Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Ishmael:

1. “Okay. Man’s destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he’s done-almost. He hasn’t quite made it, and it looks as though this may be his undoing. The problem is that man’s conquest of the world has itself devastated the world.” (Quinn 80).

2. “Ishmael grunted. “Look, I can’t forbid you to say, ‘I have no idea’, but I do insist that you spend a few seconds thinking before you say it.” (Quinn 170).

3. “Ishmael frowned. “Of course it’s not enough. But if you begin anywhere else, there’s no hope at all. You can’t say, ‘We’re going to change the way people behave toward the world, but we’re not going to change the way they think about the world or the way they think about divine intentions in the world or the way they think about the destiny of man.’ As long as the people of your culture are convinced that the world belongs to them and that their divinely-appointed destiny is to conquer and rule it, then they are of course going to go on acting the way they’ve been acting for the past ten thousand years. They’re going to go on treating the world as if it were a piece of human property and they’re going to go on conquering it as if it were an adversary. You can’t change these things with laws. You must change people’s minds. And you can’t just root out a harmful complex of ideas and leave a void behind; you have to give people something that is as meaningful as what they’ve lost – something that makes better sense than the old horror of Man Supreme, wiping out everything on this planet that doesn’t serve his needs directly or indirectly.” (Quinn 249).

a. After reading this book, I do not necessarily have a different understanding of biological sciences but this book did make me think a lot about the simple things in life that we take for granted. Throughout this book Ishmael constantly brings up new questions and views about so many aspects of life and science that really make you question so many things in life. At one part in the book Ishmael tells a story about an anthropologist meeting a jellyfish. In this encounter, the anthropologist asks the jellyfish several questions about its creation. At the end of the jellyfish’s explanation, he says “But finally,” the creature said, turning quite pink with pride as he came to the climax of his story, “but finally jellyfish appeared!” (Quinn 56). This story taking place half a billion years ago, shows how the jellyfish thought that his kind was the end of evolution. This is the same situation today as well. If almost any human is asked about their creation, they will end with the same thing that the jellyfish ended with, themselves. This story, along with many others throughout the book, raises many questions about science, and whether or not we, just like all the others will become extinct.

Also when Ishmael is describing the meeting of the anthropologist and the jellyfish, he uses this quotation:

“You know, like your creation myth, if you have one.”

“What is a creation myth?” the creature asked.

“Oh, you know,” the anthropologist replied, “the fanciful tale you tell your children about the origins of the world.” (Quinn 54)

I personally find this quote intriguing. Its basically saying that every creature has it’s own story of how it was created. Humans themselves have hundreds of these stories, some say how God creates you and when you die you either go to heaven or hell, while others believe that you are constantly reincarnated, but all believe in some type of God that controls the humans. It makes me wonder what is the real truth behind the creation of humans? What is the real biological truth behind why we as humans are the dominant species and why we really have been placed on this Earth?

b. Like before, this book really just raises many questions about life in general. The world we live in is a place we think we know everything about and actually take for granted. In this book Ishmael refers to two groups of people, the takers and the leavers. Each of which make different choices and act differently when put in certain situations. In this book Ishmael uses both the takers and leavers to explain the world and his views. This actually ends up working out very well. The way that Ishmael explains his view using these two groups of people really helps us as the readers to understand the situation. In the end from Ishmael’s stories, we see that the creation of man may only be explained in one way, yet interpreted in thousands. His stories really make you wonder which way is the correct way to interpret and understand life overall. How did humans truly come about, and what is the destiny of our kind and of our individual lives as well?

c. I chose the second quote because I think it is the perfect explanation to how most people live their lives. Most people want to just be handed an answer instead of actually figuring it out for themselves. Ishmael, instead of just constantly giving the man the answers, makes him elaborate and think about why he just answered the question the way he did. Instead of simply saying no, and telling him the correct answer he gives him clues and helps him along in his explanations. When Ishmael tells him that he does “insist that you spend a few seconds thinking before you say it.” (Quinn 170), we are reminded that sometimes it is okay to take the time to work out a problem and really think before answering. This reminded me that in most cases, it is better to take a long time and get things right, rather than quickly answering and getting things wrong. From reading Ishmael I really learned that this Earth is not something to be taken for granted and it is not something that may always be here to support humanity, as we know it. Ishmael brings up points about our food supply and how it is the one thing we really don’t have control over. If something happens say a natural disaster for instance, knocking out our current food supply, where will we turn? Ishmael really just reminds us that we need to take the time out of our busy lives and complex schedules to remember that we truly are lucky to be where we are today. We really need to back up and take a look at the world we have created. We need to see if there is anything we can do to make it a better place, because as Ishmael’s poster states “WITH MAN GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR GORILLA?” and on the other side “WITH GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?” (Quinn 262-263).

d. Ishmael really brings an extremely powerful message. It incorporates several aspects of what we have been discussing throughout class. One major theme I saw in the book was the fact of changing the world. I choose the third quote because I believe it basically sums up everything that we have been discussing in class about how we would save the world. “As long as the people of your culture are convinced that the world belongs to them and that their divinely-appointed destiny is to conquer and rule it, then they are of course going to go on acting the way they’ve been acting for the past ten thousand years. They’re going to go on treating the world as if it were a piece of human property and they’re going to go on conquering it as if it were an adversary. You can’t change these things with laws. You must change people’s minds. And you can’t just root out a harmful complex of ideas and leave a void behind; you have to give people something that is as meaningful.” The fact that he states you can’t make change by simply incorporating new laws but you have to change people’s minds and in a meaningful way is exactly what we have been talking about. You can’t make a change and save the world by simply telling people they must do something, you have to give them a reason to want to change.

At another part of the book, Ishmael gives the man a scenario. He tells the man “Consider this. Let’s suppose you’re one of this nation’s homeless. Out of work, no skills, a wife the same, two kids. Nowhere to turn, no hope, no future. But I can give you a box with a button on it. Press the button and you’ll all be whisked instantly back to prerevolutionary times. You’ll all be able to speak the language, you’ll all have the skills everyone had then. You’ll never again have to worry about taking care of yourself and your family. You’ll have it made, you’ll be a part of that original affluent society.” (Quinn 221). And when Ishmael asks him if he would push the button he replied, “I don’t know. I have to doubt it.” To me this is a keen example of how people are not willing to go back in time. They simply are not willing about going back to a simpler time. We have talked continuously about energy and energy conservation, alternatives to our current ways and what will happen when our “cheap” energy really is no longer available. We described alternatives like just using simpler technology. Walk or even ride a bike rather than driving, use less electricity, try to use candles instead or lights, and even providing your own food rather than buying it from large chain producers. This man has nothing but lives in a time where technology is advanced and powerful. Even though he knows he has no future, he would rather stay in his circumstance he’s in simply because of the time period he’s living in. He would rather live in a technologically advanced period and have no hope and basically nothing than to return to a period where technology is not so advanced and have everything. Just as we discussed in class, people have become so accustomed to a “lifestyle” that they aren’t wiling to give it up no matter what the cost. Even if that is their planet they depend on for their own survival.

Ishmael describes how the takers tried to convince the hunter-gatherers that their life-style “Is not only wretched, it’s wrong. Man was not meant to live this way…help us turn the world into a paradise for man.’” (Quinn 221-222). Like we have constantly discussed in class, people are blinded to what the consequences of their actions, and don’t realize everything they do really does have a hidden price. Humans need to open their eyes and realize that this Earth is not only for them but also for all the creatures, and without these other creatures man would not exist.