Ishmael

Ishmael; An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit is a novel by Daniel Quinn in which the title character, a telepathic gorilla, explains his philosophy to the narrator. The philosophy is an exploration of how our society is based on an anthropocentric myth. The myth is made up of the following elements: 1) Humanity is the end product of creation, 2) Humanity was destined to rule creation, 3) Humanity, in ruling creation, was meant to create paradise, 4) Humanity, instead of creating paradise, ruined the world because humanity is flawed. These four elements of the myth are common to all major religions with only slight variation. Even secular humanists and scientists subscribe to this myth unconsciously when describing the scientific world view.

Ishmael goes on to explain to the narrator that in living by this myth, humanity has broken the natural moral laws that all successful species live by. There were cultures, until recently, that lived by these laws. In fact, before about 10000 BC all cultures lived by these laws. The cultures that lived by these laws, Ishmael calls Leaver cultures. While the majority of human cultures in existence today, Ishmael calls Taker cultures. The myth described above is therefore called the Taker Myth. The natural laws that it leads us to break are 1) You may not hunt down your competitors, 2) You may not destroy the food of your competitors, 3) You may not deny your competitors access to food.

The ultimate result is that Takers behave as if the world belongs to them, while the right relationship with the world is to behave as if you belong to the world.