Living beings share many characteristics,
including the ability to develop, grow, heal, regenerate, and adapt to
environmental changes. But their lives are finite; they are mortal. Therefore,
living beings must create others like themselves so that life can continue.
This is the fundamental purpose of all living organisms.
Since the
fittest organisms survive, they have a greater opportunity to reproduce than
the weak and unadapted. This process leads, over time, to positive evolutionary
changes in all species of the animal kingdom. This is the meaning of death.
Humans
and animals share many instincts.
1. They
need their own space, food, water, air, and shelter.
2.
Animals communicate through sounds, gestures, or signals; human language is
much more complex and allows for abstract thought and the transfer of
knowledge.
3. Social behavior—grouping—is
exhibited by many species, including invertebrates, fish, birds, mammals, and
humans. Different individuals unite in groups with a well-coordinated social
system, the purpose of which is to find food, shelter, mates, and protection
from predators.
Termites are social insects and exhibit a
complex social life. They live in colonies with well-organized castes. A
termite colony contains three castes: workers, soldiers, and reproductives.
A bee colony has two castes: workers (sterile
females) and drones (fertile males). The queen (a fertile female) is
responsible for the colony's reproduction.
Some animals form groups with a clearly
defined hierarchical structure, such as wolves, coyotes, lions, some species of
fox, and others.
In hierarchical social animals, dominant
individuals exert control over others, and the dominance hierarchy is strictly
enforced. The alpha male—the strongest male in the group—is always the leader.
He maintains discipline and cohesion in the group. He strictly enforces the rank of members in the chain of command. He eats first, and the others
wait until he is full. He does not yield leadership in any group activity.
If the leader dies, his strong successors,
occupying the position between the leader and the lower-ranking males, compete
for the vacant position.
There are parallels in human and animal behavior,
but differences also exist.
Humanity is one of the most developed species
of the animal kingdom. Humans possess qualitatively new capabilities that
animals lack.
Material Level
The fundamental level of life for both humans
and animals is material. They must provide food and shelter for themselves and
their offspring. Both humans and animals teach newborns the skills necessary
for independent survival after they leave the family.
Animals have a basic logical mind, allowing
them to find a comfortable place to live, gather the necessary materials to
build a shelter, or at least find shelter in places where food can be found.
Humanity's material level is incomparably higher. A superior logical mind has
enabled humans to engage in scientific research, create complex instruments,
high-speed vehicles, and medicines that can extend lifespans, all of which have
led to rapid population growth. The planet's population has increased from one
billion in 1800 to 8 billion in 2024.
In human society, in addition to the material
level, there are two other levels: emotional and spiritual. Emotional life is
associated with feelings, while spiritual life is associated with higher
meanings, values, and the search for truth and purpose.
Emotional Level
Emotional life is the realm of feelings (empathy,
compassion, warmth, gentleness, kindness, love, but also hatred, envy,
jealousy, anger, irritation, contempt, disgust, hostility, etc.).
In Russian, as in other European languages, a
kind, compassionate person is usually called "soulful," while an
unkind or indifferent person is called "heartless." A soulful person
exhibits a sympathetic and empathetic attitude toward the grief and suffering
of others. They try to help or at least support those in need.
I will give you one example.
A student and two of her colleagues were in
the center of a city in Eastern Europe. Suddenly, they saw a young Gypsy girl
and a man with a stick running after her. "Protect her," the student
said to her colleagues. One of them calmly said, "Why? She probably stole
something. It's not for nothing that he's chasing her." His friend agreed.
Close to them, the girl tripped and fell. The student, terrified, thought the
man would hurt or even kill her. She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Passersby stopped, and the man stopped too. He looked at the student, at the
horror and pain reflected on her face, threw down his stick, and walked on. The
girl stood up and hobbled back the way she had come.
In life, those who do not help almost always
find explanations for why they do so, while those who sympathize rush to help.
Empathy is the fundamental characteristic of a heartful person. They feel both
the pain and joy of others.
The ability to recognize, understand, manage, and utilize your own emotions positively,
while also recognizing and influencing the emotions of others we can call
emotional mind whereas the logical mind (intelligence)
is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills, like abstract reasoning, problem-solving, memory, and
information processing. The last has nothing to do with emotions.
The emotional mind differs from the logical mind in
that it makes decisions quickly. A heartfelt person, having sensed a situation,
can decide immediately. For a logical mind, this usually takes more time: they
need to gather data and make decisions based on the results. Having an
emotional mind is a great advantage. These people make effective leaders. They
know how to inspire, resolve conflicts, and lead people not through orders, but
through convictions and shared values. People lacking an emotional mind rarely
rise high in the corporate ladder.
Of all human emotions, one of the most
complex and multifaceted is love. Millions of works of art are devoted to the
theme of love, and each time, great works reveal something new, something
previously unsaid.
Ancient Greek philosophers described diverse types of love.
1. Eros (named after the god of love and
fertility) is a passionate physical attraction that ensures procreation in both
humans and animals.
2. Platonic love (named after the Greek
philosopher Plato) is a deep connection between people based on spiritual
attraction, shared interests, and mutual respect, which consciously excludes
physical relations.
I will give two examples.
- The lifelong love of the Russian writer
Ivan Turgenev for the French singer Pauline Viardot. Turgenev adored Polina. He
always lived near her home, and sometimes even lived with her family. He was a
friend of Polina's husband and her daughter.
- The love of the German composer Johannes
Brahms for the pianist Clara Schumann. When Brahms met Clara, he was twenty and
she was thirty-four. She had been married to composer Robert Schumann for 13
years and had seven children with him, with another child born a year later.
Robert died when Clara was thirty-seven. Clara was a renowned pianist who gave
concerts to support her large family. Brahms fell in love with her from the
moment they met and believed throughout his life that Clara embodied the ideal
of femininity, that she was the best. Brahms never married. He supported Clara
throughout his life. In turn, Clara often performed his new compositions in her
concerts. Their emotional connection lasted until Clara's death. Brahms died 10
months after her.
3. Storge describes the natural, deep
kinship bond between family members, such as between parents and children,
siblings, and other relatives. Storge is based on care, support, and
unconditional love.
The love between parents and children is always strong when children are small and need protection. As children grow up, this love can weaken and even disappear completely. Lena, a friend of mine, told me that her mother asked her to come when her mother had only four months to live. Lena did not go.
"Why?" I asked, surprised.
"She gave you an education and cared for you very much."
"So, what?" Lena said. "I
educated my daughter, and I care for her too. We owe our parents nothing. Look
at animals in nature. Parents care for their children during childhood, but
then all relationships break down, and the children do not even know where
their parents are. Debt to parents is passed down from generation to
generation. My mother's parents raised her, she raised me, and I, in turn,
raised my daughter. In this way, I have repaid my debt.”
Lena is certainly right about the
relationships between children and parents in nature. Animal children do not
care for their parents because they have no one to care for. There are no old species
in nature: animals usually die before their fertility drops to zero. They are
of no use when they can no longer reproduce. Their children receive the
instincts for survival at birth. Old parents can contribute nothing.
Not so with humans. People live about one
hundred years, twice as long as their fertile age. People have freedom of
choice. The course and development of a person's life depend on choice, not on
the instincts received at birth. Older people, having accumulated life
experience, can help the younger generation make the right choices. Elderly
people are needed not only in the family but also in a healthy society. A
younger society, without the elderly, would be more aggressive.
That is why all major religions have had the
commandment "respect your parents, take care of your parents in old
age." In many countries, a clearly defined system existed for centuries.
Typically, the eldest son was expected to care for his parents. Parents, in
turn, would leave their son an inheritance if they had anything. Therefore, in
China, when people were allowed to have only one child, there were cases of
girls being killed at birth in the hope that the next child would be a boy. In
several countries,
for those who did not have children, there was a small church allowance that
prevented elderly from starving to death in old age. The modern pension system
was introduced by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the late 19th century.
It allows workers who reach retirement age to live not much worse than they did
when they were earning a salary.
4. Pragma is a "rational"
love based on duty, common interests, and long-term compatibility.
Marriage between a man and a woman is eros +
pragma. A strong marriage is built on mutual respect, communication, and a deep
emotional connection. "Love is two bodies and one soul," said
Aristotle. This kind of love describes a happy marriage. A marriage based
solely on eros usually falls apart, as eros wanes over time. Marriage is
stronger when there is mutual understanding, respect, care, and support.
5. Philia is a mutual, friendly
love. It is founded on shared values, mutual respect, trust, loyalty, and
spiritual kinship. It develops over time through shared experiences and
intellectual connections. It often involves deep conversations and mutual
understanding that does not require physical attraction.
There are examples of philia in history and
literature.
- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in
Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.
- Horatio and Hamlet in Shakespeare's
"Hamlet." Horatio remains faithful when everyone else abandons or
betrays the prince.
- Damon and Pythias (fourth century BC) -
Greek legend. Both adhered to Pythagorean teachings and were friends. Pythias,
sentenced to death for insulting the tyrant Dionysius, asked to be released
briefly before his execution so he could marry off his sister, leaving Damon as
a hostage. Due to unforeseen circumstances, he was delayed, and Damon had
already been brought to the execution site. At the last moment, Pythias
appeared, out of breath. Dionysius, struck by the strength of their friendship,
overturned the sentence.
6. Agape is unconditional, universal, selfless, and sacrificial love for
all humanity, spiritual or divine love. In Greek philosophy and theology, Agape
represents the highest form of love. It is a love of reason and will, not
emotional love. It is entirely focused on the needs of another person.
Examples of Agape
- A classic example of Agape is the
"Good Samaritan" from the New Testament. The Samaritan helps a wounded
stranger, a person who has nothing to offer in return. It is love that extends
to all people simply because they are human.
- Forgiving an enemy is a profound
act of Agape; it does not require liking the other person. Forgiving people who
have wronged you—not because they deserve it, but because you value their
humanity more than your own offense. It is a powerful way to turn an enemy into
a friend.
- Community service and volunteerism
- People who dedicate their lives to
social justice, humanitarian aid, or caring for the terminally ill often act
from Agape.
- Individuals like modern doctors who
volunteer in war zones. They are there out of a sense of duty to love their
neighbor.
Agape exists, but it is quite rare.
Spiritual level
Spirituality is a deeper, higher
state associated with the pursuit of an ideal, understanding the meaning of
life, self-improvement, and a connection with something higher (God) that
transcends the earthly, logical level.
A spiritual person is kind and
warm-hearted, while a spiritual person seeks higher truth and harmony, the
principles of good and evil.
Primitive people believed that the
world was inhabited by invisible spirits, supernatural beings, both good and
evil. They were believed to actively participate in people's lives. These were
the earliest ways of understanding the surrounding world and life in it, a
search for a connection with a Higher Principle.
As humanity developed, and people
began to unite into cities and states, religions emerged, based on a shared
belief in one god or group of gods. Religions provided an explanation for the
material structure of the world and answered the question of how to live.
Religions contained a moral code regulating human behavior. A code of law was
compiled, based on a moral code.
As early as 3,000 years ago, the
prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek), the founder of the Zoroastrian
religion, said that man has intelligence and freedom of choice. This
distinguishes man from animals.
Zoroastrianism is built on the
opposition of two forces: Ahura Mazda (the Holy Spirit, truth, light) and Angra
Mainyu (the Evil Spirit, lies, darkness). God endowed man with intelligence and
free will so that he could consciously choose between Truth and Falsehood, to
contribute to the prosperity of the world or its destruction. "Listen with
your ears, look with a clear mind at both options to decide for
yourselves."
Unlike other ancient teachings, where
human destiny is predetermined by the gods or fate, Zoroastrianism asserts that
man is an active ally of God (Ahura Mazda) in the fight against evil. Freedom
of choice in Zoroastrianism is realized through the famous ethical formula:
good thoughts, good words, good deeds. Every moment of life is a choice among these elements.
Freedom of choice is inextricably
linked with responsibility. After death, a person's soul appears at the Bridge
of Separation, leading to eternal life.
- If a person has chosen the path of
Truth, the bridge becomes wide and light.
- If a person has chosen falsehood,
the bridge becomes sharp as a blade, and the soul falls into the abyss.
Thus, salvation is not a gift from
above, but a direct result of the accumulated choices of a person. Zoroastrian
ideas became the foundation for Christian and Islamic ethics.
In ancient Egypt, a person had to
observe the forty-two principles (commandments) of Maat when making life
choices. The goddess Maat personified cosmic order, truth, justice, and
harmony.
The goddess Maat held the posthumous
judgment. According to the Book of the Dead (2500 BC):
- The heart of the deceased (the seat
of conscience) was placed on one side of the scale.
- The feather of Ma'at was placed on
the other side.
- If the heart was weighed down by
sins and proved heavier than the feather, the person was eaten by the monster Ammit.
If the scales balanced, the person gained eternal life.
Before the judgment of Ma'at, the
deceased had to recite the "Confession of Denial," affirming their
allegiance to the goddess's 42 principles: I have not stolen, I have not
killed, I have not lied, I have not sinned, I have not slandered anyone, I have
not eavesdropped, I have not seduced anyone's wife, and so on.
Some of these forty-two principles
were included in the commandments of Moses.
Thus, all religions that have
survived time have demanded that people adhere to moral laws.
Over time, the topic of the structure
of the world shifted to science. But the answer to the question of how to live
remained, and remains, with religions. In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus
demonstrated that the Earth is not the center of the universe. Scientists have
established that the creation account given in the Old Testament is erroneous. Atheists
have emerged among the educated public.
Isaac Newton held an extremely critical view
of atheism, describing it as "meaningless and abhorrent to mankind."
His opposition was not simply a matter of faith but was rooted in his
scientific observations of the universe, which he believed provided empirical
evidence for the existence of an intelligent Creator. Newton argued that the
complexity and mathematical order of the natural world made the idea of a Godless
universe logically impossible. Newton saw no contradiction between science and
faith. On the contrary, his scientific research was a path to understanding the
God he deeply revered, a God who was both the architect and ruler of the
cosmos.
The great physicists of the 19th century
shared this view. They saw the laws of nature as direct confirmation of divine
design. Physical constants and the precision of the laws of mechanics served as
proof of the existence of intelligence beyond matter.
Michael Faraday (1791–1867), the discoverer
of electromagnetism, believed that the book of nature was open to anyone
willing to read it without prejudice, and he saw the laws of physics as an
order established by the Creator.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879): The creator
of the electromagnetic field theory, he was a staunch Christian. He believed
that the molecules of matter were so identical in their properties that they
excluded their accidental or eternal existence and pointed to an external
Creator.
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1824–1907):
One of the founders of thermodynamics, he openly opposed materialism. He
declared, "If you think hard enough, you will be forced by science to
believe in God."
George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1903): President
of the Royal Society and a distinguished mathematician, wrote extensively on
natural theology and believed that science and religion were harmoniously
complementary.
But already in the second half of the 19th
century, atheists and agnostics appeared in science. This was associated with
the spread of Darwin's theory of evolution.
When John Tyndall, a renowned physicist and
member of the Royal Society, proclaimed in one of his lectures the omnipotence
of physics over the soul and mind, Maxwell wrote humorous verses mocking
scientists who believed that everything in the world could be explained solely
by the movement of matter. This is an excerpt from his poem:
“In the beginning there was Chaos and
Darkness, and atoms in eternal play,
But they did not need reason for the world to
be born in a bonfire.
From the whirlwind and dust arose both
mountains and the blue sky,
And all is but the collision of particles,
and there is no soul, no end,
We are only machines that wander without
purpose and without a Creator.
But if we are simply atoms, and thought is
only the trace of movement,
Then who read us this learned nonsense?
As a physicist, Maxwell understood that the
probability that logic and consciousness would spontaneously emerge from the
chaos of atoms was mathematically equal to zero. He believed that matter obeys
laws, but the laws themselves cannot arise from matter.
As fundamental science developed, applied
science also evolved. This led to a materialistic view of life and a rapid rise
in the number of atheists. When a person considers only “secondary causes”
(direct scientific explanations of how everything works), he can stop at and
assume that God is not necessary. However, when he considers the “chain” of all
causes interconnected, he must inevitably understand that behind the order and
beauty of the Universe there is a Divine Creator. This idea belongs to the
English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626). In his essay “On Atheism,” Bacon
wrote: “It is true that a little philosophy inclines the mind of man to
atheism; but the deep study of philosophy brings men’s minds to religion.” The
same idea was expressed about 4 centuries later by Werner Heisenberg
(1901-1976), a Nobel laureate and pioneer of quantum mechanics: “The first sip
from the glass of natural science will turn you into an atheist, but at the
bottom of the glass God awaits you.” In his book “Physics and Beyond,” he wrote
that he could never “reject the content of religious thinking” and believed
that science and religion point to the same “central order.”
All great religions that have survived have
placed the fulfillment of moral commandments and laws at the center of human
life: honor thy father and thy mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery,
do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet thy neighbor's house, and
so on. Atheists automatically rejected the church's moral teachings and its
moral achievements, throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Fyodor Dostoevsky's famous formula: "If
there is no God, then everything is permitted" is the core of Dostoevsky's
work. The writer views permissiveness not as freedom, but as a psychological
and spiritual dead end, a direct path to catastrophe. Without a higher court,
conscience becomes merely a biological mechanism that a "strong"
person can suppress.
This theme is explored in The Brothers
Karamazov, Demons, and Crime and Punishment. In The Brothers Karamazov, the
atheist Ivan Karamazov realizes that his formula of permissiveness led to
bloodshed—the death of his father.
In his novel The Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky
showed the catastrophic consequences of rejecting God and moral principles.
Dostoevsky views the ideas of radical socialism and anarchism not simply as
political movements, but as a spiritual "disease" afflicting Russian
society. One of the novel's most terrifying ideas is its prophecy of
totalitarianism.
The ideas of The Demons were confirmed with
considerable accuracy during the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia in 1917.
The plan of the liberals who defeated the autocracy in the February Revolution
of 1917 was to establish democratic rule along Western lines. But the
Bolsheviks seized power and established a dictatorship, bloody terror, and the
denial of all sacredness in Russia. In "Crime and Punishment," Rodion
Raskolnikov attempts to answer the question: does an outstanding individual have
the right to transgress moral law for the sake of a "Great Goal"? He
wants to kill a "useless, vile" old woman pawnbroker to save hundreds
of talented people and his family with her money. He wants to rise above
morality, but discovers that by transgressing the law, he is killing not only the
"old woman," but also his own soul.
Time has shown how right Dostoevsky was.
The 20th century saw the rise of militant
atheism and permissiveness.
Failure to observe the commandment "Thou
shalt not kill." Great logical minds of scientists with a materialistic
philosophy invented and built a multitude of highly technological weapons:
tanks, airplanes, submarines, bombs, and other means of killing. They justified
themselves by claiming they were serving a Great Cause, although these
"Great Causes" varied among different nations and were often directly
opposed. Soldiers also went into battle for "Great Causes." In World War
I (1914-1918), approximately forty million people died, and in World War II
(1939-1945), 70-85 million people died. Furthermore, various local wars (civil,
border, and others) were waged around the world, so there were few days without
war at all. According to various estimates, the total number of people killed because
of wars and armed violence in the 20th century (including the world wars)
ranges from 187 to 231 million.
In Russia, after the Bolsheviks seized power
in 1917, a destruction of churches began. This campaign had two goals:
plundering the church's wealth and combating its moral teachings, which
contradicted materialistic Marxist ideology. An atheistic worldview was
considered the only correct one. In schools, children were taught that science
had long ago proven God does not exist and that only illiterate people believed
in Him. State atheism was established. The state subsidized anti-religious
campaigns, lectures, atheist museums, and the publication of literature.
Surviving religious organizations were placed under strict surveillance by the
secret services.
After World War II, state atheism was
promoted in all the new communist states of Eastern Europe, as well as in
China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia. During the Cultural Revolution in
China (1966–1976), Red Guards destroyed temples, burned books, and smashed
statues. Monks and priests were sent to "re-education" camps or to
perform hard labor in the countryside. Temples, mosques, and churches were
destroyed or converted into warehouses, factories, and slaughterhouses.
Atheism also spread rapidly in the West in
the 20th century. By the end of the century, it had become a mass social
phenomenon, a norm of life for millions of people.
The horrors of the First and Second World
Wars gave atheists a pretext to criticize God. The question "Where was God
in Auschwitz?" became central to European propaganda. Thus, European
thinkers rejected the idea of free will and human
responsibility for one's choices. They shifted the blame for murder to God. In
this understanding of religious thought, a person becomes a pawn, lacking
freedom of choice and not responsible for the atrocities committed.
In the 20th century, science became atheistic
and fought against the idea of a Divine Creator at all costs. A
striking example of this struggle is the story of the English astronomer and
Cambridge University professor Fred Hoyle.
Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) was one of the
most influential and extraordinary astrophysicists of the 20th century. His
scientific legacy includes both fundamental discoveries that formed the
foundations of modern science and controversial hypotheses.
The concept of stellar nucleosynthesis was
first formulated by Hoyle in 1946. This explained the existence of elements
heavier than helium in the universe, showing that critical elements such as
carbon can form in stars and then be incorporated into other stars and planets
when that star "dies." Prior to his time, it was believed that all
chemical elements were created at the Big Bang. Hoyle proved that almost
everything we are made of (carbon, oxygen, iron) was "cooked" inside
stars. Hoyle rejected the Big Bang theory.
Hoyle argued that life could not have arisen
by chance. He calculated that the probability of obtaining all the essential
enzymes necessary for a living cell in a single random trial was approximately
1 in 10^40,000. He claimed the probability was so small that it could not have
happened even if the entire universe consisted of an "organic soup."
Hoyle compared the probability of life's spontaneous origin to the probability
that a tornado sweeping through a scrap yard could assemble a Boeing 747 from
the materials found there, or that a monkey typing at random could eventually
type Shakespeare's works. Hoyle concluded: "If one approaches this
question directly and without fear of incurring the wrath of the scientific
community, one must conclude that biomaterials, with their astonishing degree
of order, must be the result of intelligent design. No other possibility
occurred to me..."
The 1983 Nobel Prize for "theoretical
and experimental investigations of nuclear reactions of importance for the
formation of the chemical elements in the Universe" was awarded not to
Hoyle, but to another scientist, even though Hoyle was the inventor of the
theory of stellar nucleosynthesis, publishing two scientific papers shortly
after World War II. "The prize was rejected because Hoyle might have used
the prestige of the Nobel Prize to impose his truly absurd ideas on the general
public," commented one member of the Nobel Committee. But in this case, it
was not Hoyle, but the Nobel Committee, who had the absurd idea. In today's
scientific community, freedom of speech is limited.
Conclusion
- We
have discussed three ways of thinking and comprehending the world: materialistic,
emotional, and spiritual.
Majority of humanity lives on a materialistic
level of life. They are overly concerned with physical comfort or the
acquisition of material goods, rather than with spiritual, intellectual, or
cultural values. They adhere to the philosophy of materialism, a theory that
views matter as the constituent element of the universe and all its phenomena.
Atheism, which recognizes no moral boundaries or commandments, has prevailed in
the world. As the wars of the 20th century have shown, there is still little
love for one's neighbor and compassion for the suffering of others.
This is understandable. Humanity is still young.
The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Anatomically modern humans appeared
approximately 300,000 years ago. The transition to agriculture and a sedentary
lifestyle occurred 10-12 thousend years ago, and writing appeared only 5,000 years ago
in Sumer and Ancient Egypt. If we compressed the entire history of Earth (4.5
billion years) into a single day, modern humans (Homo sapiens) would have lived
on it for only a few seconds. There is still a long way to go.
Zarathustra taught that life is a precious
gift and a duty, intended to foster harmony with nature and advance the world toward perfection through an active struggle against evil by
upholding truth, order, and righteousness. This is the purpose of life.
People with emotional and spiritual
understanding of life have an advantage in natural selection over the soulless
and atheistic. Therefore, humanity will improve over time.
Thank you for reading!
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