{"id":15842,"date":"2014-02-16T20:58:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-16T19:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/?p=15842"},"modified":"2022-12-30T14:57:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T13:57:17","slug":"ape-and-essence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/ape-and-essence\/","title":{"rendered":"Ape and Essence"},"content":{"rendered":"

In was recently reminded of one of my favourite books from my late teens \u2013 Aldous Huxley\u2019s \u201cApe and Essence<\/a>\u201d (1948).<\/p>\n

Here are some quotes:<\/p>\n

Vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, noughts and crosses, eagles and hammers. Mere arbitrary signs. But every reality to which a sign has been attached is thereby made subject to its sign. Goswami and Ali used to live in peace. But I got a flag, you got a flag, all Baboon-God’s children got flags; and because of the flags it immediately became right and proper for the one with the foreskin to disembowel the one without a foreskin, and for the circumcised to shoot the uncircumcised, rape his wife and roast his children over slow fires.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLove casts out fear; but conversely fear casts out love. And not only love. Fear also casts out intelligence, casts out goodness, casts out all thought of beauty and truth. What remains in the bum or studiedly jocular desperation of one who is aware of the obscene Presence in the corner of the room and knows that the door is locked, that there aren\u2019t any windows. And now the thing bears down on him. He feels a hand on his sleeve, smells a stinking breath, as the executioner\u2019s assistant leans almost amorously toward him. \u201cYour turn next, brother. Kindly step this way.\u201d And in an instant his quiet terror is transmuted into a frenzy as violent as it is futile. There is no longer a man among his fellow men, no longer a rational being speaking articulately to other rational beings; there is only a lacerated animal, screaming and struggling in the trap. For in the end fear casts out even a man\u2019s humanity. And fear, my good friends, fear is the very basis and foundation of modern life. Fear of the much touted technology which, while it raises out standard of living, increases the probability of our violently dying. Fear of the science which takes away the one hand even more than what it so profusely gives with the other. Fear of the demonstrably fatal institutions for while, in our suicidal loyalty, we are ready to kill and die. Fear of the Great Men whom we have raised, and by popular acclaim, to a power which they use, inevitably, to murder and enslave us. Fear of the war we don\u2019t want yet do everything we can to bring about.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leech’s kiss, the squid’s embrace,
\nThe prurient ape’s defiling touch:
\nAnd do you like the human race?
\nNo, not much.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

Everything2 entry on \u201cApe and Essence\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In was recently reminded of one of my favourite books from my late teens \u2013 Aldous Huxley\u2019s \u201cApe and Essence\u201d (1948). Here are some quotes: Vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, noughts and crosses, eagles and hammers. Mere arbitrary signs. But every reality to which a sign has been attached is thereby made subject to its sign. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,14,15,16,25],"tags":[300,296],"class_list":["post-15842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-philosophy","category-politics","category-religion-spirituality","category-words","tag-processed","tag-published"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prY0k-47w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15664,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/avoiding-secularocity\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":0},"title":"Avoiding Secularocity","author":"Limbic","date":"May 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The word religiosity means \"excessively religious\". I would like to coin the term secularocity, a companion word that means \"excessively secular\". Now you might wonder why a secularist, agnostic and sceptic like myself is coining words that arguably have a negative connotation regarding secularism? It is a good question, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ethics"","block_context":{"text":"Ethics","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/ethics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32856,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/the-russel-conjugation\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":1},"title":"The Russel Conjugation","author":"Limbic","date":"November 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Eric R. Weinstein on The Russel Conjugation: \u201cThe basic principle of Russell Conjugation is that the human mind is constantly looking ahead well beyond what is true or false to ask \u201cWhat is the social consequence of accepting the facts as they are?\u201d\u00a0 While this line of thinking is obviously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37416,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/international-flag-of-planet-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":2},"title":"International Flag of Planet Earth","author":"Limbic","date":"January 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When Tyler Cowan and a host of luminaries all conceded that UAVs may be Extraterrestrial probes, I think it is time to support a flag for planet earth! The International Flag of Planet Earth (IFOPE)","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/oZhUM0Ot4d-Medium.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/oZhUM0Ot4d-Medium.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/oZhUM0Ot4d-Medium.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/oZhUM0Ot4d-Medium.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/oZhUM0Ot4d-Medium.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17587,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/disclaimers-against-reality-charles-bukowski-on-censorship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":3},"title":"Disclaimers Against Reality: Charles Bukowski on Censorship","author":"Limbic","date":"March 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A wonderful letter on censorship from Charles Bukowski that I found on the Farnam Street Blog.\u00a0Bukowski had one of his books removed from a library and this was his response to the person warning him about it. The emphases are mine. It was written in 1985: The thing that I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16301,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/bootleggers-baptists\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":4},"title":"Bootleggers & Baptists","author":"Limbic","date":"March 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a theory of regulation that was new to me - Bootleggers and Baptists: \"Here is the essence of the theory: durable social regulation evolves when it is demanded by both of two distinctly different groups. \u201cBaptists\u201d point to the moral high ground and give vital and vocal endorsement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Law"","block_context":{"text":"Law","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/law\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16904,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/decision-engineering\/","url_meta":{"origin":15842,"position":5},"title":"Decision Engineering","author":"Limbic","date":"December 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Van Gelder, arguably the worlds greatest authority on critical thinking, asks \"What is Decision Engineering?\": \u00a0My favorite definition of the engineer is somebody who can\u2019t help but think that there must be a better way to do this. A more comprehensive and workmanlike definition is given by Wikipedia: \"Engineering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Business Psychology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/business\/business-psychology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15842\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}