(14th Feb 2003)
The Czech writer Karel Capek wrote a play called R.U.R(Rossum’s Universal Robots). in the early decades of twentieth century. In that play the robots have been endowed with artificial intelligence. But the maker of those robots soon discovered that the cost of maintaining them was prohibitive, because they broke their limbs and became invalid too often. Then he thought of a solution for that problem. He sensitised them to physical pain, so that they would be afraid of injuring themselves. Those robots were preserved by their inbuilt mechanism and became more durable.If we care to look at God’s creation we may discover such a mechanism at work in a subtler level. Most ofthe species might have been wiped out had there not been an instinct for self preservation in human beings as well as all other creatures. Parental, particularly maternal, fondness for their offspring is another such instinct in the absence of which life on this earth might not have endured for long. This instinct, much celebrated in literature and art, is a built-inmechanism. The potter wasp that builds its house of clay and lays an egg upon an anaesthetised caterpillarin each of the chambers is as much guided by this instinct of perpetuation of its species as a human mother nurturing her child and the mother bird sitting weeks together on her eggs to hatch them.If we look a little deeper into the mystery of creation, we will find the relevance and utility of other overpowering passions implanted in the human heart and head. These passions include possessiveness,ambition, physical appetites, anger, hate, pride and envy. These passions or emotions have a commonheritage and a common purpose. Man has to survive in this incessant struggle of existence. If man is compared to a country, these instincts stationed indifferent parts of its territory keep him in aconstant state of alertness, most often presenting adistorted and exaggerated picture of his own insecurity. A feeling of insecurity activates certain emotions in man. This feeling makes him think that he is under siege and compels him to keep on struggling relentlessly in order to achieve a state of absolute security. Overweening desires for power, for fame andfor wealth are more or less related to this strugglefor absolute security, which is actually unattainable.When more and more persons are possessed by the fearof insecurity and a desperate craving for security,either in the family or in other areas of activity,their interests enevitably clash. Conflict is theoutcome when interests clash. That is bound to happen because instinct is selfish and self-engrossed. Itdoes not relax its grasp until its fingers are broken.When we offer a bowl of rice to two dogs, the big dogwould never allow the smaller dog to take a share. Acreature guided by instinct does not undrstandsacrifice. It is needless to accuse the big dog ofselfishness. Here we find manifestation of instinct inits prestine purity.Romantic love is the most celebrated of all emotions.The fact that beautiful and healthy persons arousepassions in a large number of persons of the oppositesex undermines one of the fundamental premises ofromantic love. Here the instinct of preservation ofthe species is at work. Charles Darwin calls this the instinct for natural selection. People want to produce bright, beautiful and healthy offspring who will carryforward their family line. If we read the histories of medieval chivalric periods in Europe and Russia, we will know that young men died in thousands fighting bloody duels over beautiful and accomplished women.And the absurd thing about all these episodes is thatthose accomplished women were least bothered aboutthose hapless martyrs of love. That is so because theyalso wished to be united with the best of theirsuitors. This struggle to possess the best partner isnoticeable in other craetures during the matingseason.Anger is a powerful weapon, which shields us againstexternal threats. Mothered by the instinct ofself-preservation, its main aim is to arouse fear inothers. The wounded or threatened cobra displays thewidest hood and produces the loudest hiss. That ispure expression of anger. Envy is generated in a person when the people they sit with in the same class or stay with in the samen eighbourhood or work with in the same office become more successful in some way. Each incidence of success requires a rearrangement of the invisible social order. The rung that is lowered in the process of this rearrangement is bound to feel threatened and diminished. The envious man is not aware that his being envious does not ensure his success , but instead makes him perform less than his naturalabilities. That is so because instinct spurns self-analysis and lacks the ability to go against its own inclinations. It bids fair to suppose that intelligent nature has armed all her creatures within stincts to preserve their own selves so that life would go on. From this brief discusion it becomes apparent that manis given all his passions and emotions, which go bythe name of instinct so that he will survive in therace of life. As a result, the man guided by his instincts acts like all other creatures. The first rayof civilization dawned on this earth when man decidedto do a good turn to his fellow men without any hope ofreturn, without selfish intentions. We who now live in the high noon of civilization have examples galore ofcivilized conduct and nobler aspirations, whereas that man had none before him. Then what exactly prompted him to go against his own instinct? That he was ableto perform that momentous act of charity was itself aproof that the given human nature contains a force,which subverts the sway of instincts. The man who performed that first act of selflessness had no scriptural injunctions and religious commandments before him. So it can be said he was guided by wisdom,which sprang from his own nature. There is some truth in supposing that all that we find in the scriptures and religions of the world had once existed in their quint essential form in the inner most sanctum of man.In other words, there is a presence that shares the human body with instincts, and at the same time triesto overcome them. The presence that enabled the first man to disagree with his own instinct is the first building block of our present day civilization. Allreligions, despite their apparent differences, teach man to understand his basic instincts, which are implanted in him by cunning nature for the maintenanceof the world. Once we understand their nature and purpose, we disentangle ourselves from their snarestr and by strand. We should not underestimate the irpower. Once these instincts know that we are using our higher power to understand and enfeeble them by quieting our minds through contemplation, they become most active and aggressive and try their best to spoilour efforts.
The Czech writer Karel Capek wrote a play called R.U.R(Rossum’s Universal Robots). in the early decades of twentieth century. In that play the robots have been endowed with artificial intelligence. But the maker of those robots soon discovered that the cost of maintaining them was prohibitive, because they broke their limbs and became invalid too often. Then he thought of a solution for that problem. He sensitised them to physical pain, so that they would be afraid of injuring themselves. Those robots were preserved by their inbuilt mechanism and became more durable.If we care to look at God’s creation we may discover such a mechanism at work in a subtler level. Most ofthe species might have been wiped out had there not been an instinct for self preservation in human beings as well as all other creatures. Parental, particularly maternal, fondness for their offspring is another such instinct in the absence of which life on this earth might not have endured for long. This instinct, much celebrated in literature and art, is a built-inmechanism. The potter wasp that builds its house of clay and lays an egg upon an anaesthetised caterpillarin each of the chambers is as much guided by this instinct of perpetuation of its species as a human mother nurturing her child and the mother bird sitting weeks together on her eggs to hatch them.If we look a little deeper into the mystery of creation, we will find the relevance and utility of other overpowering passions implanted in the human heart and head. These passions include possessiveness,ambition, physical appetites, anger, hate, pride and envy. These passions or emotions have a commonheritage and a common purpose. Man has to survive in this incessant struggle of existence. If man is compared to a country, these instincts stationed indifferent parts of its territory keep him in aconstant state of alertness, most often presenting adistorted and exaggerated picture of his own insecurity. A feeling of insecurity activates certain emotions in man. This feeling makes him think that he is under siege and compels him to keep on struggling relentlessly in order to achieve a state of absolute security. Overweening desires for power, for fame andfor wealth are more or less related to this strugglefor absolute security, which is actually unattainable.When more and more persons are possessed by the fearof insecurity and a desperate craving for security,either in the family or in other areas of activity,their interests enevitably clash. Conflict is theoutcome when interests clash. That is bound to happen because instinct is selfish and self-engrossed. Itdoes not relax its grasp until its fingers are broken.When we offer a bowl of rice to two dogs, the big dogwould never allow the smaller dog to take a share. Acreature guided by instinct does not undrstandsacrifice. It is needless to accuse the big dog ofselfishness. Here we find manifestation of instinct inits prestine purity.Romantic love is the most celebrated of all emotions.The fact that beautiful and healthy persons arousepassions in a large number of persons of the oppositesex undermines one of the fundamental premises ofromantic love. Here the instinct of preservation ofthe species is at work. Charles Darwin calls this the instinct for natural selection. People want to produce bright, beautiful and healthy offspring who will carryforward their family line. If we read the histories of medieval chivalric periods in Europe and Russia, we will know that young men died in thousands fighting bloody duels over beautiful and accomplished women.And the absurd thing about all these episodes is thatthose accomplished women were least bothered aboutthose hapless martyrs of love. That is so because theyalso wished to be united with the best of theirsuitors. This struggle to possess the best partner isnoticeable in other craetures during the matingseason.Anger is a powerful weapon, which shields us againstexternal threats. Mothered by the instinct ofself-preservation, its main aim is to arouse fear inothers. The wounded or threatened cobra displays thewidest hood and produces the loudest hiss. That ispure expression of anger. Envy is generated in a person when the people they sit with in the same class or stay with in the samen eighbourhood or work with in the same office become more successful in some way. Each incidence of success requires a rearrangement of the invisible social order. The rung that is lowered in the process of this rearrangement is bound to feel threatened and diminished. The envious man is not aware that his being envious does not ensure his success , but instead makes him perform less than his naturalabilities. That is so because instinct spurns self-analysis and lacks the ability to go against its own inclinations. It bids fair to suppose that intelligent nature has armed all her creatures within stincts to preserve their own selves so that life would go on. From this brief discusion it becomes apparent that manis given all his passions and emotions, which go bythe name of instinct so that he will survive in therace of life. As a result, the man guided by his instincts acts like all other creatures. The first rayof civilization dawned on this earth when man decidedto do a good turn to his fellow men without any hope ofreturn, without selfish intentions. We who now live in the high noon of civilization have examples galore ofcivilized conduct and nobler aspirations, whereas that man had none before him. Then what exactly prompted him to go against his own instinct? That he was ableto perform that momentous act of charity was itself aproof that the given human nature contains a force,which subverts the sway of instincts. The man who performed that first act of selflessness had no scriptural injunctions and religious commandments before him. So it can be said he was guided by wisdom,which sprang from his own nature. There is some truth in supposing that all that we find in the scriptures and religions of the world had once existed in their quint essential form in the inner most sanctum of man.In other words, there is a presence that shares the human body with instincts, and at the same time triesto overcome them. The presence that enabled the first man to disagree with his own instinct is the first building block of our present day civilization. Allreligions, despite their apparent differences, teach man to understand his basic instincts, which are implanted in him by cunning nature for the maintenanceof the world. Once we understand their nature and purpose, we disentangle ourselves from their snarestr and by strand. We should not underestimate the irpower. Once these instincts know that we are using our higher power to understand and enfeeble them by quieting our minds through contemplation, they become most active and aggressive and try their best to spoilour efforts.
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