"And so your account of creation ends 'And finally man appeared'.
"Yes".
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that there was no more to come. Meaning that creation had come to an end". "This is what it was all leading up to".
"Yes."
"Of course. Everyone in your culture knows this. The pinnacle was reached in man. Man is the climax to the whole cosmic drama of creation."
"Yes."
"When man finally appeared, creation came to an end, because its objective had been reached. There was nothing left to create."
"That seems to be the unspoken assumption."
"It's certainly not always unspoken. The religions of your culture aren't reticent about it. Man is the end product of creation. Man is the creature for whom all the rest was made: this world, the solar system, this galaxy, the universe itself."
"True."
"Everyone in your culture knows that the world wasn't created for jellyfish or iguanas or gorillas. It was created for man."
"Thats right".
Ismael fixed me with a sardonic eye. "And this is not mythology?"
"Well...the facts are the facts."
"Certainly. Facts are facts, even when they are embodied in mythology. But what about the rest? Did the entire cosmic process of creation come to an end three million years ago, right here on this planet, with the appearance of man?"
"No."
"Did evolution come to a screeching halt just because man had arrived?"
"No, of course not."
"Then, why did you tell it that way?"
"I guess I told it that way because that's the way it's told."
"That's the way it's told among the Takers. It's certainly not the only way it can be told."
"Okay, I see that now. How would you tell it?"
He nodded toward the world outside the window. "Do you see the slightest evidence anywhere in the universe that creation came to an end with the birth of man? Do you see the slightest evidence anywhere out there that man was the climax toward which creation had been straining from the beginning?"
"Yes".
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that there was no more to come. Meaning that creation had come to an end". "This is what it was all leading up to".
"Yes."
"Of course. Everyone in your culture knows this. The pinnacle was reached in man. Man is the climax to the whole cosmic drama of creation."
"Yes."
"When man finally appeared, creation came to an end, because its objective had been reached. There was nothing left to create."
"That seems to be the unspoken assumption."
"It's certainly not always unspoken. The religions of your culture aren't reticent about it. Man is the end product of creation. Man is the creature for whom all the rest was made: this world, the solar system, this galaxy, the universe itself."
"True."
"Everyone in your culture knows that the world wasn't created for jellyfish or iguanas or gorillas. It was created for man."
"Thats right".
Ismael fixed me with a sardonic eye. "And this is not mythology?"
"Well...the facts are the facts."
"Certainly. Facts are facts, even when they are embodied in mythology. But what about the rest? Did the entire cosmic process of creation come to an end three million years ago, right here on this planet, with the appearance of man?"
"No."
"Did evolution come to a screeching halt just because man had arrived?"
"No, of course not."
"Then, why did you tell it that way?"
"I guess I told it that way because that's the way it's told."
"That's the way it's told among the Takers. It's certainly not the only way it can be told."
"Okay, I see that now. How would you tell it?"
He nodded toward the world outside the window. "Do you see the slightest evidence anywhere in the universe that creation came to an end with the birth of man? Do you see the slightest evidence anywhere out there that man was the climax toward which creation had been straining from the beginning?"
"No, I can't even imagine what such evidence would look like."
"That should be obvious. If the astrophysicists could report that the fundamental creative processes of the universe came to a halt five billion years ago, when our solar system its appearance, that would offer at least some support for these notions."
"Yes, I see what you mean."
"Or if the biologists and paleotologists could report that speciation came to a halt three million years ago, this too would be suggestive."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"B
ut you know that neither of these things happened in fact. Very far from it. The universe went on as before, the planet went on as before. Man's appearance caused no more stir than the appearance of jellyfish."
"Very true."
Ishmael gestured toward the tape recorder. "So what are we to make of that story you told?"
I bared my teeth in a rueful grin. "It's a myth. Incredibly enough, it's a myth."
* Ishmael - An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. Daniel Quinn
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