I am really enjoying reading ‘The Man’. You are obviously a man of many talents.
I thought I would just make a few philosophical remarks about your analysis of chapter 1. Towards the end of the analysis you pose the following question in regards to the moral assessment of the narrators act of paying for the aboriginal woman’s medicine, “So does that count [ is his action morally praiseworthy] or do you only get kudos when you perform an act of kindness?”.
The Two Schools of Moral Philosophy
Before giving my own answer to that question i would like to give a little philosophical background for any readers not familiar with some of the technical terms used within moral philosophy. There are, broadly speaking, two main schools of thought within moral philosophy.
Utilitarianism which originates from the English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. Utilitarianism is an ‘externalist’ moral theory which locates the moral worth of an action in its consequences. De-ontological theories developed by the German philosopher Kant are ‘internalist’ and focus on the Subjective intentions of an agent.
When is an Act of Kindness Not an Act of Kindness?
With that out the way let us return to the ‘Man’. An internalist would say his action [paying for the medicine] was praiseworthy if he acted from some genuine empathy or sympathy (although the latter can be seen as patronising) towards the aboriginal woman.
Kant on Moral Kindness
Kant would say that for praise to be attributed to the action the Man’s internal reasons should be aimed at the welfare of the woman and not for any personal aggrandisement. (i.e. to be seen as a good man by others in which it is his own and not the woman’s welfare that is the ultimate target of the action).
Kant even goes so far as to say that to be morally praiseworthy the action should be contrary to the agents well being. for instance if I give some money to a beggar because of a genuine heartfelt concern for his welfare and happen to receive a tax deduction on the ‘donation’, then it is not a truly moral action. This seems to me to be a step too far.
Internalism Vs Externalism
Why can’t it be that a good man is rewarded for his goodness? If he acts without concern for possible rewards then he still meets the internalist criterion of moral action.
Of course at this stage in the story we can not be sure of the man’s true motives for acting as he does. so from an internalist perspective the jury is still out.
Now to externalism. An externalist would say that the moral worth of the Man’s action is determined by its consequences. But this is ambiguous. Of course, the woman’s daughter needs the medicine and so, on one level the action is good irrespective of the Man’s actual intentions because it results in a greater balance on the whole, of pleasure over pain in the world.
But as with all forms of moral accountancy the credits and debits are never simple.
For example, why is it that the cancer drugs are not free from the national health service. Maybe they are but the women does not know it. Maybe, if she did not get help from the Man and the chemist that she would be forced to look into the matter and receive free medication.
If that was to happen then it would be a better world than the one in which she gets handouts because she would not have to rely on strangers for sympathy and the strangers would be left with more money.
So on balance the utilities are maximised by not giving her money. My view is that like all moral questions there is an eliminable complexity and that true evaluations are hard to come by and require careful reflection on and understanding of all relevant conditions relating to the action. That is why I dislike any simplistic fundamentalism with the one answer fits all attitude.
So in regards to the ‘Man’ and the moral evaluation of his action. I think the jury is still out due to a lack of evidence.
Anthony Bell
Editor’s Note:
Thanks Anthony, you have raised some interesting points.
I wonder if the world would be a better place if no one ever had to think about other people because the state took care of all our needs. Might we not become very selfish and self centered?
I think being able to put oneself in the position of another and being capable of being moved by that experience is a very important trait in a human being and a person not capable of doing that (and there are many people in that position) experiences a sense of lacking or loneliness or a “hole” in their life.
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Hello, I had planned to post chapter 3 of the Man this week but I want to rework a couple of parts of it before I do and I have been soooo busy (for our readers who speak English as a second language, read that as “so busy” but add a lot of emphasis to the “so”).
In the mean time you may like to read a short story I added to my personal blog at Ric Vatner.com called How My Mum Beat the School Bully.
Have you ever had a problem with bullies or a bully? I always associate bullies with school but some people meet them in the army, at work, in a volunteer organisation or even at home. In fact you can meet them anywhere. Well my mum was fed up with one that was giving me a hard time at school and her solution taught me a lesson I never forgot.
If you have had an experience with a bully that you would like to share with us please add it to the comments either here or on my Ric Vatner blog.
Of course it is not only people that act like bullies, politicians do it often and some times a country can act like a bully.
When you think about it, the world would be a different place today if there were no bulliesbecause often they were the ones responsible for piecing together the disparate groups of people we now call countries. But of course quite often the countries they created have inbuilt fractures that have led to years if not hundreds of years of discontent.
Mmm I am just beginning to realise how big a topic this could be, we might have to put this on the list of blogs to do. If you like reading history then you have read quite a lot on this topic already, one way or another. But looking at it from the philosophical prospective could be really interesting.
I can see the title now
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – How Bullies made the World”
What do you think, should we tackle it at some stage?
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Hi, I definitely don’t believe you can write quality articles that people want to read in 5 minutes. They may be good enough for Google and help get you a higher page rank (and there is nothing wrong with that) but as a writer, I would not be happy with that level of work.
But maybe I am a glutton for punishment, I guess the only way to know is to try it out.
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Editor:
Feel free but I would not recommend that you copy it exactly or we will both be slapped by Google for having duplicate content. Best thing is if you paraphrase it by saying what you think about this topic and then link to this article from your article.
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Do not know how high the sky is until one climbs up the tops of mountains,and do not know how thick the earth is until one comes to the deep river.There is only one success— to be able to spend your life in your own way.
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The Man – A Philosophical Story About the Search for The Meaning of Life
We live in a world that is overcrowded and yet most of the time we live alone. I don’t mean that we live on our own I mean we feel we are on our own. This is what troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. It has been called the human condition.
Have you ever felt real desperation? Some people feel desperate because their life is boring but to the person who has nothing, no job, no money, no home, no safety net and sometimes, little mouths to feed as well (or any combination of these); a boring life would be regarded as something to aspire to.
So far we have met at least three people in this philosophical story who are desperate, I would hazard a guess that the girl in the supermarket, the car salesman and the bush copper all struggle with their own fears as well, we are just not aware of them.
The Bogeyman in the Cupboard
In your life probably everyone you know has a pit of fear somewhere deep down that they don’t let you see. That is why they feel they are alone. They deal with it alone, just like you do.
That works in our day to day lives because it would be hard to function on a daily basis if you were so plugged in to every one that you felt and worse, experienced their deepest fears. Some people are that sensitive and they usually end up going crazy.
Secondly, it is important that we learn how to cope with our own demons. When you were a child in bed trying to sleep and you thought there was a bogey man in the cupboard, it was okay to get up and tell your mum or dad and get them to go and have a look; that is how you learn they love you. If they love you, you must be worth loving and so we learn to love ourselves.
The Aboriginal girl is loved by her mum. Her love for her daughter motivated her to set out to do the impossible, to get her daughters drugs with no money in her pocket, only a determination to succeed. When she did, she felt no need to be grateful to anyone else for her success because she knew she was responsible for making it happen.
Success or Failure – Either is Acceptable
How many times have you felt the same in your business? You don’t know how you will do it but you are determined to succeed. And somehow you do. How much harder it is when you don’t know how and you don’t believe you will succeed. I would say it is impossible. That is how the Man feels.
The message here is, when you have done everything you can do to bring about success you owe nothing to any one and if you fail there is no disgrace in that either. Doing nothing is not an option to the person who really wants to succeed.
Nietzsche had a strong view about this as Ruth Abbey, Associate Professor Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, pointed out in a recent radio interview:
“Great people, according to Nietzsche, don’t seek power over other people, they might achieve power over people, but that’s never their goal. Their goal is always something outside. They’re not interested in insulating or putting other people down, they’re always aspiring for some form of greatness – cultural, political, artistic, literary, whatever. They’re not driven by the desire to be judged by the standards of others, and this is one of the things that distinguishes masters from slaves. So the ubermensch (Superman) is not motivated by control over other people, he might achieve that, but that would never be his primary motivation.”
She goes on to say:
“But it’s also important to acknowledge here that great people can fail, according to Nietzsche, without that
Friedrich Nietzsche - it is important to acknowledge that great people can fail
making them any less great. So their greatness shouldn’t be measured by objective standards, or external achievements or deeds. And there are many very poignant passages where Nietzsche talks about the fragility of the great human being, particularly in the modern world where all the forces of conformity, uniformity and mediocrity, are striving against the realisation of true individualism.”
Nietzsche is very worried about the fate of great individuals, he knows they are just as likely to fail as they are to succeed, so we can’t necessarily measure their greatness by their deeds or by their achievements, it’s more a psychological disposition to doing the things that are necessary for success.
So what can we learn from this? A lot, I hope
How to Get Close to Someone You love
First, if you want to get close to someone, you have to be able to walk a mile in their shoes, which means you have to be able to experience what they are experiencing, to genuinely share their happiness, their disappointments, their wins and the demons that scare them to death. We each have the power to lift the veil of loneliness from the ones we love. We can exorcise the bogey man from the cupboard by letting them know that as long as we are there they will never walk alone.
When you can do that; you too will never walk alone because you will always have a loved one by your side.
This is what Anna, the little Aboriginal girl teaches the Man, he learns that he can get close to her and more importantly, he learns that only by genuinely sharing himself with her is he able to get close enough to give her the courage she needs to go to sleep. That is a RELATIONSHIP, the kind we all want but are not always prepared to invest enough of “ourselves” in to get.
If I never wrote another word, I have already told you all there is know. But if it is so easy why aren’t we all happy?
Because you can live a whole lifetime without ever experiencing this vision of love for each other and if you can’t see it or feel it, you can’t share it with one who loves you. And if you can’t share it then the relationship is not as complete as it could be.
The greatest gift a parent can give a child is to let them share and participate in the vision which the parent’s have for the family. As they become a participating member of the family they feel respected and valued and truly experience the love the parents have for them and they learn how to return it and then how to give it. All else is secondary and believe me, I know.
Secondly, we can lose sight of the vision and when there is no vision the spirit will perish. The Man has lost his vision and with it his belief in himself. The Chemist still has his and it helps him live a fruitful life that gives him little pleasure other than that which he creates by giving to others.
That is one aspect.
How to Apply this Philosophy to Business
This philosophy also has great application to our business life as well. I’m running out of space in my self imposed limit but let me point you in the direction I believe leads to success.
Most of my readers have their own web site or blog and some have asked how to get more readers, more comments or how to be successful which I presume means how to make money.
I look at every web site that we link to in the comments as you know, and often I see web sites that try to deliver good quality information but more often I see a web site or blog that is designed as a platform to serve up Google Adwords. There are Ads at the top and in the middle and at the bottom and in the end it is hard to find the content for the ads.
If a reader is served that kind of page what is their immediate reaction? I believe they think, this web site is primarily designed to make money for the web master not to solve my problem.
When I was new in sales there was a guy who was a master salesman, he made huge sales and spoke at all the conferences and I was in awe of him (when I didn’t hate him to pieces out of jealousy). One day on my way to a client, I got in a lift and who did I find there, the master salesman.
He pressed level 5 and when the door closed (I wanted to be sure there was no escape) I said, very fast “Hello my name is Ric Vatner and we only have 30 seconds, I want to know what is the secret to success?”
He was startled but I indicated time was running out and I needed an answer. This is what he told me;
The Secret to Success – Really!
“When you go into a sale there are two problems to solve, One, you need to make the sale to make money. Two, the client has a problem that they want solved. If you concentrate on solving your problem the client will see you are not genuine about solving their problem and they won’t buy from you. If they don’t buy from you, you both still have a problem. And next time bring some toilet paper, you scared the shit out of me”
And that was the last time I ever met him.
I have found over the years that he was spot on and it works in all areas of our life, business and personal . For example, if you are in a relationship, put the other persons feelings before your own, if you both do that you will love each other for ever. It even applies to writing an article or blog post, write it from the reader’s perspective. What do they need to know to make an informed decision? Do this and your readership will multiply even if you know nothing about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
I know the SEO experts will disagree but I think the moment you look at a blog post that has been fully optimized to maximize CPC and CPA you know whose problem the writer is concentrating on and you are less likely to click through.
Recently I read an article on one of the web sites we link to in the comments forum and I noticed that throughout the latest article there are random links placed in the middle of sentences saying things like “buy steroids”. The article was not about steroids but there were at least 10 links in it to a web site that sells steroids.
Okay, imagine one in a thousand people click the link, do the maths, how many people have you irritated along the way. Will they ever come back? And I can tell you that the other posts on the blog were not like that and are all quite good. I saw this as a sign of desperation, a sign of trying to solve the wrong problem.
What they should have done is write an article that answers the reader’s questions and doubts and then offered a link.
However, and I hope you won’t think I am sermonizing here, I think it is important to believe in your product and if it can do harm or it is demeaning to some people maybe you should look for another product to sell, one that you can be proud to write about. I think you will find that a lot easier to do and ultimately you will be more successful.
I know, I can talk the hind legs off a donkey, that’s why I set a limit for each post and lucky for you, I have reached it.
Don’t forget to come back for Chapter 3 and then vote for whether we continue the story or not.
And to finish off I hope you don’t mind if I take this opportunity to play one of my all time favourite songs. Please join me in singing as loud as you can (If I can’t hear you it is not loud enough ):
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Editor:
Thank you so much. This is a beautiful comment. I appreciate it very much. I don’t know that I deserve it but I am very happy you think so.
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Editor:
Hello, I know how you feel, I get this question often and I have answered it in other comments. First, I am the spam filter, I don’t think there is any software that can do the job as well as a real person.
Mind you I like doing it. It gives me a chance to communicate with our readers and answer questions or just add a few things that are on my mind.
One of the things I have done through the comments is discuss our spam and comment policy and blow me down, I think it has worked gangbusters because I get so much less spam these days.
So maybe try talking to your readers by adding something to their comments. Check out the comments on this blog to get a feel for how it works.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
Editor:
Don’t worry, so do I. Why don’t we make a deal, let’s both do something this week we have been putting off for a long time. I’m game if you are
Hey, thanks a lot for the fun post. I was hoping to sign up to your RSS feed but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be working when I added it. Anyone having this trouble? I’ll come back in a bit to update. Regardless thank you so much again for this article.
You can surely see your passion in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate authors like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
Hey, thank you for the fun article. I really wanted to sign up to your RSS feed; but it does not seem to be working when I try. Are there other people having this trouble? I’ll be back in a bit to check back. Otherwise thanks a lot again for the article.
Editor:
Hello, I clicked on the RSS button at the top of the page and it worked for me. Not sure why you had a problem with it. Please try again. Thanks.
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P.S. Может разместите мою ссылку у себя на блоге может и получится заработать на нём.
Which Translated says:
Everyone has their own opinion but I think you have a good understanding of this topic.Who did the web design it is very interesting? Very well all is described by SPS.
P.S. Can you please publish my comment [it can and it will come out earn on the Ger] (editor not sure what this last part means?).
I, envy you. Your blog is much better under the maintenance and design than mine. Who to you the design did?
Editor:
Thank you, and of course you ask one of my most regular questions. Please see my answer to this question in other comments both on this article and elsewhere.
Thanks for the share. I have a random question? I am starting my own blog and want to know what is sharing to much information? lol and what is contributing? I want to get it right like your blog.
Editor’s reply:
Hello, thank you for your comment and question.
I found blogging very difficult until I discovered the writings of Michel Montaigne. He lived in France in the 16th century and wrote a journal that would have been a great blog if he were alive today. Many philosopher’s credit him with having a great influence on them. He was the first person to write about very personal things like going to the toilet, making love, farting and other great philosophical topics. Ha ha I say that partly in jest, but he really did write about such mundane matters as well as a lot of commentaries on other people’s philosophical writings. I found his style refreshing and I realised that in my writing I was holding back a lot.
I liked him because I could relate to him but I denied my readers the same privilege. So since I discovered and more importantly read Montaigne, I decided to try and open up as much as I could. I think we always walk a fine line when we write in public. I am in business, I’m not sure it would help me to wear my heart on my sleeve but at the same time, I have had a lot of new clients that looked me up in Google, found my blogs and articles and made up their mind to do business with me even before they met me. Of course I can’t tell you how many said “Yuk” and never bothered to call me . As I said, that is the risk.
So my friend I guess, in the end it is a personal decision, Whatever you feel comfortable with is probably the best answer. I also recommend you read Michel Montaigne or at least read Alain De Botton’s book “The Consolations of Philosophy” Chapter 3 is all about Montaigne and makes a great introduction to him.
I hope that helped but feel free to ask another question.
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Editor:
Ouch! that last bit hurt. Actually I have lost weight this year – I am down 18 kilos and had to get all my trousers taken in.
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Editor:
Hi, I clicked on your link to Zimbio.com but could not see how to add a comment?
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My philosophy for anyone who is interested is that we are not our bodies and we are not our minds therefore whatever these bodies and minds do is of no consequence to us – we shine irrespective
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The flame is not so bright to itself as to those on whom it shines
Chapter 2
The man sat in his car; he fought the rising wave of panic. He knew this feeling very well. It had accompanied him through the whole saga. It woke him at night. It gave him hot flushes when every one else was cold. It ambushed him before he went into a meeting and slowly screwed his stomach as he received bad news. It made him procrastinate but often, it was the only feeling he had. It was the only thing that reminded him that he was a human with real feelings.
When it passed, he felt weak but he knew he had to do something. He had no money and he needed food, a place to stay and cash for expenses.
His only asset was the car. It was a BMW 3 series, 2 years old and covered in dirt from the trip but otherwise in good condition. He remembered he saw a car yard and tractor sales office at the bottom of the street. He would sell the car and buy a cheaper one. The difference would keep him going for months, maybe a year, if he was not extravagant.
He pulled into the yard and the salesman looked up from reading his newspaper in his warm office. He looked surprised; it had been a while since anyone had come into the yard mid week. He rose half annoyed he had to move at all and half excited in anticipation of making a sale. When he stood in front of the man he clapped his hands in front of his stomach and smiled that car salesman’s smile that says “have I got a deal for you” just before they sell you a wreck.
The man tries to smile back. “Hi, I want to sell you my car and buy a cheaper one and take the difference in cash. Can you do that?” He asked half hoping, half matter of fact.
“Well sir, it’s a nice car. I’m rather partial to BMW’s myself too. But I don’t think we could sell that kind of car round here. Not these days. That would be a bit luxurious and” he paused not sure if what he was about to say would offend the man “it would be a bit useless around the farm don’t you think?”
“Oh”, the man said. “Do you know where I could sell it?”
“Well you would need to go to a bigger town” the salesman said.
“How far is that?” the man asked “200 ks give or take” the salesman replied, losing interest in the conversation. “I don’t have enough petrol to get that far” the man said to no one in particular.
The salesman looked at him suspiciously. He looked like a businessman albeit, he was unshaven and his hair was matted but the car was worth a bit, how could he not afford petrol?
The man said “Look, I don’t need to get top dollar for this, just make me a fair offer. I’ll swap it for a small car with a full tank and some cash how about that?”
The salesman felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Something didn’t feel right and he was sure this man was either a con man or a thief or worse. He told him he would have to discuss it with his partner and asked the man to come back in a couple of hours. Maybe he could leave the car here so his partner could inspect it. The man agreed and walked back into town.
The last few days had flown past in a blur that felt like an instant. Now with no where to go and no money if he did, two hours seemed like a very long time. It was going to be a long wait.
Exactly two hours later he headed back to the car yard. His car was still where he left it. He had expected to see it up on the hoist being checked out by a mechanic or maybe driven around town to get a feel for its power.
He stood at the car and could see the salesman talking to someone in his office. When the salesman saw the man he motioned to the other person who stood up and looked through the window at the man. It was the town cop.
He came outside and approached the man with that don’t do anything silly look on his face. When he got to the man he said “I hear you want to sell your car. Can you show me your driver’s license please?” The man took out his wallet under the watchful gaze of the cop who made a mental note that there was no money in the wallet. He looked at the man checking for any sign of nervousness.
The man gave the cop his driver’s license upon which he invited the stranger to accompany him to the police station. “Why?” asked the man.
“Well we just have to conduct a few inquiries” the cop said.
“What if I don’t want to” the man said.
“Well you do have a couple of outstanding parking tickets” replied the cop “would you like to pay them now” he said. “No” said the man, defeated.
“Ah, well I may have to detain you for a while then” said the policeman.
He took the man by the arm, it wasn’t a threatening hold but he held it firmly above the elbow and led him to his police car. “Okay if I leave the BMW here Alan” he called to the salesman who nodded obsequiously fast too many times.
The man was shown into the cell where he had to wait for another agonisingly slow few hours. All he could think of was that he was hungry and that he had never been in a cell before.
He was cold but the hot flushes kept him warm and filled his stomach with fear but at least it kept the hunger pains away.
When the policeman came back he collected the man from the cell and took him to his office.
“I don’t understand” he said. “I checked and you are the boss of a big company. You own the car outright. You paid for that Abo woman’s drugs at the chemist and your card was declined at the supermarket? There’s no warrant out for your arrest but you have accumulated a few parking tickets in the last few months”, he said reading from his notes. He looked up, “which you have not paid. What’s going on?”
The man just looked straight ahead. The policeman could see the red blush rise in his face, the man looked done in but he was not talking.
“Hungry?” asked the policeman. The man nodded, his eyes still fixed on some spot, a place far off that only he could see. The cop got up and left the room. The man felt the tightness across his chest ease up when the policeman left.
The policeman returned about 25 minutes later with a meal and a cup of luke warm tea. He set it down on the table and sat back in his chair. The man looked at it then looked at the policeman who nodded indicating it was for him.
He ate in silence. He tried to eat slowly savouring each bite but old habits die hard and he scoffed it down. He was always in a hurry and food was fuel. It was something you had to take on board that interrupted your schedule so you ate as quickly as possible and got on with the important things in life.
But he was not in a hurry any more. He just hadn’t got used to that yet.
Maybe he was in a hurry to be gone from here. He was embarrassed. He had been arrested in public and the people and the shopkeepers had seen him being led to the car and driven through town to the police station.
He looked at the cop. His face was bright red under the stubble; his eyes were blue, bright and worried. He took a deep breath and assembled his thoughts. “ I’m okay.” he said as much to himself as to the cop “I have not robbed any one, well at least not in the eyes of the law. I’ve committed no offense, at least, that I can pay for by going to jail.” He stared into that distant place, saw the chaos and it disturbed him.
“I need to go now” he said to the cop.
It was not an order, there was no anger in it but it was not pleading either. It was a simple statement of fact. The policeman thought about it for a few minutes and then rose. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and said “Can I lend you a few bucks to keep the wolves away?” The man smiled, a few hours ago this same copper would have been happy to lock him up and throw away the key. He was the quintessential Australian bush copper tough as nails but fair and now he wanted to show that there was no hard feelings.
“Thanks”, he shook his head, “I’m okay”.
The cop put his wallet away quickly, embarrassed. This man could probably buy and sell him many times over so how much could he lend him that would be of value, $10, $20 maybe at a pinch $50 but that would hurt and Karen, his wife, would be angry. She could do a lot with $50. He asked the man if he wanted a lift back to his car. The man politely refused, he preferred to walk. He needed to clear his head.
It was only a short walk back to town; little did he know how much it would affect his life.
In a field of barley the tree stands out but it is lonely. In a forest it is anonymous but it is content.
The reaction to “The Man” chapter 1 has been interesting and immediate. I have fielded a number of calls from friends who rang to discuss it. So I thought it might be worthwhile for our readers if we discuss some of the issues here on the web site.
I am a firm believer that the writer of a story is not necessarily the best interpreter of that story and certainly their view has no more credence than that of the reader. I think writers often enter a zone where the story pretty much writes itself. I know when I was writing this one, I was sometimes surprised to see where it went. For that reason I hope you will share your views about what you get out of the story because you may see things completely different to me.
I don’t mind telling you, when I was writing chapter three I cried like a baby which was quite embarrassing because I was at work. To make matters worse, I had a visitor who thought I had just received some devastating news.
But we will get to chapter three soon enough. I look forward to hearing your reaction to it. I know, you already think I am just a big sop. A baby. Well I admit it! Interestingly the visitor who caught me crying over a silly piece of fiction told me that as we get older we are more able to cry because we have experienced so much and we feel things more.
So there is our first piece of philosophy. Don’t put all the oldies out to pasture too quickly as the young turks may not have the emotional maturity to feel the situation. They may not be able to cry, for example over the injustice we see all around us, over the refugees who get thrown into detention camps sometimes for years or for the millions of indigenous people that live in squalor usually on the very edge of our rich cities.
Some of the people that have read all three chapters think that chapter one is the least interesting of the three, but I don’t agree with that. I have tried to make each chapter a stand alone story but also a part of the whole. It was not my intention to reveal everything about the man; I want him to unfold before us. I want to get to know him as you do a friend, slowly and I want us to discover what he learns as he learns it.
I say us because as I said above, I think the story is to some degree writing itself and I am just as interested to see where it goes as I hope, you are.
The Man is not a true story but of course there are elements in it that are based on true life experience and it includes incidents that will help us understand philosophy or the meaning of life. I think a good story can explain philosophy much better than an academic treatise (I am not claiming that this is a good story that is for you to decide). I have read some great novels that have had a major impact on me, for example;
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
Sons and Lovers by D.H Lawrence
The Great Women of China by Xinran (Not fiction but very powerful)
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
In chapter 1, we find out that the man has driven for a long time almost in a dream because he doesn’t know himself, how long he has been driving.
Is he on the run? If so what from?
In the chemist shop he buys the woman’s drugs but I didn’t feel that he did it with passion or from any altruistic belief. It was almost mechanical. A sort of “Look, here is the money, can we get on to me now!”
I found the Pharmacist interesting (We call them a chemist in Australia). He is Mr Average. He is the archetypical man next door who is not a loser but he is not a winner either. The interesting thing was that he lives in a town where Aboriginals are most likely looked down on yet he has obviously been paying for the drugs the woman needed for her daughter. And I got the feeling she was not the only one.
But he is not the type to want a park named after him, he is not a public philanthropist like the ones that sit on the stage and pretend to be shy and retiring. He is a good hearted quite man that does not think in terms of good deeds only in terms of what needs to be done. He probably doesn’t think of himself as a do gooder, in fact I think if you asked him to describe himself, he would say he was a soft touch, a fool who has his vices. We know he likes to smoke and to bet, I know many fundamentalist religious people that would scorn him for that and yet he is in many ways more honest, more genuine than they are.
It is through the chemist that we first see that the man has a redeeming side to him. I trust the chemist and he saw something in the man that I don’t think the man sees in himself.
I was shocked when he went to the supermarket and his card was declined. My first thought was, so how was he going to pay for the drugs? I felt he was going to let the chemist down and I was sorry for the chemist because I think it happens to him a lot.
But I also saw it as part of the chaos of the man’s life. I felt that he did not intend to let the chemist down on purpose. He genuinely meant to pay for them.
So does that count or do you only get kudos when you perform an act of kindness? Even if for example, you pay for them because you have the money but you don’t really care about the person or their situation. What I’m saying is, what is more important, that I feel your pain and want to help you or that I help you because it is easy for me to do so but I don’t care a damn for your situation?
How many times have you given money to a beggar just to get rid of them not because you want to make their life better? Who is the real philanthropist, the person who gives thousands of dollars because they have millions or the one who shares their last fifty cents with a beggar?
Well I hope these notes help you get more out of the story. I’ll be back on Monday with chapter two.
The road into town was long, straight and dusty. The kind of road you knew would lead to no where special and the reward for arriving was less than his lowest expectations.
Good.
He spat the word out though there was no one to hear it.
First order of business he thought, get some headache tablets. He had been driving for a long time. How long? He had no idea.
He found a chemist shop, entered and stood behind an Aboriginal woman who was swearing at the chemist. She was wearing an old beanie, yellow with green strips interrupted with holes where a moth had carelessly eaten the line and part of the yellow. Her jacket was an equally old and shabby track suit top that had once been colourful but was now as faded as the jaded look on her face.
“I’ll get me money in a few days but she needs this shit now. Don’t be a bastard all your life. You know she needs it”
Being a shopkeeper in a country town is not as straight forward as it is in the city. When the countryside has been in drought for years and the bank and the post office closed down yonks ago, they are the de facto bank, credit agency, Para-psychologist, social worker and when all else fails; whipping boy.
His face was ……….. impassive. He looked like he wasn’t really there. Where was he right now?
On a beach? No, that’s not his style.
In the garden pulling weeds with a ferocity that he couldn’t bring to work? Maybe.
In the TAB (the ubiquitous betting shop) listening to his horse running a poor race as usual. It didn’t even have the grace to come last. Just one of the pack, like him, ordinary, average, never a winner but not a complete loser either.
“G’on you bastard, you couldn’t deliver milk on time” he would shout to no one in particular. In the betting shop he is one of the boys, he doesn’t lose too much and he always has a funny quip to make when his horse loses. Yes this was his favourite place, the place he goes to in his mind.
The argument went back and forth and the man’s headache was pounding. He stepped forward, “excuse me”
“Piss off” she spat at him.
“Look maybe I can help”
“Oh yea of course. Who the fuck are you. The cops?”
“No” he said hurt. What’s the problem?” He looked at the chemist
“She already owes me more than the money she gets on benefits and now she wants more. I don’t get this stuff for free to distribute to the bloody community” he said. “I have to buy it and pay for it” he said looking at the woman.
“What does she want?” the man said
“Oh, morphine for pain, sleeping tablets, and some heavy shit that costs a fortune”
“Is it for her?”
“No, for her kid”
“Look I’ll pay for it” the man said as the woman looked at him suspiciously. “What do you want?” she asked accusingly. “Like a bit of black do you?”
“No” he answered meekly.
“Oh, your a racist. Black not good enough for you your majesty” she made every word a dagger and threw them all at him with as much brutality as she could muster. She hated the world and right now she hated the two of them the most.
The woman snatched the medicine from the chemist’s outstretched hand. She showed no sign of gratitude. She needed it and they had it but they didn’t need it. Why shouldn’t he pay for it? He’s white and haven’t they caused us black fellas enough trouble. He’s got the money to buy the stuff but he doesn’t need it. She needs it but has no money. “It’s a shit world. If you don’t take what you can get, you don’t deserve it” that was her considered opinion.
She walked out of the shop, her head high. She had got the drugs her daughter needed. It was an unexpected win; you never get anything if you don’t try she thought. The woman, who could have been thirty but looked more like fifty headed home. Along the way she wondered, would her daughter miss just one vial of the morphine? She deserved some too, wasn’t she hurting as well? Why shouldn’t she have just one hit to help her cope.
The man turned to the chemist, “What’s wrong with her daughter?” he asked.
“Cancer” the chemist said. That one word tells the whole story, it is the one word in the English language that is guaranteed to send shivers down your back. It speaks of pain and terror, of sleepless nights and worry filled days. It recounts a tale of hopelessness, of going into battle with spears to fight an enemy that arrives in Planes and rides on tanks.
“How bad is it?” he asked. “Pretty bad. I’m surprised she is still alive. Sometimes I think she just hangs on so I go broke supplying her drugs” the chemist joked. “I don’t want you to think I’m heartless but if I give in too easy, I’ll have the whole lot of ‘em in here demanding free drugs. I’m not the national health system you know”. He said defensively.
The man asked how much the drugs cost. He pulled out his credit card and told the chemist to bill the drugs to his card. He asked him not to tell the woman. “And don’t go crazy with it, I’m not rich but whatever she really needs, just put it on this” he handed the chemist his card.
The chemist shrugged, took down the details while the man swallowed a couple of headache tablets the chemist gave him and washed them down with a plastic cup of water. They looked at each other, no words passed between them but there was a mutual understanding that from now on they shared the burden.
The man left without looking back.
He walked through the drab sun burnt town now descending into the cold dreary months of winter. It was quite empty other than the shopkeepers, two drivers in the garage getting petrol and some mothers pushing strollers aimlessly window shopping and talking to their children who had already learned not to listen.
He felt hungry and seeing a supermarket he decided to buy some supplies. He did a modest shopping and took it to the check out. “Do you take credit cards” he asked. “Sure” came the brief but not unfriendly reply. He handed his card over and waited.
“It’s declined” she said looking at him with a frown. “Do you have another one?” “No” he replied almost dreamily. “Do you want to pay with cash?” she asked summing him up in her practiced way. “No not now, I’ll come back later”
He knew it wouldn’t take long but he had hoped the card would last a little longer.
He sighed. Looked for his car and when he saw it he walked towards it. For a few brief seconds he had a sense of purpose, he knew where he was going but as soon as he arrived it disappeared and he felt emotionally drained.
I’ve always been interested in ways to make philosophy more accessible to people and to that end I am going to try an experiment. I have written three chapters of a story about a man and his search for the meaning of life while his life crumbles around him.
I hope you will tell me what you think of these stories and discuss in the forum what the stories tell you. At the end of the first three chapters you will collectively decide whether or not I continue the series to completion.
So over the next few days I will post new chapters in this series that may become a book and I hope you will discuss them and tell us all what you get out of them, if anything. You can even tell us what you think should happen next. At the end of the first three chapters we will have a vote to decide whether I should continue to write them or drop the exercise. It will be your collective decision. I look forward to hearing your opinion.
Ric Vatner answers questions at Philosophy Corner in Sydney
How are you today? I hope you are having a really wonderful beautiful day today, and everyday. After reading your articles and giving it a lot of thought, I wanted to write and tell you what I believe.
We humans learn new things everyday but sometimes I think we forget them twice as fast. I do certainly admire your point. Yes, very much so, especially your emphasis on Ethics.
The Importance of Being Ethical
Without ethics where would we all be? The whole world is in crisis and suffering because of the lack of ethics.
Think of all those banks that lost so much money gambling; if they had ethics do you think we would have had the Global Financial Crisis? Would so many ordinary people have lost their home, their job and in some cases their family? If BP had ethics would the terrible disaster that is happening off the coast of Florida have occurred? If George Bush and his cronies had ethics, would we have invaded Iraq?
Ethics come from within but it needs to be nurtured. It should be something children learn as part of their upbringing. Ethics are teachable. We can live an ethic because we can learn it. We are not born ethically made people. If we were, the whole world would have existed in heaven and we didn’t know about it.
The Importance of Being a Role Model
We are born with the natural instinct and intuition for ethics. This natural instinct has to be shown the road to goodness and be alerted against wickedness. This is why God sent his many messengers on earth to show his servants (people) the path to goodness.
Those messengers took the responsibility on their shoulders, to teaching ethics of God and many of them lost their lives or were about to, just doing their job.
Role modeling is one of many forms of ethics teaching. A parent, for example, can create a role model for his child by being honest at all times and not break that rule for example, when the telephone rings, and he tells his child to answer saying to the caller that his dad is not home yet.
Role modeling is the practical umbrella under which all other forms of teaching ethics fall. Coaching, mentoring, fostering, enforcing, and embracing are all good examples of how to give people a good ethical education. Develop a good set of ethical rules and as a result ethical behaviors contribute to the existence of an ethical society, where crime rates drop considerably because we respect each other.
However, one can not force ethics on a person. You can’t force someone to behave ethically you can only be a role model for them to follow. This type of teaching ethics can be a long, painful and emotionally costly path. It is certainly not easy.
Ethics in Marriage
Mutual respect in the marriage is the first casualty if one of the partners is ethical and the other is not. Without mutual respect it is impossible to achieve harmony and love in the home and allows restlessness to enter that is neither satisfying or productive.
Meaning, such ethical values as we are passionate about should be discussed at the beginning of the marriage and both partners should make a commitment to it.
Mutual respect leads to and includes loyalty, fidelity, dependability, faithfulness, and long term commitment. If one partner ceases to act in this way the immediate consequence is that the other partner pays the price if they want to maintain the marriage responsibilities. This can work for a short term and there is time to work out the issues but here begins the inevitable road to separation and when they one day ask, how did we grow so far apart, they need only look back to this day.
An Ethical Society is Not an Impossible Dream
An ethical marriage or an ethical society may sound like an impossible mission or a dream too good to come true, unless in a Utopian society, but, we are for ever held responsible, not only in the eyes of the beholder, but also in the eyes of the coming generations, for creating a platform that gives emphasis to the theme and the purpose of the whole education system.
The rule of the thumb should be to instill the well regarded and highly valued ethics in our society into the coming generations from a very young age. Furthermore, we are obliged to examine about our own values honestly. Is our goal the real creation of an ethical, prosperous, healthy, and advanced society that strides with the principles of the advanced first world countries? Are we contributing to that goal, no matter in how small a way?
The Responsibilities of Parents
Parents’ responsibilities in life are not limited to accountability for providing bread and butter for the table but also providing something equally as imperative, love, compassion, and appreciation of their children’s needs and talents.
Respect and care are very important ingredients in the formula of Ethics. When a son sees that his father opens the door for his mother to proceed, when the older brother takes off his hat and bends his back a little to greet his fiancé, when a young girl’s mother welcomes the husband with a soft kiss at the door after a hard day’s work; and when all children gather to show thankfulness to their parents by bringing a symbolic present of gratitude, that’s all respect.
Say No to Violence
Ethics teaches us to say no to violence, if you believe it is wrong to beat your wife or your children you will be less likely to resort to violence against others as well. You will negotiate rather than invade, you will give rather than take, you will win over by good actions and deeds rather than by force.
An ethical person will respect the country in which one lives and not wish to see it harmed. Australia is the most wonderful and beautiful country on earth that is doing its best to make its people first class citizens despite some mishaps in some of our systems, but who is perfect?
Our citizens of Australia live like humans in paradise and many people are very wishful of having the same opportunity.
Anyway, certainly I do congratulate you for bringing up this issue of ‘Ethics’. I think it is definitely a valid point that we all should consider in our perspectives.
The richness in a human is the richness in his mind and heart. Materialism did nothing for the world but lead to more greed and more damage. I am sure you may have been affected one way or another by this financial crisis. Unfortunately this is not the first time; it has happened more than once in the last century alone. it is as if we never ‘learn’ from our mistakes!! Education again!
Believe me; I am greatly thankful for raising the point of ethics. I hope as you are a writer yourself, you can write and publish a lot about this issue in as many areas as possible concerning not only education, but all other aspects of life.
I believe that no matter where you are, and no matter what kind of a job you are doing you can be the educator, the teacher, and the mentor who can make a difference in the world, and can help the world be a better place. This will affect not only those close to you but the whole globe.
Our Legacy to the Future
Let’s leave a legacy to the future generations that make them proud to include us as their ancestors, and talk about us in their school history books. Let’s not have future generations curse us for making their future lives bitter, or damn us for leaving them a heritage to be ashamed of, or swear at us because we abused our planet earth so badly that their lives have become much more miserable than when we first came in.
Honestly, I often ask myself, what bookmark are we leaving in the pages of history – all nations I mean? One must ask where are we heading to?
I am sure there are many respectable people like you who share the same point of view who would like to see Australia and the whole world become a better place to live in and enjoy it greenly and very healthy.
I have been observing your web log for a month or so and have picked up a heap of powerful data. I’m undertaking to run my personal blog on the other hand I do think its too general and I would like to concentrate more about smaller subject areas.
Another copy n paste blog entry? Yours, Rolland Betterton
Editor’s Note:
I don’t mind people disagreeing or even hating what we write, that is their opinion and I respect it. But to accuse us of copy and paste writing, that is not only wrong but deeply hurtful.
I saw the numerous drafts that Blue Ocean sent in and I did the final editing so I know for sure how much work and emotional capital she put in to this article. If we were happy to copy and paste we could update the blog daily.
Please visit us often and let me know if you ever find a web site that has the same article you find here.
Good luck getting people behind this one. Though you make some VERY fascinating points, youre going to have to do more than bring up a few things that may be different than what weve already heard. What are trying to say here? What do you want us to think? It seems like you cant really get behind a unique thought. Anyway, thats just my opinion.
Great info! I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
It’s the first time I have heard that in Macedonia, obits are an unusual observe. You have wonderfully written the post. I have liked your way of writing this. Thanks for sharing this.
I dont know who you think you are, but youre just blowing smoke out your ears. Nothing youre saying makes sense and its all a bunch of immature ranting. If you want people to get behind your blog, you should at the very least learn a little something about what youre talking about!
You wouldn’t believe it but I’ve wasted all day digging for some articles about this. You’re a lifesaver, it was an excellent read and has helped me out to no end. Cheers,
Is there any information about this subject in other languages?
Editor:
Hi, we did have quite a few more languages on the translator when we put it up but they seem to have fallen off What language were you looking for in particular? I see your web site is in Turkish, I don’t know if we have that one but I will check. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I really like this site. With the amounts of info that it has posted here I will be sure to come back to it. This post in particular I found very informative. I am sure that
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Stunning!!! I really enjoyed through every word in this post. Obviously the author is authentic and has genuinely shown so. Those words can’t be brought out from nothing. There must have been a real thrive for the topic otherwise it wouldn’t have been written so brilliantly. It is felt so by me and by other readers’ comments obviously.
Great post and would prefer more details on this topic. We really do need to re-consider how we understand, appreciate one another, and show respect, integrity, honesty, and kindness that will certainly give us satisfaction and goodness in our lives.
We need more of that integrity in our lives. I will be looking for more posts like this one.
Brilliant writing. True with every word. Where would we be without ethics? yes we should be asking ourselves this question with real honesty. Where are our ethics of integrity, honesty, respect, love, kindness to one another, thoughtfulness, and most of all where is our heart?
If every family teaches those ethics to children, and every organization applies those ethics in practise, the world would be a good place to live in.
We need more heart to heart thought and talk like this post. Great one and great work.
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Whilst this subject may be extremely touchy for most persons, my opinion is the fact that there has to become a middle or popular ground that we all can find. I do appreciate that youve additional relevant and intelligent commentary in this article although. Thank you!
This may be off-topic, but how about changing the theme every now and then? Maybe not if it won’t look right, but I just get tired of seeing the same thing all the time. My own computer has about 1000 wallpapers that randomly rotate every 15 minutes, lol. Adult ADD I guess. Good post though, thanks.
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If we pray to God because “he created us”, who should the species we create pray to?
God Creating Life at his Computer
Scientists may say we don’t need to answer that while we are creating microbes but what happens when we develop the ability to string together the code for 3 billion bases and produce our first “human”?
However, long before we create a human from scratch we will have developed the ability to genetically modify babies. Who is the God when we engineer a fetus to produce children to order or for a specific purpose? This question is just as relevant if you have the technology available to do it, but choose not to do it as it is, if you use the technology to do it.
At What Point Do You Become God?
So the question arises, when do you become a God? Is it when you create a single cell life form or must you wait until you have created a complex human life form? Or is there some half way point at which this event happens? I find it hard to justify making a distinction between the point where we create single cell life and a complex one.
The question is not merely one of hypothetical speculation any more. The science is here, the technology just needs to be refined.
What will be the position of species, especially complex species that are created by man to serve his needs? Whatever we call them, will they be slaves?
Apart from all the economic arguments regarding why slavery is not an efficient way to organize an economy, the ethical argument against slavery was basically that all men were created equal in the eyes of God. If we assume there is a God, then no matter who creates the species, it is still created under God’s auspices. Therefore the answer must be that they have equal rights. Of course that argument could equally apply to animals.
Is It Ethically Acceptable to Make A Slave?
But if we prove that life was created by a one in a billion chance chemical reaction does that change the position of man verses animals or vis-à-vis a species specifically created by man?
March of the slaves
A long held belief in God has not endowed animals or the many disadvantaged humans, with equal rights, so what will happen when we take God out of the equation? Is it ethically acceptable that if man has the ability to create a form of human that is genetically programmed to serve mans needs, that he should do so? Will we regard this species as human, animal or android? Should it make any difference?
What if that species looks human, breathes air like us, has a human life span and dies like us? If it eats, feels pain and bleeds like a human? What if it has feelings? Is it ethical to produce a species that has a brain and can learn but is genetically programmed to be a servant or a soldier or a baby maker?
In this experiment Venter’s team injected synthetic DNA into a living cell and watched it take over that cell and ultimately wipe out the previous DNA. The cell then turned blue which the new DNA was programmed to do when it took control of the cell.
The aim is that one day we can inject DNA into a cancer cell and watch it self destruct. That would be good. How would we feel about injecting a male with DNA code and watch him turn into a female or vice-versa? Some would prefer this to the current situation which requires surgery and drugs to achieve a partial solution.
The options are endless but at what point are they the person God created or the person Craig created? Or do we do away with the notion of God?
Bad With God – What Will We Be Like Without?
In this increasingly secular world some would say that it doesn’t matter if you take God out of the equation, but until we can formulate a better foundation for an effective ethical and moral code we should not rush to throw out the old. Archimedes said it eloquently when he cried “Give me somewhere to stand and I shall move the earth”. Unfortunately secular humanists have yet to create a philosophy anywhere near as motivating as a faith in God which can move mountains.
This is the challenge that we now face, to find a philosophy that can move men to put their own self interest aside for the benefit of all mankind that can give them a basis on which to build an ethical moral code to live by and still give them enthusiasm for life.
Unfortunately, even as believers in God, we have still not reached a philosophical position of full equality among all members of the human race as we know it, so how will we incorporate these new man made species when they come. And they will come, the only question is when?
My prediction is that our attempt to address these issues will have consequential effects on our views about race, human equality, the rights of women and children, minorities and even animals.
This debate could be the impetus that we have needed from the beginning to approach a world view that is more encompassing, fair and compassionate for all.
But it will probably mean that we never get that slave, or, maybe, that once again, more people will be in danger of becoming one.
When it comes to making the important decisions that will impact our future our track record so far is etsy ketsy at best.
The news is only days old but like a long awaited messenger, we have been expecting it with trepidation.
The answer to the question that man has been pondering for thousands of years is now in.
Like it or not and to hell with the consequences; Man has created life.
Okay, to be more accurate, scientists have created synthetic life in the lab.
But let’s not quibble over semantics because in the near future it won’t matter, we will have done both. J Craig Venter and his team have, to paraphrase those immortal words first spoken by Armstrong, taken “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind?”
But do we know where we leap? Or are we jumping with our eyes closed and hoping for the best?
Since the days of Aristotle, scientists, philosophers, and theologians have debated the question, which I will state as: “Is Life a gift from God or merely a mixture of chemical components that ultimately unravel or stop working leading to a condition we call, death?”
The early philosophers thought our “soul” was “Life” which left our body when we died. The Greek word is derived from the verb “to cool, to blow” and refers to their concept that in humans and other animals, life was some form of “vital breath”, or “animating force” that some how entered our body at birth.
Henri Bergson’s Élan vital
Henri Bergson coined another term for that vital force that distinguishes the living from the dead; he called it “Élan vital”. In his 1907 book, Creative Evolution, Bergson closely linked Élan vital with consciousness. It was the existence of this vital force, which led people to believe that it was not possible to create organic molecules. In effect they believed man could not create life.
Scientists Create Synthetic Life in Lab
J Craig Venter
Now a little over 100 years later, Dr. Craig Venter’s team has taken an Armstrong like step toward proving them wrong. They have created artificial life by transplanting computer-designed genetic DNA into a bacteria cell to form a new strain of the bacteria. In effect they have created a computer virus that has resulted in a living organism.
While Bergson and his followers may be proved to be wrong, the ancient Greeks had numerous creation myths and perhaps some of these creation stories are more prescient than we realized, for example one ancient myth asserts that humans were created out of earth and water, aided by the Greek God, Prometheus, with his gift of fire.
Is Craig Venter a modern day Prometheus?
Was Prometheus some alien scientist and was his fire a Bunsen burner and are we the product of some computer programme – literally?”
This hypothesis may make an interesting topic of speculation but what is more likely is, that Venter’s experiment as well as that of other teams, such as the researchers at the Scripps Research Institute who in 2009, created molecules that self replicate and even evolve and compete, shows that given the right “environment” life could form spontaneously.
It might be a billion to one chance but the Scripps research hypothesized that “Some chemical reactions occurred about 4 billion years ago — perhaps in a primordial tidal soup or maybe with the help of volcanoes or possibly at the bottom of the sea or between the mica sheets — to create biology”. (see article in Live Science).
Is Man made in the Image of God?
Whichever way you look at it, this type of research will not only lead to new biochemical technology that could be used for good or bad but it will also re-open the age old questions regarding the origins and nature of life. This could have far deeper implications for man kind as he reassesses his place in the world as a creature not made in the image of God and with no moral superiority over other species.
How will the loss of “God” or an after life affect the way people behave?
I Build You a Slave
The stated goals of the Venter project is to develop the ability to design microbes from scratch to perform functions ranging from converting carbon-dioxide into oil to cleaning up pollution and the manufacture of better vaccines.
We should note that they are the “Good” causes this technology can provide solutions for, but we all know that there is always another side to research. In this case it is the other uses governments will put it to such as biological weapons and changing the way species function to one day, creating new species of slaves to serve man and I don’t just mean smart microbes.
True, that may be a long way off but so was this result one hundred years ago and our scientific knowledge today is expanding at a rate at least equivalent to ten “20th century years” every year.
DNA Molecule Graphic
The organism Venter’s team created has one million letters or bases of DNA code but how long will it take before they can piece together the 3 billion bases needed to produce a human (The human genome is made up of DNA, which has four different chemical building blocks. These are called bases and abbreviated A, T, C, and G. In the human genome, about 3 billion bases are arranged along the chromosomes in a particular order for each unique individual.) One thing this experiment reinforces is that nothing is impossible and time is relative.
Indeed, this work fans the debate over the bioethics which is heating up, as the Christian Science Monitor writes, due to “a broad trend in the physical and biological sciences – one that over the past several decades has evolved to give humanity the ability to manipulate inanimate, and now animate, matter at its most fundamental levels and in forms of uniquely human design”. (Pete Spotts, 20th May 2010). As our ability to create life gets closer to realization, so understanding the ethics involved becomes more urgent.
Venter says his work could be seen as the “final word in favor of mechanistic reductionism” of organic life”. He says. “That’s the enormous significance of this work.” This is a reference to Hegel’s hypothesis of biological development from mechanism to chemism, chemism to teleology, and teleology to life.
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