The Humanist Condition

By Michael Ryan

This book is about where we were, where we are and where we are going... This is a scientific approach to what we must do to fix the problems of today and build the world of tomorrow...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Ryan
• Release date: Oct 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005847173

Michael Ryan

Michael Ryan is the author of three previous books of poetry. Threats Instead of Trees won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award and was a National Book Award finalist in 1974; In Winter was a National Poetry Series selection in 1981; and God Hunger won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 1990. He is also the author of A Difficult Grace, a collection of essays, and a memoir, Secret Life. His new memoir was excerpted in The New Yorker and will also appear this spring. Ryan is a professor of English and creative writing at the University of California, Irvine.

Book preview

The Humanist Condition

By

Michael Ryan

Published by Michael Ryan

Copyright © 2021

This book is dedicated to my family, friends and everyone who has supported my work… even though they did not always understand what it was about…

In every moment there is a chance for a better future…

Preface

I have created this book essentially to share my own views on life, existence, existentialism, Spirituality and essentially everything we face on a daily basis that makes us question why?

This book is not intended to Portray the information inside as fact, nor is it meant to be a source of answers to existence or guidance to live your life by. It is also not to speak against other people beliefs. This book is simply meant to share my ideas, believes, views and maybe make others ask the kind of questions that will inspire you to find the answers for yourself.

I do not make any claim to be a person with a lot of answers, only a lot of questions. I have however had many conversations with people in my life with the intension to help them figure things out and wish to share some of the insights I have gained in these existential conversations. I myself have also gained new insight into things in my life from the ideas of others that have helped me evolve as a person. That being said, if I can share any of these thought’s or ideas with anyone, and they can help a person benefit in any way then I hope this book is useful and enjoyable to you. If my beliefs or the things I talk about in this book conflict with or go against your beliefs or opinions, please understand I am only sharing my understandings of existence and why we are here, I am not trying to push my beliefs on you but rather trying to give you an alternate point of view of existence for you to ether consider or disregard. This book is not about any one subject, it is about multiple things that inspire questions of existence and the meaning of life. In this book we will examine many subjects about why we are here, the problems we have in the past present and future and what can be done to make life better for all of us. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this book!

Contents

Who WE are

Why WE are

The Connection

Power, The first step

Food Production, Step Two

Advanced and Social Medicine

Next Phase: Stellar Civilization

The Humanist Government

Higher Learning

Wasted Minds

The Course of the World

Blueprint of a Perfect World

Closing Comments

Michael Ryan

Chapter 1

Who WE are

1

The Humanist Condition

Who are we? The answer is simple, we are human, but what does that mean? Well to start is means we are alive, it means we are intelligent, it means we are stupid, it means we are perfect, it means we are flawed, it means we are happy, it means we are sad, it means we love, it means we hate, it means we are right, it means we are wrong, but it always means, that our understanding of the world and the universe is extremely limited, and we have so very much to learn.

For people to evolve as a species we must first understand what this all means and who we are. It is an unfortunate fact that for the last hundred thousand years human evolution has been based entirely of trial and error, action and reaction. We have had no set pattern to our development, no formulated structure to the construct of our existence. We have only had random chance guiding us or the impulsive decisions of individuals, who's decisions apply only to themselves or by chance are forced on to others.

People need a formula or a format, a set agenda that structures our development and this agenda must be agreed upon, not forced. If this structure was forced it could cause inconsistencies in the way this educational process is administered, and if such a process was poorly administered it would cause resistance in its application, which could cause the process of education to be forced. No transitional process can be forced or it will create an environment that people will be unhappy living in, and in most countries in this world such an environment already exists and as we can see this has not worked out, why should we expect that it will work if we further