Some may wonder why I have written this book.

When living ones life one wants to have a legacy. I have no children, no fortune. But I hope to leave something to the world that may be useful. It troubles me the things that are going on in the world. The USA exerts its influence throughout the world based on violence.

Sometimes I’m not sure whether this is the way things naturally are human nature based on violence or whether this is a particular American invention. I think to answer this one needs to look at history. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that some cultures have lived in peace but have been supplanted by the more violent cultures.

To put things another way is human behavior especially United State’s weltanschauung typical of the human species at large or is it just part of United States culture?

An even more important question is is violent behavior part of our genetic endowment or is it part of social conditioning? This is an important question. The world has reached a threshold where we find ourselves facing each other with ever more violent weapons. Was this outcome necessary that is is this outcome a part of our human nature? Or is this part of our teachings?

We find ourselves at every turn having this ideology of force and violence used against us. As children we are called sissies or even “fags” if we show any compassion for our fellow human beings.

But history is notable for relatively peaceful attitudes outlooks and behaviors toward the world. A good example are the Buddhists or some US Indigenous nations.

Yet in the US such an attitude is looked at as being soft and in some cases when violence is used against such peaceful inhabitants this is looked upon as being justified a sort of Darwinism where the conquering people are doing the human species a service. Of course such things were not what Darwin intended at all

Now the world is surrounded by saber rattling nations vowing “justice”. Certainly if this is the makeup of the human species then this must be part of our genetic endowment. But if one considers the matter one finds that those nations that do not pursue war and do not produce weapons fall easy prey to those that have these sinister weapons. With the attitude of pillage and plunder these peaceful people are overthrown and destroyed.

Yet the question is is this peaceful nature the “natural” outcome of human behavior. In other words is this behavior some part of our genetic endowment, or is it the case now that the former “peaceful” members of the world are eliminated perhaps eliminating this gene?

If one takes the twisted Darwinistic perspective promoted by the violent peoples of the world then one finds that while violent behavior may have been justified at some point in our history that is from an egoistic perspective that this is not the case now, as many nations possess weapons which we can use to annihilate each other.

So if the human species is determined by our genes then we are about to jump off the cliff like lemmings to perish from our own weapons as in science fiction where humans are overthrown by robots their own invention which comes to destroy them.

First of all we must decide if there is some sort of “violence” gene. Secondly the question is is there a corresponding “peace” gene. Thirdly has the peace gene been eliminated from the genome by the violence prone peoples of the world? Finally if the foregoing is not true then is human behavior not determined by our genetic endowment but is rather a learned behavior, then there is hope for humankind. Otherwise it seems all is lost.

It’s hard to know if this aspect of human behavior is genetic or learned. Nevertheless examining racism it is clear that the genetic endowment between humans varies little. There is no characteristic except for example skin color or our hair characteristics that makes us different intrinsically as human beings. In other words these differences are inconsequential and to assert that these characteristics are a significant difference amounts to bias and in some cases racism.

If one needs more evidence for this then one only needs to trace blood types through human groups to discover that there is no “genetic” characteristic that differentiates humans essentially according to this. So it seems unlikely that we are predetermined to exhibit violent behavior to other humans, or that this supposed peaceful “gene” has been wiped out in the act of Social Darwinism.

Or if it is in fact the case that there is a gene that determines human behavior especially violent behavior toward other humans then there is a gene for peaceful peoples in our past and that even peoples that are peaceful that exist today. So it is the case or at least it may be hoped that it is the case that the human species have the ability to coexist with other peoples of the world without the necessity of destroying them if this peaceful gene can be preserved.

So perhaps then we should rejoice there is hope!

But perhaps there is not any hope at all. That even if this behavior is not part of our essence but rather part of the learned experience that people can be brought to realize their own self interest. Certainly the human species must be saved!

But when one realizes that we are simply the result of the primordial chain of life, that as we came into existence as a specie, too we certainly will perish or at least become something uniquely different from today. Perhaps our influence will be felt for millions of years as the birds have in which many feel they are descendents of the dinosaurs.

But is it important for the human species to continue to exist? What if we were to become extinct as other species eventually do? Does nature care? Does God care if we exist?

If you take the religious perspective we are the creation of God in God’s image. Our existence is valuable as an extension of God’s creation and in a sense all are chosen by God. As with Aristotle where the planets made circles around the earth or Ptolemy where the planets too revolved around the earth or Copernicus where the solar system was heliocentric but our solar system still was at the center of all. And with Einstein we find that at every point in space that point is the center in reference to itself as all things are.

This vanity of the human species as being in some sense divine in nature is quickly being wiped out by science as it becomes clear that we are just another species in the primordial chain of being that began with the Big Bang and subsequently is acting out of dynamism of the hydrogen atom.

So does the universe or “God” care about us as a species? Are we favored in any way by the expanse of all in which we live? Or are we simply the unfolding of an infinite chain of being which continues on and on.

Not only is the question about whether or not we are simply a part of the cosmic order that cares nothing about us, but rather should we care whether the universe cares about us or even should we care about ourselves?

If we blow ourselves up does the earth care? If we irradiate the planet does the planet care? It seems not. Should we care? Are we important enough to preserve for anything at all? If not it doesn’t matter what kind of wholesale slaughter takes place what sort of genocide occurs? It seems that this ultimately is the decision of the primordial chain of being. Like a bouncing ball if one kicks it it moves in a certain direction determined by the physical properties of kinesis.

So as we are barreling down the path of life if we are determined by our “violent” genes the question is not only can we change it but is it worth changing?

The question becomes important that are we really free? If we are not free this question is important in many respects. If we are not free then we cannot change the path that humans are transversing and also if we are determined like an insane man cannot be found culpable of a crime we cannot talk about the ethical proscriptions about whether we are “worth” saving.

So if we have this violent gene or not, it matters not if we are not free. So should we find freedom? Or must we find it? It seems we must grasp at freedom out of the same egoistic desire which dooms us down this primordial chain of being. We should ask not why we should have freedom but rather does freedom exist? Otherwise what’s the point?

We should not decide this question out of a desire to justify our own existence, to do so would skew the question that is if we are matter following certain universal laws or that we are in fact free thinking beings.

But this brings us back to our original question. Are we determined and do we have a violent gene or not? Are we destined to bring about our own extinction or can the world be saved and also are we worth saving?

If we can in fact save ourselves we must be free to do so. And if we are free to do so then it seems we do have moral worth. So if we can save ourselves then we have moral worth.

It is my belief that the human specie is worth saving. It is also my belief that it is possible to save it. And if we are free then we are in fact able to act morally. If we are able to act morally then we can end violence against our brothers and sisters. In fact we must do that. Otherwise we cannot save ourselves and even more importantly we are not worth saving and therefore are not moral beings.

If we are free thinking this then makes us human endowed with this gift of creation by God or the infinite. If we are able to save ourselves it seems then we are worth saving otherwise it matters not our extinction and it seems nothing has been lost.

Following then in my work includes a justification for the positing of human freedom and an importance for our being in the world. A justification for our existence is in the infinite universe in this wide expanse where we would be easily lost in its enormity.

In order to change we must believe in something otherwise the outcome matters not. Whether this is science, or God, or the Infinite this belief enables us to fulfill what seems to be our destiny. That destiny is to survive and flourish, to reproduce and change to adapt as the world changes, to prevail throughout the mountains and fissures of the world as they present themselves.

To believe presupposes freedom and to be free justifies our existence and our importance. To be free enables us to join hands and face the future together not moving toward extinction or to be swept off the world by a divine hand but rather to find our place in the cosmos among the suns and planets and the other solar systems and stars and perhaps other species of distant worlds crying out for meaning. To be free implies our ability to survive. This ability to survive proves our moral integrity. This is human dignity.

Lets then stand firmly on the earth and affirm our existence for to do not is for naught.