In 1933 a Norwegian writer namely Peter Wessel Zapffe published an essay titled The Last Messiah. It turned out to be a classic one analysing one of the most profound questions faced by humanity. What causes suffering and what people do to overcome that? Suffering was one issue which troubled everyone since ancient times. Religions struggled hard to explain the reasons for suffering. Challenge was more for those religions which believed in a loving and merciful god. How can a loving god allow suffering ?
Peter Zapffe in his essay takes on the cause of suffering as well as the ways in which human beings face suffering. He discusses four ways adopted by man to reconcile with suffering. They are isolation, anchoring, distraction and sublimation. In isolation human beings repress the unpleasant and destructive thoughts. The second is known as anchoring which is characterised as a fixation of points within or construction of walls around. They include God, church, state, morality, fate, people etc. We also create goals and values and they act as a foundation for our everyday life. The third popular mode of protection is distraction. Here we use the external reality to turn our attention away. The fourth and the highest form of remedy is sublimation. In sublimation, through artistic gifts, the pain of living is converted into valuable experiences. Remember that some of the most valuable contributions to humanity have come from those who struggled the most. In the central thesis of the essay, Zapffe gives his reasons for human suffering and it holds immense significance for many of our contemporary crises.
The over evolved animal
Biologically, the human being is yet another animal with certain higher capacities. Out of all animals man who bears the marks of an advanced ape happens to be the most greedy and irresponsible animal. Coming to the idea of over evolution which Zapffe proposes that man is the tragedy of a species becoming unfit for life by over evolving. We have over evolved beyond the requirement of our
life had overshot its
target , blowing itself apart. Aspecies had been armed to heavily –by spirit made almightywithout , but equally a menace to itself.Its weapon was like asword , atwo edged blade cleavingeverything : he who is to wield must grasp the blade and turn the one edgetowards himself .
Now, this is the story of mankind’s plight. He has to live with a consciousness where he is fearful of life. He becomes aware of his mortality and helplessness and out of that panic he starts creating his defence mechanism to survive. He is condemned to march with a two-edged sword. If you look around and observe you will see the many manifestations of how man becomes the animal who marches with a two edged sword. None can write the story of mankind, without appreciating this paradox. The paradox of an animal whom Seneca described as mortal in his fears and immortal in his desires. An animal which has the power to unleash ultimate destruction as well as profound compassion.
Negotiating a complex life
Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom man appears to lead a much more complex life. His wants and concerns are much more diverse and demanding. Infant of no other species spends so much time learning things to lead a life. Man with his extraordinarily developed brain is able to conquer and subjugate all other species. Despite the physical weakness, mankind enjoys enormous power over all other species on account of his superior brain and capacity to plan and cooperate by using a written language. So even without wings, he is able to fly and do many more things. However as we have seen at the beginning, the ambition of the man itself is its bane. Imagine someone armed with an insane amount of power and using it recklessly. This possibility is the tragedy of man. The reality of man becoming a menace to himself. As long as we desire endless progress, endless consumption and endless comfort suffering is inevitable. All that we can aim is to minimise the damage. Look at these statistics. Every year traffic incidents kill around 16.5 lakh people worldwide. Diabetes and high sugar kill another 3.5 million and air pollution kills around 7 million globally. All these deaths are the price man pays for being a man. No animal need to negotiate these things. It takes much more responsibility on the road to avoid killing each other. It takes a refined mind to avoid polluting this planet. The enormous damage being done to the environment by human being would be the most important tragic story of our times. All the optimistic stories of mankind could be undone by the
Long after the traces of the human animal have disappeared, many of the species it is bent on destroying will still be around, along with others that have yet to spring up. The Earth will forget mankind. The play of life will go on.”
The future of man
The optimism on the future of man appears more grim now. The news coming from various parts of the world is not a very good one. According to UN world happiness report of 2018 , large majorities of people are feeling that their living conditions are getting worse. A lot of people think that their children are going to suffer more than them. Out of all species walking on earth, the man appears to be on a collision course with nature. There will be no future for mankind if it does not initiate a course correction. One thing is sure. We need to make the over-evolved man a responsible species. Human-animal always used to get away with minimum responsibility as there was none to question. Now he must understand that there is a responsibility towards his surroundings . While all other animals lead a life in harmony with nature, man is endowed with the weapons to violate nature at will. He has the capacity to upset the equilibrium and be selfish and indifferent. Now, this has to change and mankind has to come out of the illusion that this earth is only for him to enjoy. He has only as much right as that of all other animals. He has to balance the man and animal within him for the sake of his own future. Man has to avert the tragedy which James Lovelock presents in these words.
Humans on earth behave in ways like a pathogenic organism…the human species is so numerous as to constitute a serious planetary malady. A plague of people.
Now, this is the call for the over-evolved animal to take.
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