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When more than two scores and one year ago I set out seriously to investigate for myself 'Who is man?' 'Who is a Black man?' and 'Who is a person often referred to as White (Albinos from Africa's descendants)?' Truly, I came to the solemn conclusion with regards to the last mentioned two that there are no such persons in this world. For the colours that are used to describe human beings are not existing accurately in the human world or do not fit well with the aforementioned descriptions. But let us put those trivial mistakes often made by man aside, which we human beings scarcely have adequate time to investigate, and put them right. But in the study that concerns the constitution of man, I made it my principle not to allow anything that would cloud my thinking to come to the fore between science and me. I was determined to let science alone to guide me to the sound conclusions concerning the composition of man. So I commenced with the study of Genetics in order to furnish myself with all the superb principles that the branch of this modern science would enable me to comprehend, regarding those questions mentioned above and the problems affecting human beings on this planet. Moreover, I made it my constant practice to become friends with persons who had specialised in this branch of science, who could offer me a great deal of insights themselves to understand correctly what I had made them my aim to possess adequate information to comprehend and describe. My results, up till this time, satisfies me completely, for I have through these practices gained enough that I think in the future the world would gain from these investigations already made and reported.

Therefore, my investigation into the scientific world to comprehend the composition of man was aided not only by science, constant brooding which produced a perfect gain of illumination, but also numerous discussion experiences with men and women who had also made these topics their constant contemplation. What I have presented earlier and that, which follows here, is something, which I believe myself to be genuine, authentic, and without bias capable of providing solutions to the numerous problems faced by man on earth. The aim of this piece of work is to aid us comport ourselves as a people, nations, a group of individuals, or an individual person to yield better results in whatever undertakings that are being engaged in irrespective of the hindrances that are being put on your way. Also, it is to help nations, as well as individuals scattered abroad to be more determined in whatever business being currently started by them and to give these works more focus. In order to make this piece of work intelligible, I should like to utilise certain tests that describe the topic in a better manner that I think no particular individual had done before in the world. It just happened to me that, I thought, I would accomplish enormously well with this great work concerning human relationships by unveiling certain myths in the world, regarding the numerous inhabitants of the world; this would allow us to appreciate one another better, and enable us live peaceful with ourselves.

Of Man and Superficial Imaginations
The works we have presented earlier on concerning the problems that had occasioned wars on this physical planet had given us enough insights into the minds of the primitives as well as the civilised. The world of the primitive, for example, was too young so they had no adequate experiences to guide their thinking to enable them deal with their problems in a satisfactory manner. To settle their war problems and the numerous conflicts that took place on the expanse planet, they still had to depend on their imaginations concerning the things and forces that they could not issue explanations for their occurrence. It was these things or their dependence on wrong imaginations that compelled them to engage in these barbaric manners of working against themselves which the consequence was the employment of the wrong methods to settle disputes and disagreements that occurred among them. The impression we get is that, when it comes to war and the fight over trivial matters on the planet, then, the civilised men and the primitive alike have not been different.

One distinguished philosopher in the sixteenth century explains imagination, which had played important role in the lives of these primitives as well as the civilised men, like this. When a body is once in motion, it moves (unless something else hinders its way) eternally; and whatsoever blocks this object's way, cannot in an instant, but in time, and by degrees, quite extinguishes it. Just as we see in the water, though the wind cease, the waves give not over rolling for a long time after; so also it occurs in that motion that is wrought in the internal parts of an individual, when she sees, dreams, etc. For after the object is removed, or the eye shut, we still retain an image of the thing seen, though more obscure than when we see it. The Roman tribe, the Latins, calls this process imagination, from the image in seeing, and applies the same, though improperly, to all the other senses. But the Greeks, on the other hand, call it fancies, which means appearance, and is the proper sense as to another. Imagination, therefore, is nothing but decaying senses; and is found in men and many other living creatures, as well sleeping as waking (Hobbes, Chp.II).

But imagination also has something to do with memory, continues this ancient scholar. Especially, when we talk about the decay, and signify that the sense is fading, old, and past, it is called memory. This then makes us also to think that imagination and memory are but one thing, which for diverse considerations has diverse names. Moreover, much memory, or memory of many things, possessed by a person, is called experience. While the latter could have been able to offer much help to the primitive man, he disregarded it and instead, trusted in the dreams and prophecies that imagination bred that were often myths gathered from their surroundings. These portray encounters with gods or God in their dreams and hallucinations.

But 'imaginations of them that sleep are those we call dreams. And these also (as all other imaginations) have been before, either totally or parcels, in the sense. And because in sense, the brain and nerves, which are the necessary organs of sense, are benumbed in sleep as not easily to be moved by action of external objects, there can happen in no imagination, and therefore no dream, but what proceeds from the agitation of the inwards parts of man's body; which inward parts, for the connection they have with the brain and other organs, when they distempered to keep the same in motion;…' (Ibid.)

Since dreams are initiated by the distemper of some of the inward parts of the body, according to Hobbes, diverse distempers must as a result cause different dreams. Therefore, lying cold, for example, brings fear in this individual, which suggests the thought and image of some fearful object. The motion from the brain to inner parts, and from the inner parts to the brain being reciprocal. Thus, dreams according to Hobbes, are therefore the reverse of our waking imaginations, the motion when we are awake commencing at one end, and when we dream, at another. An example is seen with Marcus Brutus, who had once had his life given him by Julius Ceaser, and was also his favourite, notwithstanding murdered the latter. Having asserted these, then, it sounds strange why both the primitive and the civilised men still depend on what some people acquired through their dreams in the night; these things which do not conform to reality. Moreover, why should the modern world still practice the thing which naive men used to solve their problems with and conduct their primitive urges that are far from modern scientific approach?

Modern men are repeating these simple mistakes committed by the primitives in the present century. For not only are men depending on the things acquired through imaginations, that is, the dreams and prophecies accumulated concerning the use of myths and justification for war to obtain their evil intentions, but also they totally agree with this primitive manner of destroying themselves just like the lower animals due to greed. The fact that civilised men talk comfortably and easily about frivolous rewards of wars and its objectives, such as supremacy, power, and certain attributes, such as 'we are strongest of all kingdoms on the earth' and so forth; are not they repeating the primitives dependence on imaginations that are full of dreams, errors, and superfluous thoughts? Concerning the use of this insecure ground for the propagating of different wars on earth, Hobbes's advice is appropriate: 'If this superstitious fears of spirits were taken away, and with prognostics from dreams, false prophecies, and many other things depending thereon, by which crafty ambitious person abuse the simple people, men would be much fitted than they are for civil obedience.' (Ibid.).

Of the Consequences of Imagination
In their quest to maintain order on earth it is not uncommon for men to assert that they need to use force and the strength they have in armaments to solicit obedience from nations both the great and weak. But this thinking is not authentic because human beings have never tried seriously to consider the alternative of enforcing only the use of reason and persuasion to live humbly on the planet. It happen to be that the greed that is associated with the evil practices surrounding wars and the use of arms give no one the chance to utilise this genuine approach that suit men in the first place.

Then there is the problem with religions and their so-called prophets, who had sanctioned the employment of war to be used to achieve their objectives. These men reason from the premise that these wars fought for God and the gods are fought for the spirits to vindicate their missions on earth. But many things concerning holy prophecies had come from some of these men's own imagination, as the God or gods are the only beings that know the future and not these mortal men. For according to one author, the ' present has a being in nature; things past have a being in the memory only; but things to come have no being at all, the future being but a fiction of the mind, applying the sequels of actions past to the actions that are present; which with most certainty is done by him that has most experience, but not with certainty enough. And though it be called prudence when the event answereth our expectation; yet in its own nature it is but presumption. For the foresight of things to come, which is providence, belongs only to him by whose will they are to come. From him only, and supernaturally, proceeds prophecy.' Thus, the best prophet naturally is the best guesser, he that is most versed and studied in the matters he guesses at, for he hath most signs to guess by.

Therefore, such thoughts of supporting the wars orchestrated by some religious leaders and those prophets of old should not be allowed to gain footing any longer in the world as proper to defend the crimes caused by certain individuals.

Also the idea that certain human beings have superiority by nature provided by the maker that makes them better than others has of late received meticulous attention. These numerous works have indeed proved that there is no such thing of individual being naturally better in content than these other persons, who do come from different races. The whole thing depends on upbringing and training gained from an individual's surrounding that determines how an individual could do well in the society or not. The teachings of ancient scholars, as well as the modern times, it has been discovered that there 'is no other act of man's mind, … naturally planted in him, so as to need no other thing to the exercise of it but to born a man, and live with the use of the senses. Those other faculties, … are acquired and increased by study and industry, and most of men learned by instruction and discipline, and proceed all from the invention of words and speech. For besides sense, and thoughts, and the train of thoughts, the mind of man has no other motion; though by the help of speech, and method, the same faculties may be improved to such a height as to distinguish men from all other living creatures.' (Hobbes, Chap. III).

Of Speech
Human beings are the only higher animals that can communicate with verbal speech. The advantage we have, had given mankind the possibility to build accumulated records and possessed large society that had enabled us to develop, for knowledge of one person would not have been adequate and capable to creating wealth and the world and its civilisation we see. That is why it is very necessary, yea, and utmost important to concentrate on this greatest advantage to use it to help solve our dire problems. It is commonly asserted that 'the general use of speech is to transfer our mental discourse into verbal, or train of our thoughts into a train of words, and that for two commodities. One is the registering of the consequences of our thoughts, which being apt to slip out of our memory and put us to a new labour, may again be recalled by such words as they were marked by.' (Hobbes, Chap. IV).

Accordingly, the first utilisation of names is to serve for marks or records of remembrance. Additional one is when many use the same words to indicate, by their association and order one to another, what they visualise or think of each matter; and also what they desire, fear, or have any other desire for.

These are the distinguished uses of speech:
1. To register what by thought we find to be the cause of anything, present or past; and what we find things present or past may produce, or effect; which, in sum, is acquiring of arts.

2. To show to others that knowledge which we have attained; which is to counsel and teach one another;

3. To make known to others our wills and purposes that we may have the mutual help of one another; and

4. To please and delight others, and ourselves by playing with our words, for pleasure or ornament, innocently.

The third mentioned uses of speech, in particular, function a great deal in deliberation and settling cases in the courtroom. It seems to me that the uses of speech provide us the clue that human beings had made a mistake right from the beginning by utilising war to achieve their wants and other primitive urges in society. This is coupled with the fact that the strength we have and inherently with us, could not have helped us to achieve the prominence we posses now in many great achievements in the world. If we are still refusing to acknowledge this mistake, even though it is very clear that these wars have no place in the human world, it is because we are afraid and just succumbing to pressure from greedy individuals, whose cups are already full and about to overflow. By allowing other nations to impose their evil habits on us, it does not only says how senseless we are, but also how morally weak we are in resisting evil even though we are aware that this is bad behaviour that cause especially harm to women and children in the world.

Hobbes's comments with regards to how we perceive the same things differently by different persons, is worth noting. It shows that we may never be in the same agreement concerning the same thing; especially the background and our cherishing thoughts influence our perception of certain things. He asserts that 'for though the nature of that we conceive be the same; yet the diversity of our reception of it, in respect of different constitutions of body and prejudices of opinion, gives everything a tincture of our different passions.' Again in counselling in regards on how we shall maintain our independence from the stupidity of some other fools, he posits: 'Nature itself cannot err: and as men abound in copiousness of language; so they become more wise, or more mad, than ordinary. Nor is it possible without letters for any man to become either excellently wise or (unless his memory be hurt by disease, or ill constitution of organs) excellently foolish. For words are wise men's counters; they do but reckon by them: but they are the money of fools, that value them by the authority of an Aristotle, a Cicero, or a Thomas, or any other doctor whatever, if but a man.' (Ibid.).  Continued    Source: Desmond Ayim-Aboagye (Ph.D.)

"The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Modernghana.com." To have your articles publish, please submit them to editor@modernghana.com.

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