“The Way We Are”, un libro per Allen Wheelis

(Languages of this post: Interlingua, English)

In le Statos Unite recentemente, on ha publicate un libro importantissime, e io spera que tosto on lo traducera a multe altere linguas.

Le Libro es "The Way We Are" (Como nos vermente es), per Allen Wheelis (W. W. Norton, 160 paginas, $23.95), in le qual ille presenta un interessantissime interpretation del condition human o, como ille dice "the ways of power and the ways of the heart" (le dynamica del poter e le dynamica del corde human).

Ille confronta su lectores con iste question fascinante: "What is the minimum penalty for being a conscious and self-conscious creature living simultaneously in an eternal symbolic world of our own construction and in the natural world in which, looking straight ahead, we see our oncoming death?" (Qual es le penalitate pro esser un creature conscie e autoconscie qui vive simultaneemente in un mundo symbolic eternal de nostre proprie construction e in le mundo natural, in le qual, reguardante directemente in avante, nos vide nostre morte approchante?)

Si vos trova que iste question es deprimente, io vole prevenir vos que le libro deveni de plus in plus pessimistic durante que illo continua. Pro exemplo, Wheelis nos confronta con un circumstantia desagadabile ma ben cognoscite a omne biologos que le vita devora le vita.

"Poet and philosopher sit to meat, speak of love, charity, rights of man, sacredness of life," ille dice. "Far away blood flows, cries rise in the night." (Poetas e philosophos dina comente carne e parla del amor, del caritate, del derectos del homine e del natura sacrate del vita. In le distantia flue sanguine, e critos surge in le nocte.)

E ille insista que nos non occide solmente pro viver e mangia solmente pro viver. Le violentia human, como le violentia inter gruppos de chimpanzes, ha un base biologic. Durante que nos ha construite nostre culturas, nos non lo ha eliminate. "[Our violence] collects at the top, in the White House, Number Ten Downing Street, the Reichstag, the Kremlin." (Nostre violentia se accumula al summitate, in le Casa Blanc, le officina del prime ministro del Regno Unite, le Reichstag, e le Kremlin.)

Vermente, Wheelis es convencite que le condition de altere animales es superior al nostre proque il pare probabile que illos non ha le malediction del autocognoscentia. (Le novelista american Kurt Vonnegut anque ha explorate iste thema in un novela con le titulo "Galapagos", si mi memoria me serve ben.)

Inter altere animales, "[t]here is no knowledge of death, no watching of one's fateful progression, no history, no vision of one's actual condition." (Il ha nulle cognoscimento del morte, nulle observation de nostre progression fatal, nulle historia, nulle observation del conditiones ver de nostre vitas.)

Post le milliones de annos de nostre evolution biologic, le animal human finalmente ha disvellopate le autoconscientia e facultates de investigation que ha revelate a ille le mechanismo del vita, del systema solar, de incontabile milliones de galaxias que nos pote observar, le quales ha revelate que nos es un insignificante parte del vita de nostre planeta, que nostre planeta occupa un parte insignificante de nostre galaxia, e que nostre galaxia es un parte insignificante del totalitate del universo.

Ma nos continua con nostre evolution cultural, e nostre culturas es solmente collectiones de mentitas que occulta lor diverse manieras de victimisar multes ex lor membros.

"The immediate horror man perceives is his own death," scribe Wheelis. "But beyond that he begins to see the entire life process as carnage, eating and being eaten. A terrible screaming pervades the universe. Man is the first to hear it. This is the vision that we cannot accept. It drives us toward madness or despair."

(Le horror immediate percibite per le homine es su proprie morte. Ma ultra illo ille comencia a vider omne le processo del vita como un macelleria. Critos terribile penetra le universo. Le homine es le prime animal qui lo audi. Isto es le vision que nos non pote acciper. Illo nos propelle verso le follia o le desperation.)

Wheelis insiste que le religion es un collection de mythos deceptive que essaya a regular nostre moralitate e sexualitate, ma illos ha perdite lor potentia pro deciper nos durante que crescente numeros de personas deveni consciente del discoperimentos del astronomia e biologia. E post discoperir que nostre systemas de religion e moralitate es creationes human, completemente folle a vices, nos non pote trovar consolation in le religion, e nos es limitate a escappar in diversiones de diverse tipos. "One seeks distrcation," Wheelis scribe. "One may achieve briefly the illusion of mastery. But not for long. Within the confines of a single life, death is unmasterable."

(On cerca le distriction. On pote complir brevemente le illusion de maestria. Ma solmente pro breve periodos de tempore. Intra le confinios de un sol vita, on non pote conquerir le morte.)

Quando ille analysa le politica, Wheelis deveni mesmo plus pessimiste. "The state would like to eat up all individual power, all independence, ... liberty and autonomy. (Le stato volerea devorar omne poter individual, omne independentia, ... libertate, e autonomia.

E le parolas de John F. Kennedy "Ask not what your country can do for you (non demanda lo que tu patria pote facer pro vos)," Wheelis insista, es solmente un invitation al totalitarianismo. E "[t]he unison of 'Sieg Heil' by the ... disciplined masses at Nuremburg, that is what the state wants." (Le critos de "Sieg Heil" per le massas disciplinate a Nuremberg es lo que le stato vermente vole.)

In su pessimismo cultural, Wheelis es multo simile al philosophos existentialiste francese, como Sartre e Camus, qui esseva popular in le annos immediatemente post le Secunde Guerra Mundial. Le universo es absurde, secundo Sartre, e nos es condemnate a usar nostre ressources personal ma vermente impotente in cerca de nostre proprie felicitate personal pro dar nos le illusion de creder que lo que nos face significa alique in le passage del seculos.

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In the United States Recently a very important book has been published, and I hope it will soon be translated into many other languages.

The book is "The Way We Are", by Allen Wheelis (W. W. Norton, 160 pages, $23.95), in which he presents a very interesting interpretation of the human condition, or, as he says, "the ways of power and the ways of the heart."

He confronts his readers with this fascinating question: "What is the minimum penalty for being a conscious and self-conscious creature creature living simultaneously in an eternal symbolic world of our own construction and in the natural world in which, looking straight ahead, we see our oncoming death?"

If you find this question depressing, I want to warn you that the book becomes more and more pessimistic as it goes on. For example, Wheelis confronts us with a disagreeable but well-known circumstance known to all biologists that life devours life.

"Poet and philosopher sit to meat, speak of love, charity, rights of man, sacredness of life," he says. "Far away blood flows, cries rise in the night."

And he insists that we do not kill only to live and eat only to live. Human violence, like violence among groups of chimpanzees, has a biological basis. While building our cultures, we have not eliminated it. "[Our violence] collects at the top, in the White House, Number Ten Downing Street, the Reichstag, the Kremlin."

Really, Wheelis is convinced that the condition of other animals is superior to our own because it seems probable that they don't have the curse of self consciousness. (The American novelist Kurt Vonnegut has explored this theme in a novel with the title "Galapagos," if I remember correctly.)

Among other animals, "[t]here is no knowledge of death, no watching of one's fateful progression, no history, no vision of one's actual condition."

After the millions of years of our biological evolution, the human animal finally has developed self consciousness and investigative skills that have revealed to him the mechanism of life, of the solar system, of the uncountable millions of glaxies that we can observe, which have revealed that we are an insignificant part of the life of our planet, that our planet occupies an insignificant part of our galaxy, and that our galaxy is an insignificant part of the totality of the universe.

But we continue with our cultural evolution, and our culturas are only collections of lies that hide their various ways of victimizing many of their members.

"The immediate horror man perceives is his own death," writes Wheelis. "But beyond that he begins to see the entire life process as carnage, eating and being eaten. A terrible screaming pervades the universe. Man is the first to hear it. This is the vision that we cannot accept. It drives toward madness or despair."

Wheelis insists that religion is a collection of deceptive myths that try to regulate our morality and sexuality, but they have lost their ability to deceive us as growing numbers of people become aware of the discoveries of astronomy and biology. And after discovering that our systems of religion and morality are human creations, utterly crazy at times, we cannot find consolation in religion, and we are limited to escaping in various kinds of diversions. "One seeks distraction," Wheelis writes. "One may achieve briefly the illusion of mastery. But not for long. Within the confines of a single life, death is unmasterable."

When he analyzes politics, Wheelis becomes even more pessimistic. "The state would like to eat up all individual power, all independence, ... liberty and autonomy."

And the words of John F. Kennedy "As not what your country can do for you," Wheelis insists, is only an invitation to totalitarianism. And "[t]he illusion of "Sieg Heil' by the ... disciplined masses at Nuremburg, that is what the state wants."

In his cultural pessimism, Wheelis is very similar to the French existentialist philosophers, such as Sartre and Camus, who were popular in the years immediately after the Second World War. The universe is absurd, according to Sartre, and we are condemned to use our personal but really powerless resources to give us the illusion of believeing that what we do means something as the centuries go by.