repeats phylogeny”. “Understanding ontogeny repeats phylogeny will put you on equal footing with the college graduate”. So I made a point of remembering it.(having a bit of an inferiority complex about the college thing).


Although the “Law of Recapitulation” is utterly false, it is a very powerful idea, It has even made a strong comeback in embryology (albeit not as a “Law”). When you dump the Lamarckian trash and then allow the Darwinian horse to draw the cart, it is workable. Analytical Psychology was especially enamored because the concept dovetailed seamlessly with Freud and Jung. There is a great irony in Bettelheim's successful application of the concept in “The Uses of Enchantment” (especially the “Three Little Pigs”) that won great acclaim and awards. Today Bettelheim is in disgrace; his reputation's fate echoing Haeckel's.


Despite the dubious history of the law, I think it is useful when analyzing our earliest memories. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny partially explains which memories “stick”. The memories that stick are the ones that have a resonance with our human heritage. Bettelheim said that the “3 Little Pigs” recapitulated the development of civilization: straw house, wood house, stone house. Thus providing the phylogeny that children would need for their ontogeny. The story demonstrated the importance of growing up and getting stronger and smarter and working hard. The story reassured young children that, although they were now weak, lazy, and stupid they would, if they worked hard, grow up. Mental problems were a result of ontological interruption. The 3 Pigs and other Fairy Tales prevented that sort of problem. It certainly is an elegant theory, not true, but not entirely garbage either.


No early memory should be granted the imprinteur of absolute veracity. For example I have serious doubts about the Buffalo Gals and dancing in the moonlight. Even so, it is a fact that this memory lives in my head where it contributes to the witches' brew of my particular psyche. For this I a grateful because it is rich and charged with mysterious significance, I think, because there is some sort of of truth to ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, not literal truth but figurative. Therefore I count my earliest memories as fine and healthy. For this I thank my family and the propane distributor.