The video of the beheading of an American journalist by a militant from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is in the news. All sorts of gory details have been coming out for days. One of them is that the militant in question spoke with a British accent. His identity is in the focus as of late. But the beheading itself is perceived as a barbarous act that deserves global condemnation. Symbolism is piled on top of symbolism with amazing predictability. Humans, one cannot but conclude with a wry smile. Stupid humans, to be a bit more precise. Everything they do is suffused with symbolism. Most of it is petty, some of it is pitiful, and all of it is ridiculous. And so is the bulk of history. Symbolic to boot, it offers the best portrait of the hapless species. Harking back to the glorious rise of Islam, the beheading is but a farce. As is history entire. Pace Marx, if there is any tragedy to the human endeavor, it is squarely biological. But it surely repeats itself.