| THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THROWING OBJECTS
For as long as humans have thrown objects, they have been punished for doing so. To find the origin of these habits, one must look back millions of at our primate ancestors, who needed to throw feces at their predators in order to survive. Those that had a natural inclination to do so were more likely to live longer and produce healthier offspring, and in doing this spread the "throwing trait." This act of defense was especially common in the males, as their naturally produced testosterone caused them to be the more aggressive of the sexes. Throwing feces was developed as symbol of their masculinity, and was used to attract mates.
As humans emerged from this evolutionary stew and became civilized, these tendencies to throw objects remained intact, though were discouraged in favor of maintaining civilization. Children were taught to repress these urges so that they could become useful and productive members of society. Once they became adults, breaching this code of conduct resulted in a variety of punshments, ranging from execution, to ten hours of community service washing dishes and writing a three to four page essay.
Nonetheless, there are many famous examples throughout history where where man can be seen throwing objects. The sling was a popular weapon in midieval times, and was used as a throwing object to be hurtled over tall castle walls. This invention was a precursor to the creation of the catapult, a more popular, more romanticized version of the sling. The catapult used a mechanical arm to throw flaming missiles or diseased carcasses into castle courtyards.
In later years, trouble makers of Western Europe often threw stones at passers-by from hidden perches in trees. The aggressors were commonly put in the stockyards for extended periods of time if caught, and learned valuble lessons. It was also common in these days for Irish men to throw bottles of alcohol at opponents in drunken barroom brawls. During this time it was standard practice for communities to throw stones at those believed to be heretics. These acts came to be named "stonings," after the objects that were thrown. This practice often went unpunished, and was later revived for use in the fanatical American witch trials of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
As colleges began popping up more and more throughout nineteenth century America, the throwing of objects became a serious problem. After being founded in 1823, the Trinity college in Conneticut quickly found it necessary to develop rules against such misconduct. The faculty attempted to strictly regulate the students' behavior by forbidding them to "throw objects from the windows of College buildings, to engage in any sort of merrymaking without faculty permission, and so forth."
The throwing of objects has also historically been a problem at elementary and intermediate schools across the country. This has been exemplified by Carman Elementary School in Midland, South Dakota where "no throwing objects" is listed as #4 in playground rules.
Object throwing has also been used as a powerful symbol in many great American literary works of the 20th century, including William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies. The character Roger, a boy free from the constraints of society, takes pleasure in throwing objects at smaller children on the isle. Without the supervision of adults, his masochistic acts go unpunished, and chaos ensues on the island as a result. Shirley Jackson uses thrown and throwing objects to send a bone chilling message in her short story "The Lottery," in which we see how absurd and destructive throwing objects can be.
The need to throw objects is great, and sometimes overpowering. Thankfully today one can find many healthy alternatives to throwing water balloons out of the sixth story window, including playing football or "butts up". As much as it is a part of our great heritage to throw objects at predators, we must still strive to curb our overzealous nature for the sake of making the world a pleasant place for others. For if we can’t all live together, then we can’t help each other out and make big factories, and we won’t be able to have nice things and that would be a true crime.
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