Reason- A Response to the Houyhnhnms

Reason

by Brad Wahlgren

You look upon the others with disdain, and your condescending attitude goes unnoticed by them. They struggle with problems that you view as juvenile and simple, for you are different. Humanity sees themselves as an advanced race, yet we defy logic all the time, and follow the impulses bestowed upon us in creation. Gulliver’s Travels speaks of a race that is much more intellectually advanced than humanity, and the message is that no matter how hard we attempt to convince ourselves, advanced we are not. We act against logic constantly, for it is in our nature, and because of this we as human beings must work together to survive and live in peace.

Daily life for many people is often marred or enhanced by impulsive decisions, which can consist of listening to one’s conscious, or the “gut feelings” that many people have, all of a sudden. These instinctive decisions can lead to serious consequences which can strike as quickly as a cobra and conclude in serious repercussions, or benefits. Because of the outcomes that can accompany a choice, humanity needs to stop and ponder what may transpire as a result of their actions, but too often do we merely act without thinking, and suffer the consequences. When Gulliver visits the Houyhnhnms, he is astounded by the notion of another species of intellect, and is infatuated with their advanced society. The Houyhnhnms feel no need for emotion during conversation and life in general, and treat a close friend like a stranger, and vice versa. This makes society polite and comfortable for all, and the opposite of the problematic human social life, seeing that our society consists of cliques and racial/cultural boundaries which are nonexistent in the land of the Houyhnhnms. What Swift is trying to teach is that prejudice undermines society, and halts the advancement of humanity. Because of our inner hostility, people fight among themselves when they could be working together towards a common goal, but the Houyhnhnms have realized the detrimental consequences of fighting, and as a results modeled their society to avoid this.

While Swift didn’t believe that humans were intellectual, he did believe that we try to cover up our ignorance. This is exemlified when Gulliver finds the Yahoos, an animalistic humanoid race, which utterly disgusts Gulliver. The Yahoos are supposed to represent humanity’s real nature, to represent our barbaric narcissism, and to represent our animalistic behavior. Gulliver noticed the similarity between the Yahoos and himself, and tries as hard as he can to separate himself from the odious race by pointing out their flaws, and their undesirable, hairy bodies. However the Houyhnhnms observe that the Yahoo’s tough hides, and hairy bodies are nature’s survival tools which help deal with the deadly forces of nature such as the cold and terrain. They find it silly that humans shave their bodies and because it’s simply ignoring the protection that nature has to offer. This satire in this portion of the book is saying that we can’t cover up the fact that we are Yahoos, even though we rise above the rest of creation in terms of intelligence, we are not supremely advanced, and when one looks in depth, we are still as primitive as the rest of the races that inhabit this Earth, but it is useless to hide it. We must recognize our true nature, and strive to better our race.

This statement is supported later in the book when Gulliver goes back to England, and refuses to converse or socialize with any of the people he is in contact with, for he sees them as Yahoo’s. That fact we are animalistic Gulliver realizes, but this conclusion only comes after spending time with a truly advanced race, a race without war or prejudice. The main point of this section is to say that we must acknowledge our primal qualities, and not waste time convincing ourselves, and everybody else that we are that far above the rest of the world.
                Even when we boast advanced technology, and brag of our superiority, humanity fails to realize that humans in third-world countries live in poverty, and fight for survival against each other as though they are animals, or even Yahoos. Gulliver’s Travels supports the message that we must accept that we lack true reason, but must work with what we have to better our race, so that we don’t live like Yahoos.

Brobdingnag

by Matt Thurman

In the minds of many, technology is a useless enhancement that is ruinous to many lives.  These are the ones who are keen on practicality and force alone, thus find no need for unreasonable and additional concepts aside from everyday issues.  In the novel Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift, a character by the name of Lemuel Gulliver visited many different islands in which don’t really exist.  One of these places was called Brobdingnag, a land where people are oversized and are entirely anchored in minimalism.  As the Brobdingnags have formerly discovered, life can be undergone with just necessary ideas and objects and that technology is merely a distraction that gets humanity nowhere.

The cavemen were ancient people who lived very uncivilized and practical lives.  In essence, they are very much like the Brobdingnags, for they both had no intention of using materials other than what were crucial.  This is exactly what Jonathan Swift is endeavoring to explain to the reader and is presenting that they can still succeed in life with what they truly are obligated to attain.  Very sophisticated were the Europeans at the time when Swift published his book, which leads anyone to believe that the European society at that time was much more refined than that of Brobdingnag.  However, this bizarre culture was not only looked down on by everyone, for many considered Brobdingnag to be a beneficial civilization, for it seemed to be much simpler than any of Europe’s, and still appeared to work out.

Although the land of Brobdingnag appeared to satirize a land of simple yet successful people, Swift also intended for the reader to understand the fact that they symbolize humanity’s flaws.  Being such colossal creatures, their ugliness was easily detected by Gulliver who was able to see dirt in the cracks of their skin.  These giants deceived Gulliver tremendously, for when he first arrived at Brobdingnag he thought of them as magnificent and prodigious.  However, once he became acquainted with the inhabitants, he realized their simplicity, and later discovered their true repulsiveness.  Humans don’t see each other in such a magnified range as Gulliver was to the Brobdingnags, which would be a reason as to why we don’t notice these hideous sights that were seen by Lemuel.  What Jonathan Swift is attempting to enlighten the reader with is that although humans can seem to be important and quasi-perfect, they all have major flaws that may never be discovered by others of their species.  No single human being is perfect in any aspect, and none will ever be in the future.  Having Gulliver discover the Brobdingnags helps us remember this and also provides a better look on this topic. 

The Brobdingnags of Gulliver’s Travels had many perplexing attributes, for their simplicity made life easier and according to Jonathan Swift, better.  For example, this group of inhabitants never had enemies to go into battle with, which clearly made their life easier and safer.  Although they still gathered an entire army of thousands of men, they never found the need to use one of them.  This is clearly due to the abundance of simplicity of them, for they created no urge for enemies or themselves to attack.  However, one cannot forget the fact that technology could actually prevent battle from happening as much as simplicity does, for they could excel more in depth in communication, overall leading to a better connection with hypothetical enemies.  In addition, better weapons and protection could be provided with such innovation to aim the country in a competitive, modern society.  The Brobdingnags failed to understand this and therefore never advanced to anywhere outside of their own little world.

Humanity has always been familiar with high amounts of technology and innovation, which has helped to maintain the continuation of new development in the world.  However, once simplicity is intertwined into daily life, all novelty is inexistent until creativity is introduced.  Simplicity can make life much easier, yet also destructs the power to create new ideas.

Lilliput

As we grow up, authoritative figures preach traits such as kindness and respect, and it seems as if it is second nature for us to understand that these are important, but there is always one that is slightly confusing. This so called virtue was usually labeled as “To-See-Far” and I always wondered what did that really mean? They obviously aren’t talking in the literal sense so, to me, it means two things that are closely correlated. One, that you are able to see the possible outcome of decisions that you make and can educated reactions based off of those reads, and second, you can see things from every point of view and from every aspect, so you fully understand the effect of the things you do. In the first voyage of Gulliver’s Travels, he meets 6 inch people called Lilliputians. The largest fault of the Lilliputians is that they can see the second definition; they can’t see the big picture. This drives out maybe the greatest figure that this race has ever encountered, Gulliver, and they lose the leverage they had over their enemies, the Blefuscudians. If we can’t see the bigger picture, whether it is in government, education, or just daily life, we will mess up the great opportunities that present themselves before us.

As the Lilliputian government compiled articles on all the accounts where Gulliver broke the law they failed to see what he has done for the Lilliputian people. The premiere example of this is when the Lilliputian palace is engulfed in flames. With quick think Gulliver urinates on the palace putting out the fire, but the Lilliputian authorities -- especially Skyresh Bolgolam -- fail to see the deed that he has done for them only think of him as disposing his waste on their sacred home of the Emperor. This is just one of the instances where the Lilliputians exhibit their lack of the ability to see the bigger picture. The second exhibit of the Lilliputians not being able to “see far” is the way they elect people of honor. Candidates do physical competitions to elect someone to a position where your mind is being constantly challenged and rivaled. High honor Lilliputians are then not fit for the roles that are to carry out, and as you may think the problems that arise are ones of epic proportions.

The United States of America understand, for the most part, on how to elect and place people into high responsibility roles. If you take a look at most of the successful people throughout history you will find that they were able to soak in the information around them, analyze it, and then make the decision that they believe is correct. In life, we have found that one that reasons will always outweigh the one who makes rash decisions and for that the politicians, the educators, and the leaders of the future should be taught this trait just as they are now.  If we are blind to some of the options that are available, we will make decisions that could bring serious repercussions, and, government-wise, could send a country, even one of great prestige, back to a state of utter chaos.

Though Jonathon Swift did not tell the Reader about what happened to Lilliput, because he was not there, it is possible to make guesses on what may have taken place. First, I believe that it would start back slowly in the fact that in some tasks that were simple with Gulliver was now tedious and time consuming. Then that would eventually escalate to maybe the Lilliputians to be over taken during the time that they were rebuilding from the loss of Gulliver. All of this would occur just because they looked at the cons of Gulliver instead of the pros.

When we don’t look at every aspect of each situation we will end up making irrational decisions and karma may come back at tear you apart. Take time and look around you. Take each detail and lock it in your memory. Then, apply these details to whatever crisis you are dealing with and make the correct decision. This will help you avoid the problems which will bury you alive and you can be a successful individual in a confusing world. So now, as the teachers tell us to see far take their advice and stay true to it and help yourself and whoever else your working with become the leader that you were meant to be.

Laputa

 "Art is the tree of Life, science is the tree of Death." Though this notion was first explored by William Blake, a poet who lived in the 1700's, its principles are generally accepted today. Art is produced solely from creativity -- a trait that is required to build anything of substance, whereas science is viewed as a more practical, analytical process of creation that is normally rejected by the general populous as being too pedestrian and not personal enough to be able to create anything of importance. In much the same way though that life does not have worth without death, art and creativity do not have worth without science. Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels shows that science and creativity must be effectively combined in order to create a product of value.

When Lemuel  Gulliver sets out on his third voyage into the Pacific Ocean, he expects to fare better then on his previous journeys, though this is not the case when his ship is attacked by pirates and he is marooned on a strange island. Shortly after he arrives on the island, Gulliver is taken aboard the flying city of Laputa, that hovers like a bird perpetually above the island below. Here, Gulliver finds a race of people that excel in science and music, but are unable to combine these skills to create anything of significance; their creativity is put to use in an entirely different area than their intellect allowing everything that is created on Laputa to lack real importance. The Laputian art, sciences, and even government, though they are advanced in their own right, have numerous flaws and are unable to be put to practical use.  Though they were able to create a levitating society, it was once almost extirpated when a city on the main island rebelled against the corrupted government.   Laputa is a society that is highly advanced in the key components of creation, but because they fail to combine them, their innovations are worth nothing.

Down below the floating city of Laputa lies an affable town referred to as Lindalino that is completely oriented with science, but doesn't have any scientific knowledge. When Gulliver visits these people, he is alarmed by what he sees; the most respected scientists are proposing a plan that is utterly preposterous. As an experiment, the scientists are searching for senators from different political parties who have the same sized head to volunteer to have their brains cut in half and then partially swapped into the partner's skull in order to let the brains duke it out in one secluded area. This idea seems completely insane to anyone who has a small amount of knowledge because it would kill the senators, but the citizens of Lindalino don't possess any form of practical intelligence, so the idea seems entirely reasonable. The idea that is presented here has a high amount of creativity, but lacks the scientific knowledge that would allow it to succeed. Lindalino is a perfect example of what happens when an idea rejects the key components of academic integrity and originality.

 Leonardo Da Vinci is commonly referred to as one of the most innovative people in history, who made significant advancements in art and science. Possibly the most famous painting on Earth, the Mona Lisa, was created by Da Vinci and is a perfect balance of scientific anatomy of the human body and artistic talent. On the more scientific side, Da Vinci was centuries ahead of his time, designing machines that wouldn't be built for another three hundred years.  Demonstrated in his plans are machines of flight, machines of transportation, and machines of war. The ideas that were experimented with by Da Vinci were the perfect blend of groundbreaking creativity and innovative science that made them truly have value.

Some people are  Laputians, some people are  citizens of Lindalino, and a very few people are Leonardo Da Vincis. Some people require creativity, some people require science, and only a minute amount of people employ both in such a way that they produce something of merit. These people and their creations are the true value of the human society.

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Separately -

Art is Life,

Science is Death.

Separately -

Art is creativity,

Science is textbook.

Separately -

Art is unique,

Science is common.

Separately -

Art is personal,

Science is conformity.

Separately -

Art and science are ingredients.

Together -

Art and science are a recipe, a combination,

That creates Gold.