Chapter 17MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT
I. Man and the UniverseOnly that endures which is beneficial for mankind (13:17).THIS verse, which was quoted at the end of the last chapter, is
thought-provoking, and we will find an attempt to probe into and
explore its implications, highly rewarding. Here is a reliable criterion
for judging man's activities. Only those activities have intrinsic
worth which lead to the production of something beneficial to
mankind. The criterion, however, goes much farther than that. In
the course of evolution, only those variations were preserved which
were serviceable to the species in their struggle for survival. The
physical world too, through the same process, has, in the course of
countless ages, become a place fit for man to live in and pursue truly
human ends. Had the earth grown increasingly hotter or colder, man
would have long ago made his hurried exit. As it is, he prospers and
flourishes on it and his efforts to understand and control it have
been richly rewarded. Now, he even takes a hand in changing his
physical environment in a way that helps him to rise higher in the
scale of existence.
This challenging attitude towards the physical environment is,
however, of recent origin. For long ages, man felt ill at ease in the
world. Primitive man believed himself to be surrounded by hostile
forces bent on destroying him. He believed that his only chance of
survival lay in placating and appeasing those forces, and,
consequently, he personified and deified them. Tormented by a
sense of utter helplessness, he thought he could save himself only
by arousing the pity of the gods. He sought to appease the raging
storm, the turbulent river or crashing thunder by methods which
had proved effective in pacifying an enraged neighbour or a furious
enemy. With the increase in knowledge and experience, this
primitive view of the world was replaced by paganism. The pagans
felt more secure in the world and thought it even possible to control