enjoy the ride
Sun 11.17.19
I am reading Doris Lessing’s five sci-fi book series, Canopus in Argos Archives about a future, or could even be a past, universe. I am now in book 3, The Sirian Experiments whose main character is an official from the planet Sirius. The Sirians control a number of planets. They also have competition from the Canopeans who are the good guys in this story. They also control a number of planets. No story is complete without its villains and they are the corrupt Shammat.
Ambien II, the Sirian representative is sent forth by her superiors to conduct experiments on the inhabitants of various planets. She’s a bitch who creates untold misery, but isn’t aware of it, your typical bureaucrat, an officious NPC type. She calls all the planetary inhabitants (except Canopians) animals, so one is never sure what level of awareness, intelligence these inhabitants possess. But Ambien is a good girl working for the good of all. Some of her experiments involve placing the animals on mountain tops where the air is thin to develop a breed that can function with less need of oxygen and she is successful. She’s also created a heavy-duty worker breed to do the dirty work without complaint. Whole populations are moved from one planet to another, subjected to procedures to improve the planet, the life of these creatures, and of course Sirius.
The planet earth figures; its name is Shikasta. Mostly, the Canopeans control that planet. Their theory is that one should find out what the creatures want and need before making any changes. Ambien is attracted its representative, Klorathy. She goes with him to a situation he is trying to resolve among midget cave dwellers and the native population. Ambien hopes to learn something of Canopus’ work, which is more successful in gaining the creatures loyalty and praise than Sirius. In the cave with these freaky creatures, Ambien shudders. What’s more, this will go on for days because Klorathy plans to stick around until he learns what the midgets want. They’ve been causing problems with the native population who they cheat and steal from.
Everyone on the planets lives for thousands of years and one can easily see how experiments turn out after a number of years. Doris Lessing believed that at one time humans lived for centuries and she points to the surprise humans feel when they discover they have aged considerately, as if not expected, not part of their makeup. I would add to that an experience I had in which for complicated reasons I acquired cosmic consciousness for too short a time. I could see the world, our world clearly. I understood that everything was as it should be, that a child suffered and died of leukemia was as it should be. That others worked to find a cure was also correct. One of the things I noticed about relationship and interaction is that you would be amazed at its purposefulness. That a person meeting an acquaintance or friend after many years would pick up the conversation at the exact point it had been left lo those many years ago.
If humans at one time lived for thousands of years as Lessing conjectures, then they would surely have a greater ability to hold 20, 30 years in mind and remember what was worth discussing with one’s companion back then. I say back then, but they would see it in terms of a week or so.
Something happens to Sirian representatives after being on the job a number of years. They get into existential depressions; Ambien is in a city in Shikasta, a wonderful city created by its creatures, which she begins to see is exhibiting signs of encroaching degeneration. This keeps happening; the elites take over in whatever system of government chosen by the inhabitants of the various planets, and it all goes bad. She tries to short circuit this by getting involved with a Shammat man, they will take over power and this time she’s going to correct this problem. She is saved from this foolhardiness by the Canopians who rightly point out that there’s nothing that can be done. It is part of evolutionary change, always was, always will be.
So relax, enjoy the ride. We are in our own dark period where the elites are misbehaving and have messed everything up. We are going down, down, down, and at some point we will land in another way of being.
The favorite essay this month has been, Nietzsche
