A Very Prescient Summary of the State of the World by Alexis Carrel in 1939 (before the horrors and Holocaust and loss of millions of lives in WWII) ============ Summary Quote ============ Man has gained the mastery of the material world before knowing himself. Thus, modern society has been built at random, according to the chance of scientific discoveries and to the fancy of ideologies, without regard for the laws of our body and soul. We have been the victims of a disastrous illusion--the illusion of our ability to emancipate ourselves from natural laws. We have forgotten that nature never forgives. In order to endure, society, as well as individuals, should conform to the laws of life. (for a way to conform to the laws of life, consider tm.org/ ) ======================================= Extended Excerpt from which the above quote comes ======================================= For the value of ideas, as of all things, is relative. It augments or decreases according to our state of mind. Under the pressure of the events that agitate Europe, Asia, and America, our mental attitude has progressively changed. We are beginning to understand the meaning of the crisis. We know that it does not consist simply in the cyclic recurrence of economic disorders. That neither prosperity nor war will solve the problems of modern society. Like sheep at the approach of a storm, civilized humanity vaguely feels the presence of danger. And we are driven by anxiety toward the ideas that deal with the mystery of our ills. This book originated from the observation of a simple fact--the high development of the sciences of inanimate matter, and our ignorance of life. Mechanics, chemistry, and physics have progressed much more rapidly than physiology, psychology, and sociology. Man has gained the mastery of the material world before knowing himself. Thus, modern society has been built at random, according to the chance of scientific discoveries and to the fancy of ideologies, without regard for the laws of our body and soul. We have been the victims of a disastrous illusion--the illusion of our ability to emancipate ourselves from natural laws. We have forgotten that nature never forgives. In order to endure, society, as well as individuals, should conform to the laws of life. We cannot erect a house without a knowledge of the law of gravity. In order to be commanded, nature must be obeyed, said Bacon. The essential needs of the human being, the characteristics of his mind and organs, his relations with his environment, are easily subjected to scientific observation. The jurisdiction of science extends to all observable phenomena--the spiritual as well as the intellectual and the physiological. Man in his entirety can be apprehended by the scientific method. But the science of man differs from all other sciences. It must be synthetic as well as analytic, since man is simultaneously unity and multiplicity. This science alone is capable of giving birth to a technique for the construction of society. In the future organization of the individual and collective life of humanity, philosophical and social doctrines must give precedence to the positive knowledge of ourselves. Science, for the first time in the history of the world, brings to a tottering civilization the power to renovate itself and to continue its ascension. The necessity for this renovation is becoming more evident each year. Newspapers, magazines, cinema, and radio ceaselessly spread news illustrating the growing contrast between material progress and social disorder. The triumphs of science in some fields mask its impotence in others. For the marvels of technology, such as featured, for example, in the New York Worlds Fair, create comfort, simplify our existence, increase the rapidity of communications, put at our disposal quantities of new materials, synthesize chemical products that cure dangerous diseases as if by magic. But they fail to bring us economic security, happiness, moral sense, and peace. These royal gifts of science have burst like a thunderstorm upon us while we are still too ignorant to use them wisely. And they may become highly destructive. Will they not make war an unprecedented catastrophe? For they will be responsible for the death of millions of men who are the flower of civilization, for the destruction of priceless treasures accumulated by centuries of culture on the soil of Europe... Dr. Alexis Carrel, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER, in Man, The Unknown (New York, 15 June 1939 - 2 months before the start of WWII) soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030310carrel/carrell-toc.htm
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:49:45 +0000