Chapter 2 preamble

Twenty years ago, when we were busy convening the "White House Children's Conference", the central issue that confused the younger generation and the older generation who watched them grow up was "identity" (identitg, which can also be translated as "identity") , "identity").At that time, World War II had just drawn down a heavy curtain, and the whole world was in turmoil and unprecedented changes.Although not the whole world has suffered from this national catastrophe, and although the age of human exploration of the universe has not yet come, every young person who is growing up is unable to reconcile with the conflicting views about our culture, where it has been able to Find your exact place in a world where TV culture holds us back.

Today, the new central issue is commitment: what past, present or future can idealistic young people dedicate their lives to?From this point of view, commitment seems like a meaningless question to primitive man in prehistoric times.Each member of a primitive tribe belongs to a particular clan and distinguishes himself from others by a unique (very common) name.He may fail; he may be expelled from his own group, and in extreme circumstances he may choose to escape, he may lose his territory and become a slave to others in another land; in some unknown corner of the world He may also succumb to personal despair and distress and kill himself in the world.But it was impossible for him to change his commitment, and he was who he was—in a cocoon of habit, born, bred, bound up with it;

As disparate and competing ways of life were sanctioned by new religions and political ideologies, the idea of ​​a choice of commitments began to stir in the womb of human history.With the development of human civilization, people are no longer limited to trivial comparisons between tribes, and promise to become a pure choice between ideological systems.In the religious conception of the Middle East, if one system of thought is deified, all others are regarded as absurd: in contrast, the terms of Asian religions are both gentle and profound: those deposed systems of thought are after all " unique path".It is at such moments that "to what thought shall I devote my life" becomes an inescapable question for thoughtful people.Only when beliefs, society and culture are imposed by people in an isolated and closed form can such problems temporarily disappear.For example, among mysterious religious sects like Herterus, or behind the dreaded political Iron Curtain.Because in those places, any "abnormal thoughts" are never allowed to sprout spontaneously.

In today's world, along with people's growing pursuit and spiritual pain, people's doubts have begun to breed new themes: "Who can I dedicate my life to? Is there anything in human culture worth saving and dedicating our lives to?" We have watched many ambitious and talented people die, even though some of them had no inextricable connection with any social form. contact.Today, for the first time, human beings are faced with the responsibility to save themselves and all other living beings from the brink of extinction, and to build a peaceful and safe world with the increasing knowledge of human beings.However, at this time of peril, individuals have casually adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and doubts have become the biggest feature. Not only do they have doubts about God, science, and socialism, but they also have no belief in anything.

I firmly believe that not only do we have the kind of world conditions that motivate people to explore new commitments, and to discover whether there are commitments at all, but we also have new resources to deal with and new grounds for commitments in the face of reality.It is the above-mentioned points that constitute the theme repeatedly emphasized in this book.The writing of this book is inspired by the belief that only when human beings fully understand their past and present can they find a bright future for the older and younger generations who share the ups and downs. February 21, 1969

Written in New York, USA American Museum of Natural History