If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways by Daniel Quinn Read Free Book Online

my own. It's probably been asked many times.
    Daniel . Go ahead.
    Elaine . We've been talking about living in the hands of the gods.
    Daniel . Yes?
    Elaine . But you never make it quite clear whether you believe in these gods, or any god.
    Daniel . When Ishmael talks about the gods... Let me start that a different way. The subject of Ishmael is the unrecognized and unacknowledged mythology of our culture, which Ishmael formulates as a story that spells out the relationships among Man, the world, and the gods. In this context the gods are mythological, which is not to say that they're unreal but rather that their reality is irrelevant. The world was made for Man to conquer and rule, and Man was made to conquer and rule it — according to our mythology. It goes without saying that this is a divinely appointed mission. The Europeans who drove the Indians off their lands and put that land to the plow sincerely believed they were doing God's work.
    Elaine . Yes, I understand that. But I don't see how it answers my question.
    Daniel . Which is, do I believe in God.
    Elaine . Yes, I guess so.
    Daniel . Being a Martian anthropologist, I have to pull back from your question, have to take off the blinders you're asking me to wear. Believing in things that may not exist — or disbelieving in things that may exist — is a peculiarity of your culture, not a universal human activity. Because it's universal among you, you assume it's universal among humans in general.
    Elaine . That's true. It never occurred to me that it might not be universal among humans.
    Daniel . You variously believe in God, though God may not exist, or you disbelieve in God, though God may exist. You variously believe in angels, though angels may not exist, or you disbelieve in angels, though angels may exist. You variously believe in extraterrestrial spacecraft that have the world under surveillance, though these spacecraft may not exist, or disbelieve in them, though they may exist. You variously believe in ghosts, though ghosts may not exist, or you disbelieve in ghosts, though ghosts may exist.
    Elaine . Yes, that's all true.
    Daniel . Tell me, do you believe in supermodels?
    Elaine [ laughing ]. Supermodels? I don't believe in them. That isn't the word I would use.
    Daniel . For you, the existence of supermodels doesn't require you to exercise the faculty of belief.
    Elaine . That's true. Though I've never thought of belief as a faculty.
    Daniel . Oh, it definitely is. It's the faculty you must call upon in the face of the absurd. As William of Occam put it, Credo quia absurdum : "I believe because it is absurd." A thing whose reality doesn't seem to you absurd doesn't require belief.
    Elaine . Yes, I suppose that's true. But the existence of God doesn't strike me as absurd.
    Daniel . It's absurd in the sense that no one can produce even the slightest evidence of God's existence. They can produce proofs , but these are only valid if you accept the premises on which they're based. If you don't accept those premises, then they're just empty exercises in logic.
    Elaine . I suppose I'm dimly aware that such things exist.
    Daniel . Another faculty exists that is a kind of cousin of the faculty of belief. This is the faculty that comes into play with regard to supermodels. You people the world with supermodels. Fifty years ago there were no supermodels, but in the last few decades you have peopled your world with them. A hundred years ago there were no movie stars, but since then you've peopled your world with hundreds of them. Europe in the Middle Ages was peopled with saints.
    Elaine . Yes, I see what you mean.
    Daniel . The Gebusi of New Guinea consort with spirits on a daily basis. Their world is peopled with spirits, and if you were to ask them if they believe in spirits, they would react just the way you did when I asked you if you believe in supermodels... But to return to your original question, I have to say that the faculty of belief is completely