First the Forest, We Discusion

In the class discussion we had revolving around “First the Forests” and “We” Nina asked a very important question. What is human? The two different pieces of literature seem to contradict one another in the definition of man. I believe that “First the Forests” is saying that man is a civilized person who uses technology while “We” says that man is one how has “bestial freedom” and lives like the animal he or she is. I believe the answer to what is a human lies somewhere in the middle. I don’t think that a human can be one that lives in a forest and relies on his animal instincts, but on the other hand, a human cannot be a machine who has no free will or thought. There are certain criteria that make humans the people they are, and neither of the poles that are described in the two pieces of literature are examples of this, rather, humans are a mix and much less concentrated version of the people described in “We” and “First the Forests.”

I believe that a human must have a wanting to know the unknown, must have the ability to think for him/herself, and must be somewhat greedy. In “We” everything is known. Everything one knows can be expressed in terms of X and with mathematical equations. None of the people of the One State have the ability to think for themselves and are controlled by the Benefactor. The Table of Hours tells them what to do at what time. Every aspect of their life is controlled and they do not have the ability to think for themselves. In “We” none of the citizens have any greed. They do not want things for personal gain but rather they do things because they do not know any better. This is like how the denizens of the Incan Empire lived, they had no greed and therefore had nothing to live for but what they were told to do. I believe that the lack of greed directly correlates with a lack of free will. If man does not know that he can achieve more, he will not do anything to achieve more. Rather, he will comply with what others say. In “First the Forest” the author argues that the foundation of humans are that they have religion, matrimony and the act of burying the dead. I believe in these somewhat. I think that the foundation of religion coincides with wanting to know the unknown. When Vico’s Giants heard the sound from the sky, they began to wonder and it instilled a want to know the unknown in them. I do not know if matrimony and burial of the dead distinguish humans from others. Rather, these are just traditions that have become custom to humans. I believe that a human is somewhere in the middle of a humanized machine and a bestial animal. A human must be able to think for himself, have a yearning for the unknown, and must be greedy, in the sense that they want more.