The Human Experience; Truth

In the beginning of the Humanities Honors course we were taught about the left and right hemispheres of the brain, metaphors, symbolism, written and oral language, forms of storytelling, and how different cultures experience time. Throughout this introductory unit, as a class, we used many references to help comprehend the concepts. There were three texts in particular that stood out and related the most to the concepts in this unit; the Genesis, Australia's Aborigines, and  Native American Myths. The Genesis is the story of the creation of the world, every kind of living creature, and lastly the creation of man and woman. This story is a large part of the human experience, it gives us a "truth" of how everything came about on this Earth and how we experience and understand it all. Another text that helped in the comprehension of the world was Australia's Aborigines. The film and the readings explored their relationship with the natural world, the meaning behind their process of making art and the actual art pieces themselves, their traditions, as well as their experience of dream time. The Aborigines dream time experiences teach them the history of creation (time of Genesis). It also explores the connection between humans and the natural world. Native American myths are similar in making connections to the natural world through symbolism. A good example of this would be from a text read during class called "Earthdivers and Creators". The purpose of this myth is to learn how Earth was created and also how humans came to exist on it. These myths show the closer connection to the natural world than humans have today. The introductory unit was very important in the comprehension of the human experience because we learned how various cultures interpret different ways of the creation of Earth and human beings.

The second unit our class explored was all about humans, nature (the natural world), and what humans consider a sacred space to be. A connection was made between these three subjects as well as our knowledge of the greater meaning of this holy connection. In this unit, there was one film in particular that made a unique connection between a human, the natural world (specifically bears and the Alaskan wilderness), and how this Alaskan space was a space this man considered to be sacred; that film was Grizzly Man. Timothy Treadwell, as we learned from this movie, believed that the role of human beings in the natural world is being caretakers for animals. He would travel and camp all over Alaska to care and watch over the bears that inhabited this space. Treadwell's peace of mind and happiness both stemmed from beings in Alaska and being one with the bears native to that space. He considered this part of Alaska his sacred space; a place where he could escape from the modern world, relax and enjoy his life. Although Timothy Treadwell was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear, he raised a lot of awareness to the natural world. The text and play, The Tempest also brings up an interesting awareness to that same connection, although just opposite. A recurring theme in this play is how the human culture is the theory that humans are not one with the natural world, but in fact above it. The idea of nature is a monstrosity because it is unknown and unusual. The definition of "monstrosity" is also a major recurring theme throughout this play; the difficulty the humans have distinguishing men from monsters. The theory that humans are above nature is a complete opposite theory than that of Treadwell's, but in the text, Toward Climax (written by Gary Synder) we see the evolution of this theory. Snyder writes of the decline of human's close connection to nature. Humans slowly started losing that connection when we made our first sounds, then later our first words. Next, written language made the biggest gap between humans and the natural world. This unit really gave us a good glimpse at what humans relationship should be like with the natural world and what it unfortunately looks like today.

Out of all the units, the love and beauty one is by far my favorite. We discussed the role that beauty plays in a person's feeling of love for another. In class we studied quite a number of philosophers that have their own themes of aesthetics, but one in particular stood apart from the rest to me and that philosopher was Kant. Kant has a very interesting and understandable theory about aesthetics. He believes that beauty is a judgment that is based on feeling, and specifically, the feeling of pleasure or displeasure. In his "Critique of Aesthetic Judgment" he discusses topics such as "fine art" or "beautiful art" and "genius". The most distinctive part of Kant's aesthetic theory is his account of pure judgments of beauty; which is his belief that the natural world has aesthetic appeal. This theory was very interesting to me, especially after reading the novel, Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray is a story of a beautiful, innocent, young man's seduction, moral corruption, and eventual downfall. A beautiful portrait was painted of him before meeting Lord Henry. By the end of the novel, Lord Henry has negatively influenced Dorian so much that when Dorian again faces his portrait, he is no longer able to see a beautiful man, but instead an evil and distorted one. Dorian becomes so incredibly distraught that he stabs the portrait and then himself. The movie, The Shape of Things, has a similar story to that of Dorian Gray. Adam, a not so beautiful, innocent man becomes negatively influenced upon meeting Evelyn. She convinces him to change his appearance, from his clothing and hairstyle to his drastic nose surgery. After his aesthetics improvements, Adam's attitude changes from shy to outgoing and not confident to self-absorbed. In the end of the film, Evelyn reveals that Adam was nothing more than a thesis project. After the heartbreaking news, Adam is left alone in the gallery that showcases the bits and pieces of his ruined life. Both Dorian Gray and Adam's beauty becomes their weakness; the weakness that led them both to their life ending or life changing downfall. In relation to the experience of humans, aesthetics should not play such a large role in our society. Almost everything nowadays is a fake beautiful, enhanced either by photo shop or makeup. Natural beauty is what aesthetic beauty should really be judged by.

Throughout the law and ethics unit, our class did a lot of work on universal moral law and social control. Ethics is a system of moral principles and morality is knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Human beings use various references when figuring out their own set of personal morals. They may be influenced from the parents' morals (how the person was raised), religious morals or they may be decided through society's view of what is right or wrong. As a class, we viewed and studied the ten commandments, Sermon on the Mount, and the Eightfold Path. Each of those text examples are religious, but back in the early decades, religious morals was what societies were based off of. The ten commandments are simply; do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbor, do not covet your neighbor's property, keep the sabbath, always honor your parents, do not use the lord's name in vain, do not worship other Gods, and lastly do not make any idols. The Eightfold Path is very similar, but goes into further detail than the ten commandments do. The Eightfold Path consists of the concepts; right understanding, right thought, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration (single-mindedness). In Buddhism, life means suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable, and the path to the cessation of suffering. Most of these concepts are the law, such as do not kill, and do not steal. Those concepts as well as the others are principle, depending on if they are within your personal morals. Morals are crucial to the experience of human beings. If humans did not feel remorse or guilt for a wrong doing, nothing would separate us from animals. Human beings distinctive quality is that feeling of emotion, without it we are no different from any other creature on this Earth.

The Answer is 42

The experience of being human is very vague and hard to define. That is why any explanation must start with the very basic of how humans think. In his book, Alphabet of the Goddess, Leonard Shlain explains the different responsibilities and purpose of each hemisphere of the brain. "The right sphere integrates feelings, recognizes images, and appreciates music... synthesizing multiple converging determinants so... the mind can rasp the sense's inputs all at once." The right hemephere is the oldest and first developed. It interprets gesture, expression, intonation, and intuition. It is emotional and has no words. it is undefinable directly so the left hemisphere, in charge of logic , order, and language, must try to convert emotion into words through metaphor. This ability to connect the unconnected on a very basic level is human. From these connections come integrated things like art, music, and language. It is this ability of metaphor that allows cultures to have a voice and create.  God, a brief History says that art is a type of language, the expression of emotion  and the intangible to into other visible left brain-ish type of physical expression. Raven Armstrong, in a Short History of Myth, says myth lets us cope with anxiety, deal with trauma and explain those inexplicable emotions much like art or language. The connection humans make through metaphor is a crucial and basic component to the human experience.

Another basic component to being human is humanities' relationship to nature or more exactly degree of cultural estrangement from the natural world. The National Geographic's Australian Aborigines film shows that unlike western society, they do not feel dominant over nature. Their deities come from nature and their ancestors inhabit the very earth we walk upon. The Human- Nature Relation, however quite clearly puts western views that nature is an alien place of temptation that must be dominated. Genesis 2 even states that Adam named nature, and therefore it belongs to him. The conquering or integrating of nature in society greatly reflects human culture. How Art Made the World talks of different times view of owning, abusing, and controlling nature in the west and demonstrates that our environment has always housed the human experience and therefore has a major role in shaping it.

This next component is a combination of  human emotion and cultural standard, love and beauty. Love,has captivated humanity since the beginning. Plato's symposium claims that love is logical and the desire for the good and a force between god and man. Love desires wisdom, order and the true world of ideals. Love is also a type of immortality. To Ficino, Love comes from god and creates order out of chaos. whatever it is, humanity obsesses over this feeling we call love and a part of the human experience is trying to find and define it. Beauty,  is a different matter, it is both cultural and transcendent of culture. Kant calls it an adjective tat an object possesses, Oscar Wilde sees the destruction false over and outer beauty cause , and Nietzsche says its pleasure.  Humans want to experience the awe that comes from natural beauty and want to feel an overpowering love. The search for both, whether we realize it or not also guides and determines our lives.

Every culture has their own set of Laws and own standard or ethics. It is this universality that renders law and ethics vital to the definition of the human experience. The connection of law and ethics to a deity is also note worthy. Whether it be the Ten Commandments of Judaism or the Buddhist Precepts the rules against killing and harming others is a constant. the question of "do we have a moral obligation to others?" plague every society and at some level every individual. Ayn Rand says we have an obligation to help ourselves first, Mills says that we must think of everyone else. This conflict of morality guides the way humans live life and are also a personal combination of culture, tradition, faith, and personal beliefs. But as ethics and laws guide our life, they are very important.

Finally, the meaning of human experience. the question am ruminating on right now. Myth tells of the hero's journey and the interview The Hero's Journey explains that this mythological plot of descending into the unknown and emerging from the abyss changed pertains to every individual not just Luke Skywalker or Odysseus. This hero's journey is a universal for every human and every person has there own. The myths of the past aid us but as we are alone in this outer or inner journey it's life changing and therefore important to the human experience. Shakespeare's Hamlet also explores one hero's journey of confronting morality. Not a physical journey but an intellectual one. His decent into revenge and the contemplation of life ends in eventual acceptance of death. We all, as people, have our own transformations. Whether it be switching roles from child to adult or something more literal along the lines of  The Epic of Gilgamesh it is something experienced by all and therefore a defining point of existence.  

    

    

What It Means To Be Human

Being human is something unique. We are the only creatures that can express ourselves and think about the world around us. Through human experience we learn how to adapt and to survive, and through that we also express how we did it too. It is these qualities that make us who we are, and what we offer to the rest of the world.

Humans never really skim over things. We always are looking for meaning, and truth. We wouldn't be able to do this without using our minds. Even though the mind is a single thing, it has two parts; the left and the right, which "control" some human qualities. The right side of the brain is the more artistic side, which involves emotions, music, intuition, imagination, and being. The left side is the more intellectual side, and involves, mathematics, writing, linear thinking, analysis, and doing. These two parts are essential in making a human a being like no other. It's not just the brain that makes us human, but how we use it. In the collage excersize, we analyzed photos on the board and had to interpret the people's facial expressions and body language to make a conclusion on what makes human beings have universal expressions. The other activity we did was the symbolic activity, in which everyone had to bring an object that was had meaning to them, and we as a class analyzed the universal meanings to the personal meanings.  It is through symbols and analyzing that humans are able to make connections with the outside world.

Every animal has some sort of "territory," but humans have something else called sacred space. It can be anything, a religious structure, a forest, etc... The sacred space project had just few of the sacred spaces that are known to humans. The one structure that our group did was the Brihadeeswara Temple. The temple was a place for Hindu worship and was definitely a very sacred spot. Some places were inaccessible to non-Hindu worshipers, because it was so sacred. It's not just buildings that are sacred to humans. In the Aborigines movie the Aborigines land was extremely sacred, and full of good and bad "spirits." The culture itself was very religious in everything they did. In the Tempest the island was a sacred spot and a connection of nature to Prospero who guarded the island. Through the whole story Prospero manipulates those who have done him wrong with his magic powers, and in the end he ends up resolving the problems he had and decides to leave the island with them. The connection with sacred spaces and humans is that we hold them dear to us and we have new experiences and feeling when inside a sacred space.    

Humans, unlike many creatures can feel love. Not only that, but we are capable of finding beauty in things that other creatures are unable to see, such as a sunset. It's not just the ability to see art that humans are able to do, but we can also create art. In the Ancient Sculpture bookwork, they showed the evolution of art as times and culture change. It also showed how various places around the world defined beauty, such as women having protruding stomachs and big thighs. In How Art Made the World movie, it showed ow beauty is seen in specific time periods, and what makes humans portray themselves differently. For example, when they talked about the Egyptian and how their art is not realistic at all, they wondered why humans back then were making them this way. They figured out that the Egyptians had a grid-like system that was used in every piece of their art. This showed that they wanted everyone to look exactly the same. In All the Mornings of the World, there is a different type of art, and that is music. Sainte Columbe's playing of the viole was moving, and gave the audience a whole new meaning of art. He would constantly talk about those that just imitate songs, but could never play music. Through all different experiences and emotions, humans are able to create all types of art which makes us like no other being.

It is not just our feeling and experiences that make us human, but what laws and ethics that we have. In nature, there are no laws or ethics that creature abide by, and as humans we do not agree. We all have universal laws and societal laws. In The Stranger the main character had no code of ethics which made him seem like a emotionless "monster." Even when he killed a man he felt no remorse or felt that he didn't do anything wrong. Though the character was not likable by readers, he was symbolic proof that we need ethics and morals. Not only is there laws in society, but in religion as well. In The Ten Commandment, Sermon on the Mount, Holiness Code, and the Eightfold Path there are very similar laws that followers abide and some that are very different. Though three of the passages from the list are from the Bible they all have different laws, and some that are the same as the Eightfold Path, which shows that these laws are universal. There are those who sometimes question ethics and laws, and those are philosophers. For instance, Ayn Rand thought that everyone should look our for themselves and not to care for those around them. If society followed that type of teaching, we wouldn't have many laws or ethics. Humans need laws and ethics to keep balance in our lives and to know from right and wrong.

Humans huge question is where will we go when we die? This is where the inner journey and meaning of human existence comes from. Some people think that no matter what we do we will die and there will be nothing more, but others believe that if we do good deeds and live a pious life we shall seek eternal life. In the hero's journey a person must travel alone to some far away land and into the "abyss" and then come back as a hero. Not only do they gain knowledge of the world, but they contribute to human kind and learn about their true selves. In Hamlet, he would constantly talk about how humans, no matter how great they were always end up being worm food. Though he struggled with this reality he finally accepts this when he is faced with possible death. It is not just myths and legends that the hero's journey occurs, but to every day people who want to face the treacherous journey. We have the hero's journey to not only keep records of myths, but to give us a sort of "guideline" to live our lives as heroes. Not only would this be a noble way of living, but it would make a person feel good about what they have contributed to the existence of humans.

Humanity is a circle

    Being human means many different things depending on the perspective. During the introductory unit we looked at what it means to be human in the context of the purpose of the hemispheres of the brain, writing and oral language, and various forms of storytelling. In the textbook introduction we read about the differences between the sciences and the humanities, as well as how people perceive art. This has to do with the experience of being human, because in order to lead a balanced and well educated life, one must open themselves up to both aspects of the world. We must have the ability to view art, and we also must have the ability to understand sciences. According to Shlain both the right and left hemispheres have designated purposes, and some tasks require usage of both. Cognitive thinking is a key part of being human, in fact that’s what separates humans from other creatures. Some people have stronger right brain tendencies, meaning they are stronger in fields such the arts, and design. Other people have stronger left brain  traits, and those people tend to be stronger in fields such as math and science.  It’s also possible to have balanced strength between the two hemispheres. The differences in strength helps build a diverse population. In class we experienced storytelling in three different formats, audio, visual, and oral. All three types were different experiences for me as a reader. Being able to experience and process various formats of storytelling is a key part of being a human. Storytelling has been a key part of history for thousands of years, more specifically oral storytelling. Without it we may not have the knowledge of native American traditions that we do.  The information we learned in the unit helps us understand the basic concepts that make us human.
    During the nature unit we explored the role that nature and sacred space plays in humanity. In the Calicott reading he discussed the difference between the native American view on nature, as well as the European view on nature. Europeans view nature as something to be possessed, whereas the Native Americans view it as a live being, and something to be protected. Nature is part of the world we live in and part of the human experience is interacting with nature. Depending on the view of the individual that experience with nature could be moving, if the person has a more Native American view, and if the person has a European view on nature than they would probably view their interaction with nature as an opportunity for power. Timothy Treadwell definitely had a Native American view on nature. He believed that the grizzly maze were a part of him, and when faced with death he chose not to kill the bear that was consuming him alive. Part of the human experience is having something you’d be willing to die for, and while Timothy’s something was a little out there he still had a human experience. Werner Herzog had a very opposing view on nature. He believed that nature is something that should be left alone and undisturbed. He believes that animals don’t have souls, and that they are simply carnivorous monsters. Both Timothy and Werner had opposing views on the role of humans within nature, but the thing that they both had in common was that they had a view. They had experienced the world around them in some context.  We all live on the same earth. We all play some role in the world around us, and as humans we have a responsibility to be involved in the natural world in some way or another. Whether it’s the European influenced agriculture, or the Native American influenced belief of conservation, we as humans have an obligation to nature.
    Beauty and love are two things as humans we crave. Some people go to extreme lengths to become beautiful, others are blessed with beauty and seek to preserve it. Throughout history the perception of beauty has changed. In the film How Art Made the World: More Human Than Human, we saw how in art throughout history the way we perceive beauty has changed. During prehistoric times men perceived larger hips, and swollen reproductive organs as beautiful because during that time everyone was starving and largeness symbolized fertility and health. In today’s society the perception of beautiful is very unrealistic, and distorted. Women who are 5’ 10” and weigh 110 pounds are considered the embodiment of beauty. Everyone is different and we can’t expect everyone to meet the standard upheld by women on the cover of Vogue. As humans we all have insecurities about our bodies, but we should be teaching women to embrace those insecurities instead of going to drastic measures to alter them.  In The Shape of Things, Adam’s exterior was manipulated by Evelyn. She used a man’s greatest biological weakness, sex, to get him to do things he never would have done otherwise. She lead him to believe that he would be more sexually attractive to him if he lost weight, got a nose job, and changed his sense of style. We are all guilty of changing some part of ourselves for another person at some point in our lives. Sometimes that change can be for the better, if and only if the person making the change consents to it. If the change is something that’s forced or if the person doesn’t feel it’s necessary than that is wrong. There are so many people out there that if someone is leading you to believe that they won’t love you unless you lose 20 pounds they aren’t worth it. Love is something that is amazing to experience. If the pull of love is strong enough it has the power to transform even the strongest man into a lovesick puppy. It also has the power to break people.  In the Egyptian love poem Pleasant Songs of the Sweetheart Who Meets You in the Fields the writer describes herself as being blinded by the love she feels for her love, but then he leaves and she is nothing without him. She lays waiting for him years after he left. As humans it is crucial for us to have some sort of love in our life. It’s an instinct rooted deep within our nature. We are aware of the pain that love can bring however, but the instinct to love is so powerful that we ignore it. The perception of beauty has changed throughout history, but love is one emotion that has remained a constant part of human existence.
    There are laws established by society that we must obey in order to maintain a productive society. We have unwritten ethical codes to maintain a morally right society. Various religions have their own ethical codes in order to maintain a good standing with god. The Ten Commandments are probably the most well known religious rules. They have long been the moral compass for both religious and nonreligious people alike. It is common knowledge not to cheat on one’s spouse, as well as not to steal. Some people disregard the moral rules, and ethics that are understood in our society, but most people unconsciously obey them, because it’s simply how it’s done. However are we obligated to follow those rules? Some people don’t think so. In The Stranger Mersault kills a man with little to no remorse. Does that make him immoral ? In the eyes of god yes. As humans we must make decisions on a daily basis regarding our morals. Part of being human is living with the consequences of the choices we make. In Buddhism, there are laws similar to the ten commandments that one must follow in order to achieve enlightenment. The laws are very strict, but for a purpose. Enlightenment is the highest honor one can achieve and must be made difficult to ensure only the most morally right people can achieve the most prestigious religious honor. Not everyone will get there, because not everyone is morally sound, just like in our society how not everyone will graduate Summa Cum Laude, and not everyone will be president. The highest honors people can achieve come to those who work the hardest. Life is not black and white, right and wrong, there are lots of gray areas, it’s a matter of making the choices that are best for you and the life you want to lead.
    The Inner Journey and the Meaning of human existence is a unit that everyone in this class can relate to on some level. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Hamlet experienced a hero’s journey. He avenged his father’s death, by killing his manipulative and murderous uncle. A key part to his journey was that he experienced it on his own. He alone killed his uncle and lost his own live in the process. Not everyone is going to be a hero like Hamlet or Luke Skywalker in Starwars, but that doesn’t make our existence any less important. We all need to strive for happiness within our own life. In the film The Hero’s Journey Bill Moyer interviews Joseph Campbell a famous Mythologist, and Bill Moyer discusses how we need to be able to understand and cope with death. Some people may view that as morbid, but I don’t believe that is meant to be that way. No one is immortal. At some point we are going to be faced with our mortality, and I believe that by understanding that death is imminent, we will be able to live much fuller lives. We should all ask ourselves what we want to see when we look back on our lives 50 years from now. Being human isn’t easy, and not everyone is going to be a hero, but that does not mean life is a waste. The best thing we can do as humans is live our lives and try to experience as much as we can.

HungryHumanHumanitiesHyperHippo

When starting Humanities, the first question we were faced with was: “What made humans human?” One theory was communication. It could have started with language, oral then written. Communication between humans is due to the human brain. Shlain examined the two hemispheres of the brain. The right brain is instinctual, which is the more like an animal. While in the left hemisphere seems more developed by helping us speak and think linearly. The progression of human brain development allowed storytelling and creative thought to become expressed. Storytelling has been the oldest past times of humans.

The nature and sacred space unit examined the human relationship nature. In the film Grizzly Man, the main character, Timothy Treadwell, found peace in Alaska among the grizzly bears. He had a deep connection to the land and animals. The documentary Australia’s Aborigines, the oldest native tribe of Australia was dying out. They worshiped the land and animals. The last play of Shakespeare The Tempest, took place on a dessert island. Prospero, a former king and his daughter lived there.

Love and Beauty is essential to the human experience. Beauty gives humans both subjective and objective opinions on what to call beautiful. In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is obsessed with his beauty and the desire to keep it forever. Dorian was influenced to have a disregard of morals by Lord Henry. Dorian became morally corrupt and succumbed to it. Similar to the possession and beauty aspect to the Picture Dorian Gray, The film The Shape of Things takes place in college. The main character Adam was fat and unattractive until a young woman came along and persuaded him to change ever aspect of his life. While those two references concern on physical beauty, the film All the Mornings of the World shows a father and his two daughters entranced by the beauty of music.

Law and Ethics involve what you should do and what you have to follow. Genesis is the first story of the Bible, it tells how the earth was made and the first humans to exist, how Christians believe it. Adam and Eve were the first male and female. They became aware of what was right and wrong when they took a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge. God gave humans the knowledge of write and wrong. Further in the Bible comes The Sermon on the Mount. This story tells of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments from God. God gave the knowledge to Adam and Eve, but he gave the formal written commandments to Moses and the world. Ethics are to be followed honorably and the Law is follows and is punishable by disobeying. The Stranger, a novel, had a main character who lacked empathy for life’s tragedies. Meursault felt no remorse for his actions, which lead to him murdering and end up at the gallows.

An inner journey is experienced through the individual. Joseph Campbell, a modern day philosopher was interviewed on his belief of the “Hero’s Journey” He relayed the steps of the Hero’s Journey. Hamlet, an angsty thirty year old, goes slightly made when he discovers his father was poisoned by his uncle who marries his mother. Hamlet eventually avenges his father’s death. Hamlet’s inner journey allowed him to be titled heroic. In the 1990’s pop culture a movies main character Ace Ventura faces many obstacles, which result in hero status. He saves animals all over the world and takes down those who are cruel to animals.

The Final Experience

Introductory Unit

Different humans experience life and its mysteries in a vast variety of manners due to biological and sociological influences. Leonard Shlain wrote of the left versus right brain, and how the analytical left brain of men, dominant in Western cultures, distances humans from emotions, intuition, and nature while promoting science, intellect, and action. Human experience is shaped by which side of the brain is dominant, whether one's intuitive right brain or rational left brain controls his or her view of the world. Not only is human experience influenced by the biological, but the sociological as well. In The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abrams speaks of the human experience as viewed through linear time and cyclical time. In linear time, people are individuals, little dots that need to make their mark in order to be remembered. Events are distinct, and are never to be repeated. In cyclical time, events repeat themselves over and over again, with only small details changing each time. There is far less pressure to 'make your mark' and space and time are often seen as inseparable, with no concept of 'time' and 'space' as elements on their own. Another sociological influence on the human experience is one's culture's creation myths. If, in the case of the first chapter of Genesis, Man is created at the same time as Animal, it sets up a preliminary equality and leads to a more positive and cautious relationship with the natural world. However, when Man is created before Animal, as in the second chapter of Genesis, it provides humans with an excuse to claim superiority, to treat the natural world as a possession, and say it was created for humans to use. This view leads to a dissociation from nature, and with nature, the animalistic and primal aspects of 'human nature.' A person with this relationship will value traits of the left-brain and linear time far more, as he is made to be above nature, should make his mark, and needs the cold, rational ways of the left-brain to do so. A person with a concept of being equal, or even inferior, to nature will value right-brain and aspects of cyclical time more, as he or she tends toward a more spiritual, emotional relationship with the world around him or her.

Humans, Nature, and Sacred Space

As stated in the previous paragraph, the relationship with nature profoundly influences the experience of a human being. In a codependent relationship, as with the Australian Aborigines, nature is to be respected, feared, and loved, and the co-dependance forces an intimate relationship in which humans are forced to care for the natural world about them, as it is an enormous part of everyday life. When this co-dependance with non-domesticated terrain is gone, as with most Western civilizations where food is largely provided for by large-scale farms and slaughterhouses, the natural world is far less important in the average day. This means science and progress are worshiped rather than 'Dreamtime' and the animals and landscapes of the natural world. Humans become independent of nature, and so revel in themselves. This is further exemplified in Shakespeare's The Tempest, where Caliban, the island-born son familiar with the land has a far different outlook from Prospero, the scholarly, former-Duke of Milan. Caliban is used to the island providing for him, and requiring the island to live. he respects the powers of the island, and is willing to believe in a new god with just a few sips of wine. Prospero, however, has had others worry about whee his food comes from, has always had shelter, and had the free time and education to become a scholar and scientist, and even magician, rather than being forced to interact with nature directly. Prospero uses the island, Caliban, and the sprite Ariel as tools and slaves, forcing the natural world to bend to his will rather than be ruled by natural forces. In Montaigne's essay Of Cannibals, he discusses the difference between the Western cultures and the native peoples they have encountered with expansion and exploration. He challenges the ethnocentric Western belief of superiority, and states that the natives are fascinating because they are closer to nature and to the way God created them than any Western society. He asks if the violence and seemed barbaric acts of the native peoples are truly any worse than what Western armies and individuals have done in the past. He mentions the oddities natives found in Western society, such as choosing an inexperienced man as king, rather than someone his elder who would have a better idea of politics and the way in which the world works. Clearly the difference in the way in which a human interacts with nature drastically affects his or her life, and they way he or she interacts with all things.

Love and Beauty

In Plato's Symposium, he states through a conversation between Socrates and Diotima: '"When a man loves the beautiful, what does he desire?" "That the beautiful may be his."' Love is an act of coveting, of wanting to possess that which attracts a person's interest. Who, or what, a person loves will deeply impact his or her experience, such as with Dante who wrote about the unattainable Beatrice for his entire life, or Tristan and Isolde whose tragic courtly romance lasts through marriage and separation, right up to Tristan's death. Beauty and love inspire humans to go beyond the ordinary to achieve what they would not have done otherwise, or to commit acts they never would have considered before they fell victim to their passions. A man can be driven to murder in a jealous rage, or he can be convinced to change his ways and become better for his love. He might write beautiful sonnets, as did Shakespeare, or write a play based on the betrayal of a loved one. The way in which one seeks out love also has a drastic impact on one's life. The experience of love, or lust, is extremely different between a one night stand and a long-term monogamous relationship. A person who goes through countless relationships has a more shallow connection with others when compared to someone who takes time to form a lasting bond with the people around him or her. In the Art of Courtly Love, Andreas Capellanus goes so far as to say that men who spend time with too many women are undeserving of love. Others are also more unlikely to wish to form friendships and relationships with those with a fickle disposition. Depending on how one treats love, and in turn the others affected by his or her love, he or she will be treated differently by the people around them. In The Shape of Things, Adam first loves Evelyn, but his friends dislike her because they can see the way he is being used and changed to her liking. When he discovers that, for Evelyn, he was a graduate thesis project, his love turns to hatred and the scorn others felt for her is now his as well. Love drives people to extreme emotions and acts done in a passionate frenzy that is not entirely under rational control, and yet can shape the course of a life.

Law and Ethics

All civilizations are guided by certain rules, taboos, and morals which create distinct differences in the human experience. In Western civilizations, the Old Testament is the dominant force, and we follow the Ten Commandments and Holiness Code, not necessarily because of religion, but because it is what we are taught is right. 'Thou shalt not kill,' and 'thou shalt not steal' are found in nearly every culture, but others, such as Sunday being a day of rest, are distinctly Western. Where one culture says a thirty year old man marrying a fourteen year old girl is perfectly acceptable, even the norm, another says it is repulsive and wrong. The morals we are taught and the laws we follow create a distinct human experience for every individual. In Crimes and Misdemeanors Judah feels little regret for the death of Delores, where another person might be so driven with guilt that he or she could not live with themselves. In the same movie, there is a conversation at a family dinner about the existence of God and how that affects morality. Aunt May insists that there is no God and no morality, that we do only what we feel, while others at the table take stances ranging from the extremely religious to the moderate, to agreeing with May. Aquinas would disagree, saying that goodness promotes God and his will, while evil does not and is based in lust and a self-serving attitude. The way situations appear to each of these people would seem extremely different, and the decision each of them would make, and consider to be 'good,' could be extremely different because of these views. Where Aunt May might not feel an obligation to help a stranger, the Holiness Code states that helping those less fortunate is a requirement for moral behavior. John Stuart Mill would act in the way that would best help the largest number of people, Aquinas would do as God bids, and Nietzsche would do what his emotions tell him is most pleasurable. These acts might all be different, but none of the men would feel guilt over his actions, yet might condemn the actions of another man. Since we, generally, act based on what we feel is right or wrong, ethics shape our reactions, our decisions, and our actions.

The Inner Journey and the Meaning of Human Existence

Life is often called a journey, and the transitions between birth and death are numerous and rely heavily on one's inner self. In The Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell speaks of life as an adventure, one complete with a monster, abyss, and return. He says that all people undergo some adventure where they must fight their personal demons, be it physical, mental, or otherwise, and must alone travel into a place of confusion and darkness within which they will discover something about themselves and come out of it a better person. Finally, there is the triumphant return of the hero who brings back some contribution to society. What this means for the human experience is that a person ought to find his or her personal adventure, confront their problem and return with some benefit to others. It gives human existence meaning in bettering oneself as well as helping others. Hamlet has a similar take on this meaning, giving the message that one should contemplate life intellectually, as Hamlet does, but not to the extent that the physical world has no meaning. Hamlet's contemplations are interrupted by the murder of his father, and revenge on Claudius takes over. Even as Hamlet ponders philosophy and the meaning of human life when all people turn to dust and food for worms, he grows to accept his fate and is at peace when he is killed after avenging his father. He has bettered himself as well as found justice for the murdered King. Each person ought to complete an inner journey that ends in progress in their intellect, as well as progress in their actions to improve the world around him or her.

Finding Meaning in the Human Experience

There are many elements in the experience of being human. Some are as fact, others continue to be debated and have no clear answer.  Shlain in The Alphabet Versus the Goddess says, “The right brain is better than the left in perceiving space and making judgments as to balance, harmony, and the composition of gestalts” (Shlain 16). This is part of the human experience as society has lessened the uses of the right brain. The left-brain is used much more as society develops and begins a written language. The right-brain brings a connection between nature and humanity while with our extensive use of the now dominating left brain society is braking the connection with the natural world. When speaking of the written language’s development David Abram says that “the larger, more-than-human life-world is no longer a part of the semiotic, no longer a necessary part of the system” (Abram 25).  When he says this he is referring to the leap into an abstract way of communicating, where written letters no longer represent things in nature. By having letters become abstract the society took on a more linear time instead of a natural cylindrical one. One type of story past down in a society is a myth. When myths began to be written down they became forgotten and misunderstood. As a book lasts for centuries once the myth is written into a book it need not be looked at for generations, as it will not disappear if left alone for a long, long time. They became misunderstood in the way that they can now be told in a different location to where they should be told. This takes away from the meaning of the story. The Aborigines are one culture that tells myths to each other.  In A Short History of Myth Armstrong said that “a myth could not tell a hunter how to kill his prey or how to organize an expedition efficiently, but it helped him deal with his complicated emotions about killing of animals” (Armstrong 31). This shows how myths help with the emotional right brain. The right brain cannot be stimulated as much by one reading a story out of the location it is meant for. A society with no spoken myths would likely have difficulty dealing with strong emotions or have less civil ways to deal with the strong emotions.

                  The nature of humanity is complicated and cannot be truly sorted out by a human.  Many humans strive to be one with nature, although as humans it is not possible to escape nature. In “Second Nature” from How Art Made the World Nigel Spivey states that “to be ‘at one with nature’ is to imagine an easiness between our cultured selves and the natural world” (129). People try to be “one with nature” in many different ways. Humanity either loves or despises the natural world. Cities and other developments in society take away from natures hold on humanity, but also allows for a farther fall into destruction when nature retakes her own. Individuals try to incorporate nature into their cultural actions.  Others try to flee nature. They wish for nature to be under their control. Nature however fights back, creating a constant struggle with development and the power of the natural world. Douris in the poem Ephesos says “These countless homes, these properties of happy days belong” (Poetry for the Earth 47). Douris says this after speaking of nature’s destruction. Douris is a person who prefers the manmade to the natural, but through this poem shows how he cannot escape the destruction. The distruction takes over and humanity is left with nothing but the will to rebuild and begin again. In “Of Cannibals,” Michel De Montaigne says that he sees no cannibalism or more inhuman acts in the “cannibalistic” societies worse than that of his own society. The European society must therefore be the cannibals; as if on society is not the other must be, at least in the eyes of each society. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest the storm and fear of nature are shown. The noble people in The Tempest show their fear of the unknown through their attitudes towards Caliban. Prospero says “A devil, a born devil, on whose nature Nurture can never stick. …” when he speaks of Caliban (The Tempest IV. i. 188-192). Thinking of Caliban as a devil due to his nature and race indicates that Prospero like the other noblemen in The Tempest thought Caliban not fit to be a nobleman as he was part of the mysterious unknown.

                  The mysterious unknown also includes Love and Beauty. They are however accepted abstracts. The question of what these abstract topics are has been discussed in great depth by many philosophers including; Plato, Kant, and Ficino. The Philosopher Plato once said that love is“… not only the possession, but the everlasting possession of the good?’ …’then love,’ she said, ‘may be described generally as the love of the everlasting possession of the good?’” (Plato 72). In this way love can only exist in the loving of something that is good. Wanting something or feeling the need to possess a thing is a part of love. The want to possess something good is love. Kant pulled apart good and said that one cannot call everything good. He says “That which is gratifying is called pleasant; that which merely pleases him is beautiful; that which is esteemed [or approved] by him … is good” (Kant 285). Beauty is not a universal word. It should not be used where pleasant or good should be used instead. What one finds pleasant another may not and so the pleasant thing cannot therefore be good or beautiful unless the majority agrees upon it. Ficino claimed that love pertains only to three senses or it is not love. He says that “love regards as its end the enjoyment of beauty; beauty pertains only to the mind, sight and hearing. Love, therefore, is limited to these three, but desire which rises from the other senses is called, not love, but lust or madness” (Ficino 207-208). If one does not love something with the mind, sight and hearing then the love does not exist. The love is lust. Philosophers still have differing ideas on the subjects of love and beauty.

                  Philosophers have differing ideas in the subject areas of Laws and Ethics. Religious writings are often contemplated with laws and ethics. In the Jewish Bible it says that, “God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:1-2). The Jewish people therefore follow laws set down for them out of fear and respect for a greater being. The laws and ethics of the society are followed strictly be they for safety, societal connecting, or for uniformly. The laws remained mostly unchallenged until science began to disagree with some of the religious teaching.  Aristotle’s teachings in the time of the philosopher Aquinas throw doubt on the religious teachings of the day. Aquinas brought the two differing ideas together. In The Medieval World it says that Aquinas, “points out that the universe could have existed for ever but that species such as humans and other animals might have a beginning…” (91). The religious teachings and the scientific theories can go hand in hand. This idea keeps societies together and gives a reason for some more abstract ethical codes that appear pointless by a scientific viewpoint. John Stuart Mill taught of the idea of the greater good. This would not have much merit in science as science teaches of the survival of the fittest. In The Age of Revolution it says that Mill believed that a government should “allow all individuals the freedom to pursue happiness” (192). Happiness is not necessary for survival but through religious teachings society has come to believe that everyone deserves to be happy. Mill said that the greatest potential can only be met when individuals are happy. The ability to evolve does not always agree with the laws of a society. Ethics are sometimes brushed aside for advancement, but the laws and people, or social norms, of a society often stamp out the unethical practices.

                  Individuals often contemplate the meaning of life, and human existence.  Joseph Campbell an American mythologist, writer, and lecturer simplified the hero’s journey into three parts; the abyss, the monster and the return. He said that the hero must give life to something bigger than himself or herself such as another individual or a spiritual idea. Some famous heroes that Campbell spoke of in his interview with Bill Moyers are Moses, Christ, Buda, and Mohammad.  Their abyss included the desert, a solitary cave, and other places of isolation. Moses in coming down from the mountain, or out of the abyss, formed a new society. Christ and Buddha experienced three temptations on their quests, which were their monsters. Mohammad wrote a greatly spiritual book after many hours of meditation. Hamlet in Hamlet the play by Shakespeare, an Elizabethan playwright, is also a hero and goes on a quest to avenge his father. On the way Hamlet must struggle with the meaning of human existence. Hamlet says that “Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table: that's the end” (V. iii. 24-28). He says this to his uncle-father after accidentally killing Polonius. In this statement one sees Hamlet’s struggle with the meaning of life. This is part of his hero’s journey. He goes into a psychological abyss as he begins the quest to avenge his father.  He then meets monsters such as the king, who try and have Hamlet killed. At the end of his quest Hamlet returns to society by coming to terms with life and showing a continued love towards his mother. He shows this, as his guard is let down as she dies allowing Laertes the upper hand in their duel. To have a hero’s journey one must descend into the abyss alone. Hamlet did this as he took it upon himself to avenge his father and find the meaning of human existence.