Class Discussion (2/12) (Meagan Adler)

After today's analytical discussion, I was particularly intrigued by the narrator's rejection of Darwinism in the idea that we, as human race, inevitably go against our self interest; we have this strong desire to do so and justify our actions by our need for individual freedom.  Unlike the human race, other animals only act in their self interest but we choose not to because we need to be in control. A significantly powerful part of the reading that we discussed was that when the narrator almost mockingly says, “What is advantage? And what will you take upon yourself to define with perfect accuracy in what the advantage of man consists? And what if it is so happens that a man's advantage, sometimes, not only may, but even must, consist in his desiring in certain cases what is harmful to himself and not advantageous" (pg.14).  Here, the narrator clearly conveys the natural tendency that we act against our own self interest, which therefore invalidates Darwinism and destroys the wall that gives us our boundaries.  We are afraid to accept these truths because we are terrified of an infinite world with no definite answers.