A Man in Africa
Page 16
Epilogue to "Becoming Human" by Dr. Christopher Burton, Revised Edition, 2018
Are we powerless before our animal selves, before the chemicals in our brains, the DNA of our ancestors who had to kill for protein and fight others like them for scant resources?
We are not wholly beasts: we are a hybrid of animal and something that we are becoming. That something started as awareness, consciousness, intelligence. It turned into imagination and longing.
Homo sapiens is the only creature dissatisfied with itself, because it has been able to imagine something and, having imagined it, we long to become it. Our failure to do so, our incapacity to let go of instincts that no longer serve us as they once did, is the root of our misery, but it is also the key to the next step in our evolution.
Does someone rush into a burning building to save a stranger only because of adrenaline? Why do we love a person, and not another equally attractive in terms of reproduction? Why are we able to die of a broken heart, when there is nothing medically wrong with us? And why do we face death and come back, when science would write us off?
Nature prizes the cockroach as much as the cherry blossom, perhaps more, because it's hardier. It is we who have the unique capacity to see beauty in things, and to be inspired by it.
Have we not cried listening to music, have we not suffered for characters in a film, have we not wanted to help someone who lives across the world, able to imagine his or her pain? Do we not long for goodness, even when we are bad? Are we not made happiest by kindness, given and received?
Our imagination makes us glimpse ourselves beyond what we are presently, and the great spiritual leaders have pointed the way to fully become human: the way is love.
If we are able to love, we will be human, and we will be saved. To love means to wish all good things for our fellow creature and none of the suffering. It's a feeling that needs to be nourished, because it’s not as established in our genetic code as to dominate, envy, desire and even kill.
Love is often an effort, but it is the effort most worth making.
We are all on a leaky boat: humanity has been there before, trying to survive, and it has pulled through. Our next survival will not depend only on our capacity to use resources and bend events to our will with our cleverness; we have done that too many times, until there are hardly resources left. We have been very good at reproduction, but not at love; we have been ingenious at war, but not as much at keeping peace; we have built entire cities and countries, but almost destroyed the world.
Our next survival will depend on love. Love is a longing for us to be better, to leave the animal behind, to evolve.
What will we become? Or will we even survive?
Perhaps I am foolish, a hopeful husband, brother, son, father and friend rather than the man of science I am meant to be, but I believe we will survive. We will become what we wish to be, if only we understand that it is truly our greatest wish.
I cannot help but think of the extraordinary thing that happened so long ago, when an ape stood up — and then began to dream.
— To my wife, Roberta Bovi Burton, and our children, Adroa and Musiga
Mount Elgon, September 2018
THE END
*Attention: Bonus Below*
Other books by Lara Blunte:
True Born: the story of a bastard son of the Halford House in 1760. John leaves for war, swearing he will return and marry Georgiana. But her marriage to another man suddenly becomes a matter of life and death for her sisters and she must forsake the man she loves. A man whose virtue is not forgiveness.
The Last Earl: My bestseller. 1856: A man who wants to be the last of his name, a woman who ruins herself for love. Their tale unfolds in England and then in fascinating Constantinople. It mixes suspense, intrigue, danger and passion. It is a standalone title.
To Be King: Winner of the Wattys 2015. King Tibold has a problem: his son and heir, the clever Prince Tameas, doesn’t want to marry the beautiful Lady Isobel, daughter of a warlike Duke with whom an unbreakable alliance is needed. And Lady Isobel is already in love with the valiant Sir Harry. A chivalric romance.
The Abyss: A passionate regency romance set in 1808. When Napoleon invades Lisbon, the prince regent of Portugal and his court are forced to flee to their biggest colony, Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, Clara will meet the man she loves again, to find that there is an abyss between them. One of my favorites!
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- Lara