What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble tha
What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful that the garment with which it is clothed?MichelangeloThe Sight of Eden The well-respected mainstream author Howard Fast has a science fiction story entitled “The Sight of Eden” that offers a poignantly sad appraisal of the human state of mind.Seven astronauts have just made the first journey to an extra-solar planet. They find a beautiful Eden, with gardens, rivers, fountains - but apparently no inhabitants. Yet there are also beautiful buildings, some of whose corridors are “lined with colorful and masterful murals of naked children at play”.On their third day, they are finally greeted by a man, human seemingly just like them. Though he has no name in the usual sense, he goes by “Smith” for convenience. He reveals that many worlds throughout the universe are inhabited by “humans” just like themselves, and that this whole planet has been set aside and developed as a park.Smith also reveals, with much sadness, that he is familiar with the history of Earth, its wars, violence, and destruction. Worse, it seems that only on Earth have humans exhibited such pathological behavior. The astronauts from Earth, therefore, are not welcome. They must be confined to their own planet and not allowed to join the rest of galactic society.Naturally, one of the astronauts objects that the past history of Earth is old and now irrelevant. So Smith demonstrates, simply and elegantly, that this is not the case: Smith opened his robe, let it slip off his body to the ground, and stood before them naked. The women instinctively turned their heads away. The men reacted in shocked disbelief. Smith picked up his robe and clothed himself again. “You see,” he said.The five men and women stared at him, their eyes full of realization now.“In all the universe,” Smith said, “there is only one race of man that holds its bodies in shame and contempt. All others walk naked in pride and unashamed. Only Earth has made the image of man into a curse and a shame. What else must I say?”The astronauts comprehend the absurdity and self-loathing implicit in a race of beings which cannot stand to look at themselves as they really are. -- source link