Will Their Egos Drive Humans to Extinction?
David L. R. Stein
Copyright 2019 David L. R. Stein
All rights reserved
First Edition
PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.
New York, NY
First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2019
ISBN 978-1-64462-241-4 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-64462-242-1 (Digital)
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
PREFACE
What is it about humankind that prevents them from eliminating their recurrent crimes, wars, and social regressions? While the question may appear to be academic, if an answer could be found, it could herald a new era in which all the human energy, resources, and talents which are currently expended in wasteful crimes, wars, and social regressions instead could be invested in improving the human condition.
Sadly, throughout history human behavior seems to reflect an implicit assumption that no such program is possible, not to mention practical. What is the origin of such pessimism? When Shakespeare wrote whats past is prologue [1] , was he simply reflecting conventional wisdom? And, if so, what was the source of that wisdom, and why is it still accepted by some as incontrovertible truth?
The answer appears to be that acceptance of an unknowable future is intolerable to what is known in Freudian psychoanalytic theory as the human ego [2] or self [3 ] . Consequently, the primitive human ego conjures a future which is acceptable to itself and, for lack of an alternative, simply improvises by assuming the unknowable future cant be much different from what is knowablei.e., the past.
While that may satisfy a primitive and uneducated human ego, its little comfort to those with a knowledge of human history. Consequently, some of those still troubled by fears of an uncertain future find solace in world religions forecasting an end time [4] while promising immortality to the devout and the redeemed. That leaves agnostics and atheists in a quandary and explains their many desperate attempts to create a totalitarian Neo-Marxist utopia through social engineeringwhich attempts, without exception, have been unmitigated disasters to date.
Its the thesis of this book that what has prevented humankind from making uninterrupted social progress is a historically demonstrated inability of humankind to control their selvesi.e., to adequately restrain their innate animalism. Examinations of multiple sources of human political and social instability all reflect an evident inability to overcome innate human territoriality and xenophobia exacerbated by egocentricity and ignorance. Many sages have long believed, as Einstein and the ancient Greeks apparently did, that such weaknesses are humanly insurmountable as a consequence of humankinds innate animalism. Of course such a conclusion easily could become a self-fulfilling prophesy and leaves unanswered the question of why their innate animalism cant be restrained by humankinds better judgmenti.e., by their superegos [5] .
Yet, human societal evolution, or lack of it, over the last one hundred years is a cause for grave concern. Indeed, some of todays US studentsmarching in the streets, attacking any who dare to disagree with them, destroying private and public property, proclaiming they are what they are not, and sowing sedition everywhere they go with seeming impunityare reminiscent of nothing so much as the Sturmabteilung [6] of 1930s Germany. Moreover, the undeclared stealth war that has been waged by China against the US over the last sixty-nine years bears a strong resemblance to the actions of 1930s Japan. Evidently, the geopolitical forces operating in todays world are little different from those which operated one hundred years ago.
Hopefully, past is not prologue, and human societies may yet evolve to a point where all human children will receive sufficient parenting and trustworthy education in their formative years to enable their better judgment to restrain their innate animalism. Its not too much to hope for, and it would put a glorious end to recurrent debilitating and self-defeating social regressions engineered by self-appointed, self-aggrandizing, self-perpetuating, self-righteous, self-serving, and supercilious political elites.
Praemonitus praemunitusforewarned is forearmedthe motto of the US Army
INTRODUCTION
In a real sense, the human animal well may be its own worst enemy. With each successive generation seemingly unable to learn from the mistakes and successes of its predecessors, humans persist in recurrent backsliding from periods of social progress into periods of social regression. Whatever the cause of humanitys historical failure to make steady and uninterrupted social progress, its the root cause of all human strife which does not result directly from forces beyond humanitys control. Accordingly, it behooves humankind to gain an understanding of this fateful human deficiency so it can be minimized if not completely eliminated.
We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal ones own ego and ones own desires. Pope Benedict XVI [7]
Nothing illustrates the truth of Pope Benedict XVIs pessimistic assessment better than humanitys persistence in denying its animal nature as exemplified by the World Transformation Movement [8] (WTM), a cult which grew out of the musings of Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith [9] .
How do we account for humans aggressive and competitive nature? It is a question that has tormented humanity since time immemorialthe excuse that our behavior is due to savage animal instincts doesnt stack up becausewe suffer from the conscious-mind-based, PSYCHOLOGICALLY [sic] troubled human condition, not the genetic-opportunism-based, animal condition. And whats more, our instincts are to be cooperative and loving, not competitive and aggressiveJeremy explains that this conflict between our intellect and instincts caused our species to become psychologically defensive, angry, alienated and egocentricthe aggressive and competitive state we refer to as the human condition. And with the ability now to explain this conflict, all those insecure, defensive behaviors are obsoleted, brought to an endwe are freed from the human condition!
Could life be any sweeter than that? If we accept Griffiths Pollyannaish assessment, we can all go back to our slumber like the hapless Eloi in H. G. Wells [11] novel THE TIME MACHINE [12] secure in the knowledge the world will take care of itself due to the cooperative and loving nature of the human animal.
Or can we? Compare Griffiths assessment with that of Albert Einstein [13] in his 74 th year.
The existence and validity of human rights are not written in the stars. The ideals concerning the conduct of men toward each other and the desirable structure of the community have been conceived and taught by enlightened individuals in the course of history. Those ideals and convictions which resulted from historical experience, from the craving for beauty and harmony, have been readily accepted in theory by manand at all times, have been trampled upon by the same people under the pressure of their animal instincts. A large part of history is therefore replete with the struggle for those human rights, an eternal struggle in which a final victory can never be won. But to tire in that struggle would mean the ruin of society.
Can humans rise above their innate animalism to minimize, if not completely eliminate, recurrent crimes, wars, and social regressions? Apparently, Griffith believes they can. Or, was Einstein correct? Is humanity destined to suffer a perpetual series of feckless attempts to preserve its human rights as a consequence of its innate animalism? And, given humanitys penchant for self-destruction and self-indulgence, will humankind eventually be the instrument of their own extinction?
