when I have finished spinning silk I will fly off, and in the air—a place I
have never been able to reach before—I will play with my friends and
ensure that I will have offspring’? The same with other caterpillars that
crawl along walls and then become chrysalises, pupas, nymphs, and
finally butterflies. Does a fly ever have an idea about breeding with
another fly, that the breeding should take place here and not over there?
[ 5 ] “It is the same for creatures with larger bodies as it is for these
insects—for example, when birds and winged creatures of all kinds mate,
build nests, lay eggs in them, incubate the eggs, hatch young, give them
food, raise them until they fly away, and then drive them from the birds’
nests as if they weren’t the birds’ own offspring, not to mention countless
other phenomena. It is the same for animals, snakes, and fish.
“From what I have said, you can all see that the spontaneous actions
of living creatures do not flow from any thought, and that ideas come
into play only where there is thought. The mistaken concept that animals
have ideas comes solely from the false belief that animals think just as
people do and only verbalization differentiates them.”
[ 6 ] After that the angelic spirit looked around. Since he saw that the
spirits were still undecided on the issue of whether animals think or not,
he continued his speech and said, “I sense that you are still stuck with an
imaginary idea about brute animals thinking, since they have actions that
are similar to human actions. I will tell you then where animals’ actions
come from.
“Every animal, every bird, every fish, reptile, and insect has its own
earthly, sensory, and physical love. These loves dwell in the brains
inside their heads. The spiritual world flows directly through their brains
into their physical senses and uses those senses to determine their
actions. This is why their bodily senses are far more refined than human
senses. This inflow from the spiritual world is what is known as instinct.
It is called instinct because it comes about without the help of thought.
Instinct is also supplemented by the development of habits.
“The love animals have is a love solely for nutrition and propagation.
A determination to act comes from the spiritual world through that love.
They have no love for knowledge, intelligence, or wisdom, which are the
means of developing higher levels of love in human beings.
[ 7 ] “As for people having no innate ideas, this is obvious from the fact
that people have no innate thinking. Where there is no thinking, there are
no ideas, for thinking and ideas go hand in hand. This conclusion can be
reached by studying newborn babies. They are unable to do anything
singke
(singke)
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