5. CULTURE

 

Human beings live in communities in which the individuals interact and are inter-dependent. A community is, therefore, a wholeness, a system in which individuals live as parts. They are genetically connected with each other. The community is an organism which has a larger life span and a greater range of characteristics than the individuals in it. Each individual is affected by the nature of others in his environment.

Human behaviour is affected by their (a) genetic constitution, (b) by their experiences in the environment, and (c) by the efforts they make. They receive an input from the environment, they transform it, and produce an output into the environment. They do this individually as well as collectively. Therefore, the influences which form them derive partly from their own activities. The word culture is used to refer to the products of human activity.

A distinction, therefore, arises between the natural environment, the cultural environment and the psychological environment. There is an interaction between these three which points to a unity beyond them. A culture is the product of both the natural environment and human nature, and it modifies both the natural environment and human nature. Human nature is not independent of the rest of nature, its laws, forces and processes, and these in turn are not independent of human nature, but only in the way we see and describe them. Owing to this interaction we must presume that there is a Greater System to which all three belong which describes and regulates this interaction.

Whereas the Economic system is concerned with self-preservation, and the social System is concerned with reproduction, the Cultural System, which is uniquely a human product, is concerned with human development and evolution. The Cultural World is in no sense the same as the world in which animals live and cannot be recognised by them. It certainly has a material aspect but also an emotional and intellectual ones.

When, however, the words “development” and “evolution” are used this can be done in three senses:-

(1) In the sense biologists use, namely physiological and genetic transformations.

(2) In the sense of social development which refers to their technologies, ideas, organizations and control over the physical environment.

(3) In the sense religions use them which refer to inner psychological or spiritual transformation.

 

Though these are distinct, they also inter-act and are inter-dependent. Though it may be controversial, the point of view taken here is that the last is more important and determines the other two. This is because it is not only a fact that in human beings the products of the human mind, the social and cultural factors have become more important in determining their behaviour than inherent genetic ones, but also that all the factors which affect their development whether it comes from religion, science or organisation depend on the inspiration of the few, that is, from a realm outside that which is normally understood by the word “mind”, namely ordinary reason, motivation and action. It refers to an awareness of something Universal or Cosmic not given to the senses or the rational faculty.

 

We could use the word Culture to refer either (a) to the products of a society, or (b) to its activities which give rise to these products, or (c) to the state which gives rise to those activities. In general, it is used to refer to activities, in which case it refers to the mind of a society rather than to its physical existence or its nature.  When we speak of the cultural environment we have to distinguish between:-

1. The physical - the towns, farms, industries, traffic, means of communication, art and artifacts. These differ from the natural environment which consists of the land, mountains, rivers, forests, climate etc. But human activity affects all these.

2. The social - the interactions, institutions, organization, laws and regulations; the political, economic and social institutions such as the medical, educational and industrial ones; the organization of families, communities and nation.

3. The ideological - ideas, values systems, attitudes, skills, etiquette, customs, art, literature, science, philosophy and religion. In short that which educates the people. The word Culture may be restricted to refer to these, or in an even more restricted sense to Art.

 

The meaning of the word Art, may, however, be extended to cover all human activity which is not automatic but deliberate and cultivated in three directions:- (a) in the materials or means used (b) in the skills cultivated (c) in the direction or purposes to which they are applied.

From the Islamic point of view, Art and the Artist can be judged according to how well they facilitate the development of the individual, the society and the world, It can have either positive or negative value.

There is an interaction between these three factors, the physical, the social and the ideological. Though the third factor appears to be the weakest of the three influences, it is increasingly the most powerful since both the social organisation and the physical environment are modified by it, for good or bad. The physical, social and ideological conditions lead people into situations which make certain actions and experiences possible. They learn from pain and pleasure. Environments differ according to the nature of the events, their strength and the relative frequency with which these events occur. Thus the character, history and development of a people is affected by their culture. Marriage and reproduction is affected by these characteristics directly, and indirectly by what advantages or disadvantages a particular set of characteristics gives people in particular social conditions. Thus, the genetic development of the race is also affected. Human activity also changes the natural environment, which in turn affects human development and the culture. Human beings are not, therefore, passive with respect to the forces that form them. The Culture is a mediator between inherent and environmental forces, reciprocally affects and is affected by them. Culture has a function with respect to human development.

Observation shows that culture has three forms:-

1. That which leads to the development of human consciousness, refinement of their motivations and increasing control over behaviour. This kind of culture is only produced by the few who have the highest qualities and abilities. This has an evolutional effect.

2. That which has mass appeal and forms the background to life. Commercial and Political interests affect this kind of culture. It leads to mental conditioning and social conformity. Though this removes social tensions and conflicts and makes social life smoother and more elegant, the conditions of life change from place to place and time to time and these influences must also change. They allow adaptation without evolution. But they cause conflicts between different cultural groups. Apart from this these influences change and fluctuate arbitrarily in accordance with fashions.

3. That which leads to increasing crudity by the removal of inhibitions and conditioning, the stimulation of baser impulses, and channeling of behaviour into perverse directions. This has an Involutional effect.

 

The higher the quality of people the fewer is their number. Therefore, the lower type of culture is easier to produce, requiring less skill, and it appeals to a greater proportion of the population. Commerce depends mostly on profits made by mass production and greater sales. Therefore, in an uncontrolled economy where moral values are not held in high regard the tendency is to produce the lower culture and overwhelm the others. This is a mechanical process which accords with the laws of thermodynamics, and cannot be reversed except by the introduction of impulses from conscious sources.

 

 

The word ‘Culture’ refers to that which human beings have produced for purposes other than mere self-preservation or reproduction, that is, other than that which applies to animals. Culture is said to arise from the tendency to play. The young in most animals have this tendency and its function is to exercise the faculties in preparation for serious use in adulthood. It is, therefore, part of a self-extensive instinct. In human beings it is extended into adulthood and there it must be regarded as having the same function with respect to a more mature or universal life and this includes both the future of the human race and the after-life. We shall use it synonymously with Art.

The word Art is sometimes used to refer to an activity, sometimes to a finished work and sometimes to the way things relate to each other, their purpose. The word, Art, will be used here to refer to an over all harmony, and as an aspect of all human activities, including science, industry, politics and morality. The value system by which it is judged is Aesthetics. It has Beauty, positive or negative. Beauty is an attribute of Allah and, therefore, refers to an aspect of Nature. It refers to that which is appealing because it harmonizes with human nature, and our experience of nature. It becomes an independent activity only when attention is concentrated on this aspect rather on utility, truth or morality. But this is a mistake since all these terms refer to some kind of harmony.

 

There are four kind of Art:- Integral, Pure, Applied and Practical. Integral art is that which is involved in anything we do, speaking, walking, eating, and writing or in making something. It is also involved in thinking and in social relationships. Pure Art is that which is done for its own sake, such as paintings, music, dancing. Applied art is the use of art to enhance something else such as decorating and designing. Practical art has some specific purpose as when it is used in education to make some subject appealing, or in religion to remind and evoke a sense of the sacred.

People tend to distinguish between that which is natural and that which is artificial. The latter term is used for human actions and their products, as distinct from other events, materials and structures. However, Art should be considered just as natural as all other things. A bird creates a nest because of the instincts and abilities which are inherent in it. But we do not regard the nest as being artificial. And this applies equally to man. We cannot, therefore, accept the dichotomy between the natural and the artificial in this sense. Instead, we have to distinguish between that which arises from and affects the deeper inherent nature of man and has a real function with respect to the welfare and development of man and that which arises from and affects more superficial levels of man and has no such function or obstructs it. The possibility of this distinction has arisen because man is able to construct, through his mind, a world which is different from and incompatible with the natural world or himself.

There is often a contradiction involved in the creation of Art. People create an artificial world in order to get away from, and to compensate for, the drabness, stresses, disharmonies and disrhythms of life which they have themselves created. Nature itself contains great beauty, and it is possible to develop sensitivity to its rhythms, thereby restoring inner harmony and a sense of wellbeing. Instead of this, however, people create the industries, organisations and activities to produce the machinery and equipment required for artificial music and other forms of art, thereby destroying the beauty of nature and creating the very ugliness and disharmonies which make that art necessary. It is not the case that these constructions do not have their own order and harmonies, but that they clash with those which are inherent in man and nature and, therefore, produce disharmonies and tensions in man. There is a difference between Art which creates such disharmonies, Art which restores harmony and Art which conforms or enhances harmony. The restoration of harmony may require methods which are just as artificial but of an opposite kind to that which produces the disharmony.

 Pure Art, as well as philosophy, games and sports, appear to have been cultivated in ancient Greece and Rome, from which Western civilisations claim to be mainly derived. These cultures were based on slavery. They created the distinction between master and slave, and therefore also between the practical and the abstract. Since the practical physical work was left to the slaves, the masters enjoyed leisure which allowed them to indulge in the more abstract intellectual, emotional and physical pursuits. The incentive to do this was also provided by the need to distinguish themselves from the slave, to keep him in a position where he could be exploited, as any other instrument, for the benefit of the master, and the need to occupy their faculties which would otherwise have produced intolerable boredom. It is also probable that indulgence in politics and military adventures had the same cause. Thus a distinction arose between what is inherent, natural and essential and what is artificial - between what is real and what is man made, and between matter and mind. Today, the slave has been replaced by the machine and the distinction remains in tact.

It is supposed by many people that whereas all other human activities are concerned with the maintenance of life, then the purpose for life is provided by the culture. The culture is regarded as the reason for existence, and an end in itself. This is contrary to the religious view. Here the reason for existence is development by progressive adjustment to reality, to Allah, and to facilitate unity and harmony, Culture is a means to this, and is to be judged according to how it fulfils this aim. It is not an end in itself to which human beings should be subordinated. This would be idolatry. There is, therefore, a big difference between secular and religious Art.

Allah is Unity. He is said to have four major attributes, namely Truth, Goodness, Power and Beauty. They are all aspects of His Unity. Truth refers to consistency, goodness to conformity, power to coordination and beauty to harmony. They manifest themselves as aspects of the universe and all things within it. The sets Goodness and Power on the one hand, and Truth and Beauty on the other are opposites. The one set active and the other passive. The members of each set may also be considered to be opposites. Truth and Goodness (facts and values) are opposites, and so are Power and Beauty (compulsion and attraction). The opposition is, however, not one of conflict but rather of complementation, like two ends of a line on which one can travel in either direction. What is seen as compulsion from one side is attraction from the other. What is seen as truth from one side is seen as goodness from the other. What is passive from one point of view is active from another. They also cooperate. It is not possible to do good, for instance without power, truth and some kind of elegance. We may, therefore, see these attributes as if they pointed to the four directions of a compass.

It may be better, perhaps, to regard them as a pyramid. Beauty, since it refers to the harmony of Unity, is the apex and Truth, Goodness and Power are differentiated from it. Beauty refers to the overall harmony which exists when there is an interaction between man and his environment, as there is in the rest of creation. In this interaction we have a triad, the person, the activity and the object or environment. If we place our attention on the person we have the Ethical Value, goodness. If we place it on the object then we have the Scientific Value, truth. If we place it on the relating factor, the activity or function, then we have the Economic Value, utility. Power refers to usefulness, positive or negative. Science is an activity. It is, therefore, also a part of Art. We cannot accept the absolute distinction between Science and Art. It, too, has to perform elegant experiments and present its findings in an aesthetic and economical manner and has applications which have an ethical value, good or bad. The pursuit of science is itself regarded as good and its applications have an economic value.

These four values ought to be aspects of every activity and integral to the education and life of every person. We need correct knowledge, correct motivations, appropriate materials and correct ways of applying the one to the other in an over all harmonious way.

The present discussion is itself an aesthetic endeavour, and it is, therefore, included under the title, Art. It is not science, ethics or economics, but it has all these aspects. There is truth in it, it has a moral value and does present a host of ideas in an economical way. Art, too, must have a truth, a moral and an economic value. Art should have beauty as well as truth, and it should be useful and morally beneficial.

 

It is not difficult to determine that Islamic Art, in so far as it is Islamic, is distinct from the Art of other nations in many ways. There is little doubt that the form of the Quran itself as well as the ideas contained in it, the kind of activities it has encouraged and the social structures it has created, have an aesthetic aspect, and all have affected Islamic Art. Some of these influences were also introduced into Spain and from there into Europe and the Americas.

The Arts in Islam must also come under the control of the basic Islamic principles. That is, it must be subject to the principles of Unity, Objectivity, Responsibility (the notion of Vicegerency and trusteeship must apply), the Public interest, the goal of psychological development, the need for consultation and consensus, the role of legitimate authority, the need for divine guidance, the correct application of human faculties and inspiration.

Some of these principles are extremely controversial in modern times. The creation of Art is a most personal and private matter, since it involves the artists perception, motivations and skills. Judgement is also quite personal and subjective. Different people have different tastes. But even so its products are judged publicly. It also derives from experience in the real world and it produces real affects on people. It, therefore, has a subjective, a social and an objective aspect. Since it has (a) a producer, (b) contents and (c) effects, we can examine it from these three points of view.

It is possible to distinguish between (a) Subjective, (b) Popular and (c) Objective art.

Subjective Art is merely an expression of the impulses, feelings and thoughts of the artist. These may well be very personal, or common to the experiences of many people, or they may include great insights into what is more universally true. It may consist of fantasies and it may be quite perverse. Since its purpose is only self-expression, self-indulgence or self-relief, its social value is accidental. The artist who wishes to bring his art to public notice should develop something within himself worth expressing.

 Popular Art is that which is produced because of public demand or to cater for the Public taste whatever that might be. It might be base, perverse, sophisticated or elevating. There is an interaction between the artist and the public. He is affected by, and affects them.

Objective Art depends on consciousness of realities and is created with the intention of producing, and does produce, real affects on the recipients though these may vary according to the nature of those affected. The effects can be produced at a superficial or deeper level. Some music, for instance stimulates dancing, some causes emotional and mood changes, others produce intellectual effects and still others may produce profound physiological, psychological or spiritual changes. These affects can be produced because of the knowledge, understanding or the insight of the artist. The effects can be good or evil. It is, of course, quite possible that an artist producing subjective or popular art may accidentally produce objective results. In general the work produced depends on the quality of the artist. Psychological studies show that human creativity is connected with the existence of inherent patterns and rhythms within them and that these are connected with those existing in nature and the universe as a whole. The rhythms created by the orbits of the sun and the moon, for instance, create a number of rhythms on earth and in all organic life. It is the compatibility, correspondence and harmony of a piece of art with these underlying structures of the Universe which give it appeal.

The refinement of feeling, emotion and motivation which good music, poetry and other forms of art bring, however, have disadvantages for those who are surrounded by barbarians since the latter depend on sheer uncontrolled force. A bomb containing uncontrolled energy will destroy any factory which uses controlled energy. The Muslim world should have learnt this when their civilisations were destroyed by the Mongol and other invaders. There is no alternative to this dilemma but that people should attain enough control over themselves so that they can assume many alternative roles as the occasion demands. One set of characteristics must not be allowed to inhibit another.

As for its contents, Art can be (a) imitative, (b) representative or (c) symbolic, and this at various levels and with respect to various aspects of experience. Imitative art which tries to make exact images of natural entities is generally disapproved of in Islam since it is only possible to reduce and corrupt them. You cannot give an animal or a man life and you may mistake them for the dead image or vice versa. It tends to produce a psychological tendency either to treat people as if they were only images or treat the image as if it were the person. Both these tendencies are quite wide spread to various degrees of intensity. Actors are often mistaken for the characters they play and are attacked or adulated. Idolatry is not uncommon. Representative art deals with only certain aspects or features of things in order to emphasise them and bring them into awareness. Symbolic art is concerned with abstract qualities, relationships, structures and patterns rather than objects. Islamic art tends to be representative or symbolic.

 

The assertion that Art reflects life and ought merely to reflect life cannot be accepted. If it merely does this then it is useless and life itself can do this better without the distortion which the prejudices and limitations of the artist inevitably produce. There is, however, some justification in saying that the artist will show more of life than is available directly to any individual, that he points out important features by emphasising them, that he makes people conscious of things they may have ignored, that he shows new ways of seeing reality, and that this enables the individual to learn from and adjust to life and expands his consciousness. But these are valuable purposes, not imitation. It is, however, obvious from examining contemporary literature, drama, cinema, television and video programs that the emphasis on violence, crime and crudities shown far exceeds their normal prevalence in the community, that this desensitises people, makes such things acceptable, clutters their minds and modifies their behaviour. This kind of adjustment can hardly be called beneficial. People learn from and are modified by impressions and experience and art provides them.

 

 Art like Science has been regarded as being independent of morality. This cannot be so. If art and science are considered to be something good to pursue then their existence depends on this moral judgement and we must enquire into why they are good. The point of controversy in Art is about Authority. Despotic governments and power groups always try to control it in their own interest and prejudices. But legitimate authority, as understood in Islam, refers to those who have knowledge, experience and expertise in the field under consideration, are morally upright and able to apply impersonal objective judgements..

Like all other things Art should be under the control of the moral law. It is not a question of suppressing truth, nor of opinion, as long as a distinction is explicitly made between fact and opinion. It is a question of what does harm or good. Art has power. It has effects and is meant to have effect. These effects can be beneficial or harmful. Impressions like any food can be nutritious, catalytic or poisonous. If it is a purely personal expression it would not be made available to the public. Incitement to crime or perversity, for instance, cannot be allowed. Nor can the deliberate propagation of prejudice, bias and lies, or unjustified defamation, character assassination or perverse interpretation. There is no value in scandal mongering, gossip, sensationalism, exciting base or perverted appetites, invading people’s privacy, or obsession with certain aspects of life at the expense of others. This does not necessarily mean censorship but only that the artist or journalist is responsible for what he does and for the consequences of his actions and should be treated accordingly. They ought to be guided by a value system and a code of practice. It means that the artist is open to criticism and must be able to explain his work. It also means that arrogance in the artist cannot be tolerated if it harms others. It does not mean persecution or the inability to express what is controversial, but the Artist may be answerable to the courts of law. Blasphemy which abuses the faith of people cannot be allowed. Reasonable criticism is quite a different matter and ought to be done with sobriety.

The right to freedom of speech and publication cannot be different from the right to freedom of action. Personal responsibility, however, must mean not only that the individual has the right to do what he thinks is right for himself, but also what is right for others, and he must ensure that he has adequate knowledge to arrive at this opinion. Without this there can be no personal development, no self control and the Vicegerency is rendered void. It may be that a work of Art offends someone or some group, and the offence is based on some personal interest, prejudice, convention or some more objective factor. To offend is certainly wrong, but the good done by a work of art or the pleasure it gives may outweigh the evil of the offence. To give offence is not always bad since there might be greater benefits even to the people offended. It might even be selfish and wrong of a person to be offended, and to allow his offence to control the freedom of someone else or the pleasure and good of others.

Truth, in the restricted sense, cannot always have priority over virtue since the Universe itself was created for a purpose and human creations are also made for a purpose. The purpose is then more important than the object or event, and there is an element of distortion involved in a description which ignores the purpose which gives it meaning. Truth, moreover, as seen by man may not correspond to natural truth. The prophet was not in favour of publicising the misdemeanours of people, because it may influence others to do likewise by giving the impression that it is normal or because, by destroying the reputation of someone, it produces more suffering than just punishment allows or that it makes him worse. The reporter does not merely report, he selects the events, extracts and emphasises features of it, adds his own interpretations and uses language deliberately designed to produce bias.

 Man, as the Quran points out, is also diverse in nature. Opinions will differ and different things are suitable for different people. The opinions and desires of one cannot be imposed on others. The individual himself ought to develop the strength of character, the faith and the certainty necessary to withstand temptation and distraction. Indeed, those who are protected from opposition and challenge tend to be more vulnerable because they have not had the opportunity to develop resistance. Man is, however, weak, and must be protected from excessive temptations and distractions.

“O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who errs cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. Unto Allah is the return. And He will inform you of what ye used to do.” 5:105

“..Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (he hath made you diverse). So vie with one another in good works...” 5:48 Also see 2:148

“And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed alike. Wouldst thou compel men until they are believers? It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah..” 10:100

The greatest advances in civilisation have often been brought about by what may be called rebels. That is persons who have flouted authority, the general consensus of opinion, narrow prejudices and superstitions. This includes scientists, politicians, philosophers as well as writers and artists. Each of the Prophets must be considered a rebel in his own time. Were it not for such people humanity would have remained quite stationary and, indeed, would have degenerated. Indeed, the stagnant nations are those among whom no such rebels came into existence. But not all rebels had this salutary effect. Only those who achieved such advances are remembered. Rebellion for its own sake is not a virtue. Since such people achieved something good and true, useful or beautiful they cannot be said to have rebelled against Allah. On the contrary. While everyone or most people thought they were wrong, and even that they were evil, Reality bore witness that it was they who were right and everyone else was wrong. Conditioning makes people blind and not many have the capacity to understand what the more able and sensitive are presenting. These people were persecuted. What if the persecution had succeeded? The Quran tells us that every Prophet has an opponent (Quran 6:113). This may well be necessary to test the Prophet and to distinguish the good and the true from the evil and the false. We ought not, therefore, to make it easy for every fantasy, perversion and rebellion to flourish, but develop our sense of discrimination while diminishing the hold of habit and convention. That which is true will succeed in the end.

“And say: Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish.” 17:81

 

In general Islam must be regarded as being opposed to Censorship and persecution. Only the basic ethical law must apply. Humility in these matters is essential. It remains, however, the right and the duty of each individual to remain vigilant and oppose evil and error by correcting it rather than by suppressing it. The correction of error is progress while its suppression leads to degeneration. Learning takes place by trial and error. If the fear of error were to paralyse effort nothing could be learnt. Whenever something new begins the chances are that it will contain errors. progress consists of the progressive removal of errors, usually by discussion and trial.

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The very existence of human beings implies both the right to make changes and the fact that changes will be made by them in the world. These changes will depend on how well they harmonize with basic realities. Their welfare or otherwise will also depend on the way they harmonize with the changes. This applies not only to the special or fine arts and crafts, but to everything else, the houses, cities, farms, factories, gardens, institutions, and also the ideas, feelings, thought processes, motives, and to their behaviour, mutual relationships, the way each act is carried out, whether it is gentle, strenuous, or appropriate in quality, quantity or relevance. It includes custom, manners, etiquette and decorum, the methods adopted to ‘oil the machinery’ of human relationships, the way human beings treat each other, to tact, sensitivity, consideration and diplomacy, and the rules of civilised and cultured speech and behaviour.

Art is done through the seven senses, sounds, smells, tastes, sights, touch, balance and kinaesthesia, but also through action (speech, movements of hands, arms and legs, postures, facial expressions), the emotions and feelings, the intellect and the spirit, consciousness, conscience and will.

 

The purpose of Art is:- 

1. To make life easier, more enjoyable and more tolerable. It exists for pleasure and entertainment. This becomes necessary in proportion to the drabness and monotony of life. It relieves boredom and depression, re-energises and recreates a zest for life.

2. Therapeutic, to remove tension, stresses and contradictions, psychological, social and physical. To promote relaxation and harmony.

3. To compensate and restore. In general the sense of beauty comes from harmony with nature, both inner and outer. But human activity creates changes in nature e.g.. roads, cities and farms are built. These disrupt the harmony and causes tension. These have to be compensated for in order to restore harmony. Art is a method of doing this. Human beings not only construct but also design and decorate and clear up the mess they make.

4. To promote smooth interactions between people through shared experiences.

5. To enable self-expression and communication.

6. Education, to draw attention to aspects of nature, inner and outer and enable us to learn and live more harmoniously with the environment and adjust to it. It coordinates action, feeling and thought and, therefore, promotes a balanced development. Art can be used in schools and colleges to make learning more pleasurable and create a deeper impact than mere description or instructions, to increase interest and reinforce motives.

7. To stimulate, encourage and reinforce. Art, particularly oratory, literature, poetry, song and music can be used to sooth, arouse, to make people laugh or cry, to create melancholy, sadness, joy, hope, aggression, courage, to arouse passions, lust, gentleness and love, to create discomfort or comfort, conflict or harmony. It has been used for military as well as spiritual purposes. It can be used to cause riots or to quell them. It is possible to use art more widely and effectively than has been the case in the past.

8. Psychological development by increasing our sensitivity, consciousness, conscience and will.

The arts and crafts are meant for the benefit of the consumer, the environment, and, in Islam, particularly for the producers as method of self-development. They develop skills, self-control, coordination, patience, concentration of mind and effort, knowledge and awareness. From this point of view, though the product may also be a means of earning a living, in itself it has little value or significance. It is a by product. The result of this should be that no attachment should develop to it, and no great desire to preserve it. Products should not accumulate to clutter up the environment, the mind and the life of people. They will not, then, become a means of conditioning and obstruction.

Art, however, has lost its original purpose and is being devoted more and more to pure entertainment. To a large extent this is being obtained by the arousing of the baser instincts of lust, greed and violence. This has no evolutional value. On the contrary it encourages degeneration and maladaptation.

 

Art may be said to exist in order to enable man to gain a more intimate knowledge of Reality. In this it differs from science which is merely concerned with describing it. As such it has seven aspects:-

1. To record and communicate experiences (not merely thoughts, but also feelings and impulses to action)

2. To create new experiences or to expand them. To explore the possibilities in nature. Science is a form of Art, but it is not the only way of seeing reality and existence.

3. To develop and refine the capacity for experience.

4. To create empathy between a person and something, others, animals, plants, objects, situations, and various aspects of nature.

5. To capture in symbols subtle aspects of reality that cannot be easily described, and make these available.

6. Art expresses what have been called Archetypes which come from deep in the unconscious mind. The physiological organisation and its connection with the cosmos through various rhythms are felt in a unified manner by the unconscious mind. Various aspects of this emerge into the conscious in a vague manner and have to be symbolised by it. Having done this these symbols have sub-conscious effects on the behaviour of the individual. Consciously, they are recognised by some people as having something fascinating and mystical about them which they cannot grasp.

7. To communicate a consciousness of existence as a whole, including our part and relationship with it. To create a rapport and harmony between man and reality.

 The use of language is part of these functions. Even technical language and verbal instructions fulfil this purpose. But there is a difference between communicating factual information in a boring way and communicating it in an interesting, entertaining or appealing fashion. The latter communicates much more effectively. When language is used in good literature and poetry it conveys much more than technical language can. But the function of Art is much wider than the use of language. Other art forms exist because language has limitations. To get beyond them singing, painting, dancing and music have been invented. Music itself begins with chanting, singing and other forms of making rhythmic patterns in sound and exploring the relationships between them. The musical instruments have been invented mainly to extend the range of sounds man can make unaided, just as other tools, machines, instruments and computers have been invented to extend human faculties. These forms of art harmonies with the many rhythms within the organism itself and may have therapeutic effects by correcting those which have become disrhythmic.  

There are, however, art forms which transcend music as describers and creators of experience. These, by their very nature, cannot be described. In the same way as language can be used by music in the form of song, so also can music and painting be used by these higher forms of art to produce something which may be mistaken for mere poetry, music or painting. To discover this one would have to isolate the part which is not poetry, music or painting. The Quran, for instance, is not poetry. Perhaps, it should not be called art either since it is not man made in the ordinary sense. On the other hand it is not a natural product in the way others are which do not require human intervention. It arises when a human being identifies himself with, surrenders to, existence.

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The various forms and facets of Art in Islam will not be described here. This has been done by other more competent people. It is, however, important to mention that music, dancing and singing are not generally used in Islamic religious practices, though they are used by some Sufi groups. The reason for this seems to be that Islam is concerned with stimulating the higher spiritual faculties and excludes subjective art and anything which may be reduced to lower physical, emotional and intellectual levels. The structures of worship are themselves a form of objective art. The chanting of the Quran and the various posture changes may be regarded as a higher form of controlled music and dance. The depiction of the human form or that of animals in paintings and sculpture is forbidden mainly because it constitutes and may lead to idolatry and narcissism, both of the overt and the more insidious kind. It tends to create arrogance, self-admiration and self-importance in the individual or hero worship of others. Animal images were worshipped, and are still worshipped in some cults. While some paintings try to bring out the inner nature of the subject, the fact remains that it mainly concentrates attention on the surface, the superficial. It distracts attention from the richness of the inner life and its relative greater importance. The portrait of kings, queens, presidents, dictators, saints, religious figures and other leaders is used by some societies as a focal point to create allegiances, mental conditioning and to whip up unreasoning hysteria. Needless to say that all these are quite incompatible with Islam since it requires the exclusive centralisation of Allah in a person’s life. And Allah has no image, being infinite, absolute and unlimited. The image limits the mind to within its boundaries.

The result of the ban on imitative art was that Islamic decoration consists mainly of the use of calligraphy and geometric patterns. They symbolise not the forms of nature but the underlying patterns by which these forms arise. In this sense Islamic art may be considered to exist at a higher level. The Universe, it should be remembered, is created by Allah through the Word and through order and measurable proportionality.

 

The whole Universe and all things in it can be described in terms of various kinds of rhythms. Music has profound and powerful effects on the human systems which itself consists of rhythms of various kinds, physically, socially and psychologically. This can, therefore, be either very beneficial or very harmful. It is probably correct to say that Islam is more interested in the objective music of natural things and in the enhancement of certain rhythms in behaviour rather than in the artificial ones which may distract from, interfere or conflict with, or even pervert these natural rhythms. Sounds are vibrations. They can be very destructive as engineers can affirm. They create resonance in the structures they affect. In the absence of knowledge the effects of various kinds of music are unknown. It is evident, however, that different kinds of music are associated with different kinds of personality. Different kinds are associated with the ignorant or educated, vulgar or polite, coarse or sensitive, aggressive or gentle people. There is music which elevates and enhances consciousness and music which does the reverse. There is music which stimulates dancing, there is music which produces mood and emotional changes, sadness or elation, and there is music which facilitates the arising of various intellectual states and thoughts. The distinction between good, beneficial and bad, harmful music can often be established by experiments on animals and plants. The growth rate and cropping ability of some plants noticeably improves in the presence of some kinds of music but is retarded in the presence of others. The growth and milk yield of cows is similarly affected.

 

It needs people of great sensitivity, knowledge and awareness to discriminate between the beneficial and harmful effects, and to construct and provide what is beneficial. There are not many people of this calibre. The proliferation of low quality music tends to appeal to, stimulate and fix the lower impulses. Music is addictive and often distracts people from their other duties and responsibilities. It tends to produce one-sided, unbalanced development. It is not very difficult to observe this among artists and particularly, in the West, among a section of the adolescent generation which is to a large extent obsessed with popular music. Certain kinds of behaviour patterns, opinions and values also become associated with such music. Many people who lead a wasted life indulge in particular types of music. Which of these is the cause and which the effect is not known, but each probably reinforces the other.

Dancing and singing are normal reactions to mood changes and their nature changes accordingly. Conversely, the character of the dance and song will arouse the associated moods. They are also methods of communication and influencing people. They can form habits of behaviour and alter people more permanently. They can, therefore, be used appropriately and intelligently for specific purposes. Military music is used in this way. Music may also be used quite legitimately for enjoyment and relaxation.

Music consists of patterns of sounds of various pitch, tones and loudness and in various combinations. It can also be made, and is made, with the voice rather than with instruments. When the voice is used as an instrument it goes beyond singing which is the use of language in a musical way. Dancing consists of physical movements in various rhythms and patterns. Seen in this light Islam does, indeed, use music and dance in worship. The Quran is recited in certain ways and prayer includes rhythmic movements. Both are designed to serve specific purposes, and must, therefore, exclude other more obvious kinds of music and dance. However, in accordance with their interests in nature and in its rhythms and possibilities, Muslims did study sound and music, and developed many of the musical instruments found today.

There is evidence in history to show that the Muslim Civilisations declined and their empires were lost because those who had the power, wealth, influence and leadership succumbed to the hypnotic power of music, poetry, song and dance. Some Muslim rulers in India gave up their power without a fight to the British because they had developed abhorrence to bloodshed and the barbarism and destructivity of war. They had also become soft, cowardly and lazy unable to bear difficulties and efforts. Attention was also absorbed by games and sport. It caused them to neglect affairs of state and the pursuit and development of knowledge and industry. Others soon took away their power. The same kind of hypnosis is today exerted on a section of the community known as Hippies. But since they do not constitute the ruling classes in Western countries the effect has not been so disastrous.

The Quran, and various aspects of it are the foundation on which all real Islamic Art is based. Whereas other ancient languages such as Greek and Latin have died out, Arabic still remains alive because of the Quran. A great amount of literature and even poetry flows from the example set by it. The music is modified by its rhythms. Decoration and painting use its verses. The teachings about harmony, pattern, and order, the inter-connectedness and unity of all things, and the similitude between the Universal and the particular, the inner and the outer, inspire all true Islamic Art. However, other influences have and are entering into it. Whereas Islam is not against the entry and adaptation of good influences from wherever they can be found, the Art now developing in Muslim countries has ceased to be Islamic owing to bad influences. The artist, too, is not usually a Muslim in the true sense. But influences coming from the West and East have caused Muslim artists to imitate rather than adapt foreign material. It has lost its purpose. Its unity and the connection with its foundations has been abandoned. The effect of such Art on the community cannot but be disruptive.

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NOTES

 

Technology

The human world differs from the rest of the organic world by the existence of technology. It is this which increasingly dominates human life. There are three stages of development.

At first human beings merely behaved according to their inherent nature. People had certain inner desires and knowledge about their environment and took direct action to reconcile the two.

Then attention was increasingly placed on methods or techniques. There are, therefore, methods of exploring and manipulating desires or wants, of action and of obtaining knowledge. This division into a triad usually means that they are independent procedures and very little is done in the way of coordination.

In a third stage some of these procedures are incorporated in a rigid form. This has the advantage that they now have a permanent form and can be transmitted to others. That is people can be trained to use them. They are standardized and manageable so that we have only a small number of procedures to deal with. It is no longer necessary for individuals to be brilliant, or particularly skilful, and they do not have to make prodigious conscious efforts to produce something. Habit and automatism can do the work. Only few people are required to make the innovations and the power of these few is multiplied in that other people become their limbs and faculties. These procedures can accumulate and develop, because others can be progressively added. But this is achieved at the expense of variety, creativity and skill. It encourages conformity and regimentation, and narrows down possibilities. It makes the majority dependent on the few. It creates a rigidity and a direction of development which is increasingly more difficult to alter. Human beings, therefore, have less control over their affairs. It is these systems, having their own structures and momentum, which control them. These systems, for an increasingly greater number of people, have become increasingly more oppressive. But they cannot be overthrown as dictators or governments formerly could be, because no human individual or group is responsible.

Though the word technology is used to refer to machines, in fact, it applies to three things:- machines, organization and procedures. The legal, industrial and political systems are technologies. The methods used to think in science and other departments of life are also technologies. The way the cities are planned, purpose built buildings are constructed, the flow of traffic is organized, the conveyor belt system in which the factory is laid out for mass production, the way the examination of students is carried out and the system by which their performance is quantified by marks, and the structure of the numerous forms which citizens must fill in, all these are technologies. There are standards for everything against which things are measured. The invention of the computer and the need to conform to its requirements has accelerated the dominance of technology over man. Man may now be regarded, not as a goal, but as a means by which the process proceeds.

There is, however, a possible fourth stage of development. This requires a unitary view in which attention is placed on the function of man with respect to the Cosmos. Technologies, then, cease to be ends in themselves, and are seen as part of the human function. But this requires abandoning the subjective illusion that man is an independent goal in himself and surrendering to objective reality.

 

Technologies may be classified as follows:-

(1) Those which are concerned with the manipulation of material things - all forms of engineering. An increasingly rapid  progress is taking place in this sphere.

(2) Those concerned with social manipulation and organization - economic, political, social and legal systems. Some progress has been made here but it is much slower

(2) Those concerned with the inner psychological manipulation and development. This includes techniques of thinking, organizing ones life and enhancing capacity for experience. Techniques of thinking can be seen in logical and scientific procedures. But in the main psychological techniques have been the realm of religion. But while religions have been corrupted or collapsed no human scientific effort has made to replace them.

These three interact and are inter-dependent to some extent.

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Relaxation and Entertainment

Islam forbids public dancing, the consumption of alcohol, gambling, the indiscriminate mixing of the sexes, and to some extent music. This is because they are sources of temptation and reduce consciousness, control and self-control. This puritanical attitude will certainly not appeal to the West where entertainment consists overwhelmingly of just these features. It has also been impossible to eradicate them from Muslim societies. What then does Islam use for relaxation and entertainment? Life would not only be excruciatingly dull, but probably impossible without them.

Firstly, the need for relaxation and entertainment is proportional to the strains, frustrations and stresses which life creates. The Islamic social, economic and political systems should reduce these. Certainly, they were less intense in the past; life was slower and more relaxed. This is because ambition, greed, expectations and competition was less intense, and the values and attitudes people lived by were not controlled by the idea of transitoriness and the passing of time. He who concentrates his attention on what is more universal and permanent leads a different life from the individualist who identifies himself with superficial change. The pressures which modern industry, cities, organizations and culture exert did not exist.

Secondly, there is no ban on music and dancing within the family circle. This helps in strengthening the family where security and relaxation can be found, and makes the individual part of the continuity of life. The segregation of the sexes outside the family also allows each sex to behave according to its nature without being inhibited by the other. The break down of family life as a cause of stress should not affect Islamic communities.

Thirdly, entertainment can take many other forms such as sports, games, competitions in skills and in various art forms. Art is not left to specialists and professionals, but is an integral part of the community life of every individual. There are, for instance, gatherings where the members compose and recite stories or poems, sometimes on a given theme. Music may also be composed and played. Calligraphy and writing, decoration, the development of crafts, the study and pursuit of knowledge, research, teaching, counseling, discussion groups, friendly visiting, community and charitable services, organizing youth activities and so on can all be part of relaxation and entertainment, and all can participate in them.

The point is that the activities should be constructive and elevating as well as enjoyable, and the dichotomy between work and pleasure should be reduced.

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Stories

The function of art can be understood from the following:-

Apart from love, crime and war stories there are four themes of particular interest running through Western literature and art. These are connected with the overcoming of great difficulties by dint of heroic efforts in order to get a reward at the end, stories connected with Frankenstein and his creations, those connected with Dracula and Vampires, and stories like Jekyll and Hyde which depict two opposite aspects of man. There are four aspects to these stories:-

(a) Each of these, though the details are fictitious, nevertheless tells us some truth about the nature of life in the West.

(b) They symbolize, like certain dreams, some unconscious psychological processes. As such they bring it into a consciousness which is ordinarily too limited to understand them in any other way. In some cases their function is to relieve tension.

(c) They have a subconscious effect on the thinking and attitude of people.

(d) They are and ought to be instructive, but this aspect is usually neglected.

 

The overcoming of difficulties and hazards in order to reach some goal where the rewards are to be found is also the theme of religion and the process of evolution. Life is a trial through which we must pass if paradise is to be gained. The child, too, as it develops, must go through a process of learning which is often painful, in order to reap the rewards which knowledge and skills bring. Exercise is required if the strength of the muscles are to be built. Esoteric and mystical literature such as the Arabian Nights has this theme running through them. The sub-conscious mind, therefore, knows something about the nature of existence. This story has been given a social twist in the West. Here we find the hero, who is often superhuman, fighting on behalf of the common man, against powerful forces of evil, injustice and prejudice which may be those of organized crime, business, politics, government institutions or even corrupt religious sects. The popularity of these stories is proportional to the amount and strength of injustice in the community.

Dr. Frankenstein was a scientist who constructed new human beings from the parts of others. This turned out to be a monster who eventually destroyed him. The story is popular because it finds a resonance in the unconscious anxiety of people about the power of science and its products in controlling their lives. Technology certainly controls humanity rather than man controlling it, with often disastrous psychological, social and even environmental results. The story shows a conflict between the religious idea about the sacredness of human beings, as God’s creation, and the arrogance of man in taking the right to alter and improve it, and the artificial creature so produced. This may refer to the cultural conditioning of man. There is also a contrast between the conventional and rationalist attitudes. The creature created by Frankenstein was meant to be superior to all others in that the best parts only from others were taken. The people who were dissected were already dead or seen as having no value except for their parts. The scientist is shown as merely re-arranging rather than creating. However, things went wrong when the creature was damaged during a conflict between the scientists, which resulted from fear, greed and hatred, that is, because of human limitations. Thus, the danger is shown as existing not in the technology but in the lack of balance between knowledge and morals, between intellectual and emotional development. Political, Economic and many other institutions are also uncontrollable monsters created by man

The Dracula story is much more complex. Its main ingredients are as follows:- Count Dracula is a foreigner, usually coming from the East. He is an Aristocrat. He is a creature of the night, of darkness and lives in a coffin during the day as he cannot bear daylight. Hence, he is little known and understood. He represents the sub-conscious mind. He lives by sucking the life blood and that from young females who are feared and attracted by him. He is undead, having arisen after death and cannot be killed except by a stake through his heart or by a silver bullet, He fears and is repelled by religious symbol, such as the Cross, cleansing water and sacred herbs such as garlic. He has hypnotic powers and is able to transform himself into a flying bat, arriving silently and unnoticed. He converts others into Vampires like himself, but enslaves them. Dracula is the embodiment of subtle and indestructible evil both within ourselves and in the world, the evil soul after death. There is fear of other nations, races, religions, scientists, mystics, the powerful, the highly intelligent, those who have mysterious powers. The fear of foreigners, the unfamiliar, and the power of aristocrats is associated with sexual fears. In women there is the conflict between sexual attraction and the fear of domination, made more acute by the feminist movement, and in the men it is fear of losing their women in general, to others, particularly foreigners and the rich and powerful. Dracula also represents powerful psychological forces and potentialities which exist within the subconscious mind and these could be either good or evil but are equally feared because they are not understood or controlled. This transcendental evil can only be fought against by equally powerful good forces arising from religion. Garlic has been valued for its medicinal properties, and water is universally used as a cleansing agent both actually and symbolically.

In the third story, the good Dr, Jekyll drinks a scientifically concocted mixture and becomes the evil Mr. Hyde. he becomes ugly, uncouth, selfish, uncontrolled, cruel, indulges his sexual appetites and commits crimes. These two represent the good and evil side of every individual. But the intervention of science or artificial re-arrangements is seen as a dangerous thing in that it reinforces the evil which then becomes uncontrollable. Note that the good and knowledgeable doctor becomes a plain mister. The restraints of civilization are stripped from him.

These stories should be taken seriously. Their popularity tells us how western civilization in particular is affecting people.

The stories are also important in teaching us how at a higher level religious stories may also have been constructed for a much more positive purpose. This is not to say that the stories might not also be literally true, but it is the significance of them which is much more relevant.

Apart from giving expression to deep-seated fears and anxieties, art also reflects desires and frustrations. Fear, desire and violence are inter-connected. Much Art creates a world of fantasy in which desires are fulfilled. They are escapist and make the drabness, monotony or hardships and injustices of life tolerable. The amount and quality of such art is proportional to the desires and their lack of fulfillment. Obsession with sex, for instance, has increased because sexual relationships have become unsatisfactory. On the other hand, there is an increasing tendency both in the West and the East to depict violence. The popularity of this is proportional to the frustrations and injustices people suffer. It has a therapeutic effect in that it relieves the built-up irritation, anger and aggression of many people who identify themselves with the characters. On the other hand, having relieved these tensions no efforts are made to correct the defects in the society which give rise to the frustration. Since these causes remain, it also causes many people to imitate their heroes, thereby increasing the actual violence in the community.

Another set of very popular topics consist of stories connected with detectives and police, lawyers and law courts, doctors and hospitals, business and political conflicts and intrigues. There are always heroes who fight on the side of justice and compassion, the weak and oppressed against indifference, prejudice, rule ridden institutions or powerful villainous individuals or organizations. On the one hand they paint a true picture of life and on the other they solve the problems only in fantasy. The result is that having relieved the tension no effort is made to solve these problems in reality. They, therefore, propagate the very conditions they appear to criticize. Very little of this art produces sufficient awareness, motivation or action or presents realistic solutions which can be implemented. To do this ought to be the function of true art.

The relief of tension, the production of awareness of contradictions, and the formation of motives is achieved also by three other means which involve exclusively human characteristics, namely the ability to laugh, weep and calculate. There is a connection between these since they all depend on the ability to manipulate the data of experience to form self-consistent systems. The function of humour, tragedy and complex patterns in art and its effects on the development of societies should not be under-estimated.

 

Stories coming from Islamic sources such as the Arabian Nights appear to have a different function. Here the Hero overcomes a number of great difficulties to reap a great reward. These stories symbolize the courage necessary in this life in order to gain paradise. Except for “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, there appear to be no stories concerned with spiritual development in the West.

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Sport and Games

Games and Sports are art forms which have the following functions:-

1. Entertainment, relaxation and pleasure.

2. The development of various physical, social and psychological skills. They teach coordination between the senses, thought and action, cooperation, competitiveness, obedience to rules, the ability to take into consideration the actions of others, to deal with frustration, defeat as well as victory.

3. They produce physical fitness and mental alertness, especially in modern days where the machine has replaced physical labour and life has become sedentary and routine.

4. They are important for children who learn from them the skills required for life.

5. They are used by the military and police to keep the troops and officers in good condition during periods of peace.

6. They occupy the mind and energy of people in periods of leisure to allay boredom.

7. They restore a balance by exercising muscles and faculties which would not be engaged in the normal performance of a profession. The imbalance which specialist activity creates would otherwise produce a number of dysfunctions.

8. It facilitates self-extension, thereby having an evolutionary effect.

9. They can also be regarded as a substitute for war. The prowess and skills in games and sport replaces that which was formerly used in swordsmanship and can be useful in modern wars.

10. It also develops, absorbs and channels male physical energy, aggression, competitiveness and powers of strategy. This outlet is becoming increasingly important in modern times because of the increasing frustrations created by a life which requires greater timidity, docility, order, obedience, dependence and regimentation.  

 

There are, however, from the Islamic point of view, a number of objections to Sport:-

1. The majority of people have become mere spectators and there appears to be little value in this. It is a meaningless, futile and frivolous activity.

2. Sport has become an obsession with many people and this produces physical, social and psychological harm. The mind, being occupied in this way, little attention, interest and effort is available in more useful directions. It disables and stupefies a large section of the population which becomes exploitable.

3. Sport has become an occasion where mass hysteria reigns and the individual loses control over his faculties. This creates excesses, and riots, disorder, destruction and hooliganism are associated with sport.

4. The entertainment value has received the greatest emphasis and its usefulness has been neglected.

5. The games are used for gambling. It is this which maintains interest in them.

6. Sport has become commercialized and the players have become professionals. It is work for them. Only the highly skilled are employed. They are paid large sums of money for activities which are socially useless. These people usually have low morals and empty heads and yet become the heroes and role models imitated by the majority.

7. Spectators tend to take sides in supporting this team or that. Their loyalties become engaged and the feeling of belonging to a group tends to produce a feeling of security and significance. But it also narrows down horizons, and creates rivalries.

8. Games and Sports are also used by States as a political weapon, to divert the attention of the population away from politics in order to make the task of control and governing easier. It prevents political agitation and revolutions and enables politicians to do as they like with impunity. It is truly an opium of the people.

9, It is also used by commercial interests for advertisement and propaganda to further their profits and for no other purpose at all.

10. Making games and sports into mass spectator sports has the function of engendering general enthusiasm and stimulating the population to develop the skills involved. It is, however, evident that most of the skills involved in these games are useless in the modern age and merely serve to propagate obsolete characteristics. It would be of greater national importance if they were to consist of skills useful in modern industrial, social and academic life. This requires the invention of new games and sports.

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Development and Degeneration

In the past, when life without technology was more difficult, there were only few rich people who could patronize the arts. Only the few devoted themselves to its production and its quality was then quite high. The industrial revolution has produced greater wealth and leisure for the masses. The demand for the products of art has, therefore, risen. Technology made the production and reproduction of art much easier and cheaper. It could be distributed more widely through printing, cinemas, radio, television, tape and video recorders. The efforts of the few could be multiplied a million fold. Little effort and ability was required to satisfy the huge demand. Competition for profits often means that a wider and wider distribution should be obtained. Men and women of lesser ability could easily obtain a living through art.

However, the new conditions of life have also caused an increase in education. This affects both the producers of art and the consumers. Several consequences follow:-

(a) One affect of this is that cultural influences have become more important than inherent or natural environmental ones. Life is, therefore, diverting increasingly from the natural to the man-made.

(b) In so far as education is biased towards science and technology rather than moral or spiritual development, this shows itself in art.

(c) There is greater profusion in both quantity and variety of Art, and the ability to select between different alternatives has increased. This selection, however, is biased by already present psychological factors. Whereas in the past only a few factors could affect people, they affected them to create uniformity, today great differences are created between people because of the different influences which they select.

(d) This selection tends to reinforce and exaggerate already existing differences. Thus tensions tend to increase, and cultural unity has to be replaced with legal and organizational methods.

 

But it is a well known fact that the greater the ability and intelligence under consideration the fewer will be the people who have it. The increase in the number of artists and the increase in the number of their patrons inevitably means the degeneration of art. Though high quality art continues to be produced it is drowned in the flood of mediocrity. Competition leads the artist to produce ever more shocking works. People eventually become conditioned to it. To a large extent they take it for granted that life is as violent and perverse as it is depicted and they begin to behave accordingly. It is also observable that many artists tend to be the most neurotic and perverted of people and find themselves in a position of greatest influence over the population. Actors and Actresses, because they become popular figures thanks to the reproduction and wide distribution of films, which also gives them enormous incomes, are able to pursue a life of fantasy and perversion without restraints. They become heroes and heroines for the population owing to the relief they provide from the drudgery of ordinary life. The result is large scale imitation. Whereas at one time Saints were adulated, they have been replaced by the new heroes, actors, popular singers and musicians, sportsmen or just the enormously wealthy. The more outrageous and perverse their lives, the higher their status becomes. The restrictions which modern organized life imposes create a proportional desire for revolt. The moral degeneration which is evident in most societies is probably the direct result of these facts.

The reason for this hero worship and imitation in both cases is the same. They offer a more promising life than that which most people are forced to lead. In spite of the increase in wealth, ordinary life is still a burden. It becomes a greater burden the greater the contrast with the fantasies presented to people. Whereas life once consisted of extreme poverty, hard work and deprivation, it is now in some places wealthier but at the price of boring monotony. There is often a vicious circle here. People try to obtain wealth, power and prestige in order to escape from the burden, but in so doing they have to enslave themselves or others to do the work required for this wealth. Having created the stresses and pressures they now need to escape from them through even more bizarre forms of pleasure and entertainment. A trap is created which is maintained by all the cultural influences, the art of propaganda and the propaganda of artists. Hero worship of all kinds has to be avoided if people are to undertake a more sensible method of escaping their limitations.

It is not difficult to see that because of the development of technology, transport, communication and trade, the more economically powerful nations exert the strongest cultural influence. The culture of the world is increasingly dominated by the U.S.A. They do this in three ways:-

(a) They export their cultural products through the cinema, television, and video and also through magazines. Indeed, owing to satellite television, driven by wealthy commercial interests, it is impossible for a nation to remain isolated from such influences.

(b) Other nations in order to compete also begin to produce similar programs. It is observable that the Indian, Japanese and other Film Industries are increasingly producing films which resemble those produced in America and less of those conforming to their own culture.

(c) They are introducing and even imposing political, economic and industrial changes in all countries similar to those prevalent in their own countries and these are changing the way of life and value systems.

 

It is, therefore, likely that the whole world will have an increasingly uniform culture and that the possibility of creating or maintaining a separate or more sophisticated culture is becoming more difficult. And yet this is exactly what will be required if the present tendencies towards degeneration are to be reversed.

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To Summarize:- Human development depends on:-

(1) Inherent or genetic factors.

(2) The environment, this consists of

(a) the natural environment - the nutrition, the climate, the nature of the land, sea and air, the terrain, animals, and plants, bacteria, fungi, the materials, energy, forces and information in it, often coming from the sun and the cosmos.

(b) the man-made environment - (i) physical - the houses, farms, factories, mines, cities, roads, transport, communication and calculation systems, machinery, instruments (ii) social - the political, economic and civic systems, the latter include hospitals, educational establishments, police and military. (iii) the institutions, laws, family life, customs, etiquette, language

(c) Ideological systems - which include religion, philosophy, sciences, value systems, all forms of arts, technologies, sport, games and pastimes.

 

These three interact and are inter-dependant. Human beings get their ideas from the environment and social interactions. They change the physical environment including climate, the materials in the sea land and air and even the plants, animals and bacteria they cultivate. Both these affect their political, economic and civic systems and their institutions.

(3) The striving and efforts of the people which depends on the values they have and these arise from both inherent and environmental factors, and it modifies both.

 

The development of a people, therefore, depends to a large extent on what they experience, read, the company they keep, what they surround themselves with, and strive for. It can have either beneficial, or harmful or merely changing effects.  The main effects it appears to have in the present age in the Western countries is to spin a web of illusions and to stimulate the more primitive impulses causing degeneration into barbarism, violence and sub-rational behaviour.

The idea that Culture is a mere by-product without affects, or that it can be left to accident, or that any culture is as good as any other, must be dismissed. Culture affects human development in the following ways:-

(1) It enhances, suppresses or channels inherent tendencies. Training and education increase certain abilities at the expense of others. It affects the psychological development of people. It affects awareness, thoughts, feelings, motives, behaviour.

(2) It affects what people do and how they relate to each other. It, therefore, changes the social as well as the physical environment.

(3) By changing the environment it also changes its selective effect on genes. Some are encouraged to multiply and others are removed by determining who will be successful and will reproduce most depending on which characteristics are valuable in which environments. It, therefore, changes the inherent nature of man. It probably also causes the stresses and strains which affect the nature of the mutations which will take place. It could encourage or discourage harmful or beneficial ones from arising.

 

As stated before, we can distinguish between three aspects in man, the Spiritual, the Mental and the Physical. The spiritual is experienced wholly internally. The physical connects us with the external world. The mental connects us with each other through communication. The mental, being the result of the interaction of the spiritual and physical has spiritual, social and physical consequences. A culture is what distinguishes human beings from animals and produces civilization. The word Culture is sometimes used to refer to the morals, arts and sciences to distinguish it from Political and Economic matters. Sometimes it is used to include these also. It should be used to refer to all human ideas, interactions and creations which depend on the functioning of the mind.

Civilizations rise and decline and are replaced by others which may or may not have learnt something from the past. This process may or may not also lead to physical or spiritual evolution. In the past, pre-human stages, physical evolution was of greatest importance. With the coming of man mental evolution became more important.

Religions, however, tell us that spiritual evolution is of greater importance. It is likely that this will be more important in the future because the mind itself, owing to its dependence on the nature of consciousness, conscience and will, has limits. Spiritual evolution is also affected by the nature of the culture. A civilization must, therefore, if it is not to become stagnant or slip backwards include evolutionary elements. It must:-

(1) Be sufficiently flexible to allow variety to arise.

(2) Allow the multiplication of the more useful elements while reducing the less useful ones.

(3) Contain physical, social, ideological and psychological stimuli for effort and further development.

(4) Contain a certain amount of chaos which causes heat, agitation, controversy which keeps people awake and prevents boredom.

(5) Expand experience horizontally and vertically to provide more data.

(6) Ensure the arising of new forms and institutions by reformation, experiment, re-assessment, reorganization through the process of analysis, association and synthesis.

(7) Find a balance between the pair of opposites, particularly competition and cooperation, otherwise there will only be a swing from one extreme to another and back again or cause wasteful energy and effort losses in conflicts.

(8) Have a purpose, aim or goal which can co-ordinate and direct efforts.

(9) Have some kind of opposition to overcome, engage effort and interest, and unite. Though this used to be an external human enemy, it could be a social evil such poverty, disease and ignorance or psychological evils which are understood under the name Satan.

(10) There should be a religion or ideology which provides a framework with respect to which experience is understood, creates social understanding and provides a system of values, a self-image, courage, enterprise. It must not only stimulate, but also control social relationships and strengthen the individual against adversity, difficulties and demoralization. This system must be fully comprehensive and integrated and allow expansion otherwise it will limit and restrict. The strength of Hebrewism lay in providing the rituals and law which created identity, unity, and stability. The appeal which Christianity has lies in the comfort and security provided by the love of God and the stimulus to good and charitable social actions. Islam, though the previous ingredients are also found in it, provides a cosmic function and an evolutionary goal for man.

(11) Produce people of high quality who should then control the cultural, including the educational system, and produce more people of high quality.

(12) Control and enhance the beneficial aspects of the physical environment.

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