Ignorance must be overcome

To the editor,

I believe the “original sin” (of mankind) is ignorance, not because people are bad or stupid, but because we are born with a blank mind and have to learn almost everything from other people —who might harbor past prejudices or religious beliefs and cultural attitudes that are often illogical. Fortunately, most people overcome such fallacies and they learn to live sensibly with other people by modifying their behavior through common sense and a broader point of view. “Sinners” are people who fail to expand their intellectual knowledge and their compassionate inclinations.

While growing up, we inherit the views of our parents, teachers and peers, and we also develop personal concepts and mental abilities of our own, but many things are beyond our control, such as the time and place of birth, which sets the stage of our life. Our character and personality are shaped by social perceptions and interactions, while our memory, imagination, intellect, and will form a personal “inner-self” that is a reflection of our total knowledge and emotional experience. Death is the end of our earthly experience, but a system of reincarnation is possible after we die —where our non-physical inner-self” (our soul) continues to exist in a spiritual realm of being —which is a mystery to us.

In the emptiness of space before “creation,” vague intelligent thoughts and subtle emotional feelings of frustration were awakened by an ever-present “need-for-change.” As the vague thoughts became better established, physical laws were developed that could satisfy the “need-for-change” by producing a constantly changing form of matter. However, energy was needed to activate the laws of physics, so the sense of intelligence merged with the growing strength of emotional frustration, and the synergy of their union produced the “force of Logic,” which exploded with a Big Bang. Simply put, an ever-present “need-for-change” gave rise to the intelligence and emotion that enabled Logic to “create” matter. Later, changes in the Earth’s environment enabled the emotional nature of Logic to activate certain particles of carbon with a “will-to-live,” resulting in the evolving realm of life.

Recently, the activities of man brought about global warming, which is likely to require a change in mankind’s values and standard of living. Hopefully, an increase in our use of intelligence and a truer appreciation of life itself will reduce modern man’s constant “need for more” progress. Brian Fagan’s recent book, “Gro-Magnon,” documents our sub-human ancestor’s 400,000 years of survival —compared to modern man’s 40,000 years. The Neanderthal’s cultural attitudes and values were replaced in modern times, when the 16th century enlightenment awakened our awareness of self, so now we must balance our individual rights with an equally strong concern for the “good-of-all.”

Art Carney

Wasilla