Ishmael

Ishmael clarifies that the previous day’s lesson was about the nature of the Takers’ perception of the world, whereas today’s is about the destiny that this meaning creates for humanity. The narrator says that humanity’s destiny is to accomplish and create civilization, but Ishmael urges him to think more mythologically.

Ishmael asks the narrator to imagine the world without humanity, and the narrator does so, saying that he is viewing this imaginary world from space. Ishmael asks why he is not on the surface of the planet, and the narrator says that he is afraid of the wild animals living in the jungle of the Earth. From this, Ishmael shows how the Takers’ culture has a goal of creating order in the world. The wilderness is frightening and chaotic, and the Takers see humanity as the rulers of the world, intended to bring order and justice. The narrator understands, and Ishmael is dismayed that the narrator is not more enthusiastically impressed.

Ishmael notes that humanity could not simply arrange order in nature, instead needing to conquer it by force. Natural disasters, animals, and basic geographical limitations prevented, and currently prevent, humanity from establishing total control over reality, so humanity is perpetually trying to assert greater force and mastery over nature. The narrator is shocked by this revelation, as he sees how his culture repeats this phrasing of “conquering” or “controlling” natural elements, such as deserts, atoms, and outer space.

Ishmael asks the narrator how the beginning and middle of the Takers’ story tell them how things have come to be the way they are currently, and the narrator responds that humanity is fulfilling its destiny. Consequences to nature are seen as the price that must be paid for advancement, and advancement is needed to fulfill the story of the Takers’ culture. Ishmael comments, though, that this story is only the Takers’ perspective, as advancement does not need to come with damage to nature, noting that humanity has set itself as the enemy of nature.

Starting a new lesson, Ishmael asks for the end of the Takers’ story, and the narrator listens to the recording he made of the middle. Pushing forward, he says that humanity has damaged the world in attempting to control it, so now, they either need to destroy the world or develop complete mastery over it. The Takers’ belief is that they can take complete control of all natural processes and create a paradise. From there, humanity can expand beyond the Earth and conquer the entire universe.

Ishmael summarizes the Takers’ story as a prophecy that the world was created for humanity, and humanity was created to rule the world and turn it into paradise. However, he notes that there is a contradiction missing in this summary. The narrator assumes that Ishmael means the problems of pollution and destruction of nature. Ishmael notes, though, that humanity did not know about these issues until recently, while the contradiction has always been present. The narrator and Ishmael agree that the contradiction is humanity as a flawed creation, destined to err in their attempts at creating paradise.

The narrator questions whether Ishmael thinks there is something fundamentally wrong with humanity, and Ishmael notes that there is no point in arguing with a myth. Instead, he comments that humanity is flawed because they are enacting a story in which they are flawed. Likewise, if humanity were enacting a story that worked with the world, then there would be no contradiction with nature. However, since the Takers see themselves as foes of the world, destined to conquer it, they are fated in that story to destroy the world.

Ishmael says that the narrator has now constructed a sufficient mosaic of the Takers’ worldview, but one element is missing: prophets. Ishmael notes how frequently Takers refer to prophets in religion for answers on broad questions of how to live and act. The narrator says that this is because definite knowledge on morality and ethics is unobtainable, acknowledging that this, too, is part of Taker culture. Ishmael finds this odd, asking if there is any branch of science or study devoted to finding out if there is definite knowledge on how best to live. The narrator agrees that it is odd, but they both claim that there is no such study.

Ishmael wonders if the lack of absolute knowledge on how to live is connected to the element of the Takers’ story that humanity is flawed. The narrator agrees, noting that humanity would not fail to make paradise if they were able to figure out the best way to attain it.

Ishmael acknowledges the futility of the Takers’ story, noting how it does not seem to allow for any possibility but to watch the world be destroyed by humanity. He claims that this futility is the reason for widespread addiction to drugs and media, as well as suicide, and the narrator asks if there is another story that humanity could enact. Ishmael responds that another story exists, but the Takers are actively trying to destroy that, as well.

Ishmael recounts what they have covered in the day’s lesson, noting how the things they have discussed are taken for granted in Taker culture. The narrator agrees that Ishmael needs to point him directly at these ideas to get him to see them at all. Ishmael claims that Mother Culture has told the narrator not to look for knowledge of how best to live, but he plans to look for that knowledge in their next lesson.

Ishmael starts the new lesson by discussing how Taker culture does not acknowledge the possibility of objective morality. The narrator agrees with this stance, asserting that there are no laws inherent in nature on how best to live. Ishmael compares this situation to early attempts by humans at flying, at which point the narrator notes that there are physical laws, such as those of aerodynamics, which enable humans to fly. Ishmael responds that early attempts at flying were made without knowledge of these laws, instead proceeding by trial and error until the laws were discovered, and that he intends to proceed in the same manner regarding morality.

Ishmael asks where humans discovered the laws of gravity, and the narrator explains that gravity was discovered by studying matter. Still considering where one might discover the laws of behavior, the narrator suggests fields like anthropology, but Ishmael notes that humans are part of a broader community of life. He suggests that studying how animals behave could inform human behavior, but the narrator says that Taker culture marks humanity as exempt from the laws governing the behavior of animals. Ishmael asks if humans are exempt from any other natural laws, like gravity, and the narrator responds that they are not. Laws relating to flight, though, did not become relevant until humans wanted to fly, so Ishmael suggests that laws governing behavior will not become relevant until humanity needs them to survive.

The narrator finds it hard to believe that biologists have not discovered the laws of behavior that Ishmael is going to explain, and Ishmael notes that Mother Culture tells biologists, too, that humans are exempt from these laws. He claims that Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity was not astounding at the time, since everyone knew about gravity to some extent already. His contribution was in recording gravity as a law of nature, thus codifying it in human understanding.

In the same way that gravity is not a law of flight, but a law that influences flight, Ishmael says the law of behavior is not a law governing humans, specifically, but one that governs all animal behavior, including humans, regardless of specific civilizations. Because this law applies to all species, humanity has always seen itself as exempt from the rule.

Ishmael pauses, then tells the narrator that the gods played tricks on the Takers. The first was not making the Earth the center of the universe, but the Takers have adjusted to this fact. The second was having humanity evolve from other animal life, a fact Takers are still struggling to accept. The third, though, is that humanity is not exempt from the laws of nature, and Ishmael predicts that the Takers will not be able to adapt to this fact. Ishmael says that he is trying, as Newton did with gravity, to explain how a law is already in operation around them, and this law explains how and why things have developed in the manner that they have throughout human history. When species obey the laws of nature, Ishmael claims, they live forever, provided conditions remain the same, and if they disobey, they quickly go extinct.

Ishmael details a hypothetical attempt at flight in an early plane design that involves flapping wings with pedals like a bicycle. When the man in the plane first jumps off a cliff, he thinks he is flying. He sees wrecked planes on the ground below him, but he does not understand why they did not work. Because he does not understand gravity and aerodynamics, he does not understand why his plane does not work either. As he notices that he is falling to the ground, he consistently thinks to himself that he just needs to pedal harder to keep flying, but he is destined to wreck like the rest.

Ishmael says this scenario is just like human civilization, which took off without knowing the rules of living in accord with nature. Ishmael calls the Taker civilization the “Taker Thunderbolt.” Despite failed civilizations—Ishmael cites the Maya, Hohokam, and Anasazi—and warnings from men like Robert Wallace and Thomas Malthus about impending disaster and starvation, Takers insist on continued faith in the civilization, claiming that it has brought them this far and will continue to keep them safe. Ishmael claims that civilization, as humanity has designed it, will cause them to crash, just as the design of the plane causes the hypothetical pilot to crash. The narrator comments that the survivors of the crash of civilization will likely start over in the same manner as the current civilization, leading to another disaster in the future, and Ishmael agrees.