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the-south-asian.com                            March 2001

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Page  2  of  5

Reflections

on

Traditional Cultures - their wisdom and challenges

by 

ISABEL ALLENDE

(continued)

"Unfortunately, it is this same diversity, the source of the strength that has allowed us to exist for thousands of years, that nourishes intolerance, hatred, and war. We fear everything that is different, and fear turns us into aggressive beasts. With the exception of religious fanaticism, ethnic conflict is the principal cause of much of the world's         hostilities" - Isabel Allende

AN INCREDIBLE CAPACITY for adapting to the environment has

allowed the human race to live in the eternal ice of the

North Pole, the arid dunes of the Sahara, the sweltering

forests of the Amazons, or the translucent heights of the

Himalayas. Before every challenge of nature, small clans of

humans seek a way to utilize the resources at hand and learn

to survive. The social organization also must adapt to

circumstances. Among the ancient inhabitants of the Arctic,

where women were very scarce, offering one's spouse to the

traveler so that he would spend a warm and happy night was a

gesture of basic hospitality, whereas among the polygamous

tribes of the desert, a single glance at another man's woman

meant death. How could a man from the extreme north

understand the idiosyncrasy of a Bedouin? How to explain to

a wanderer of the Sahara what happens in an igloo during the

long night of a polar winter?

UNFORTUNATELY, it is this same diversity, the source of the

strength that has allowed us to exist for thousands of

years, that nourishes intolerance, hatred, and war. We fear

everything that is different, and fear turns us into

aggressive beasts. With the exception of religious

fanaticism, ethnic conflict is the principal cause of much

of the world's hostilities. When the Soviet Union was

dismantled, for example, we saw the emergence among nation

states of hatred that had lain buried for decades. The

atrocities committed in Bosnia against persons who until

only shortly before had been neighbors and friends of the

perpetrators prove how deeply rooted human aggression can be

when turned against those who are not like us. It is much

easier to see small differences than to see great

similarities. Yet what would humankind be like if we were

all the same? We wouldn't be. It ís possible that we would

have perished as a species. Carried to the extreme,

uniformity would finally destroy us.