Oct. 29, 2006
 
MANN TALK: Twain’s Truths
 
By Perry Mann
 
Hinton, WV (Special to HNN) – During my philosophical evolution, I struggled with the issue of selfishness versus altruism; that is, whether or not any act by man is selfless.
 
I concluded that no one commits any act that is selfless. He commits only those acts that are narrowly selfish and those that are broadly selfish, those acts that profit only him and often harm others and those acts that harm no one and profit him and mankind generally. I also contended with the issue of free will.
 
When I learned that there was such an issue as freewill versus determinism, I had a sudden insight, an epiphany, and came to believe that free will is illusory and non-existent. Both of these philosophical musings and tentative conclusions occurred while I was taking a course in philosophy in college and I have tried to keep an open mind with respect to them since.
 
Recently, I read Mark Twain’s “What is Man?” and had the joy and delight of having my philosophy and beliefs corroborated in the inimitable prose and by the blunt and cogent reasoning of America’s greatest writer and iconoclast. What follows are selections of Twain’s Truths:
 
“A man’s brain is so constructed that it can originate nothing whatever. It can only use material obtained outside. It is merely a machine; and it works automatically, not by will power. Its owner has no command over it.”
 
“From cradle to his grave a man never does a single thing which has any FIRST AND FOREMOST object but one---to secure peace of mind, spiritual comfort, for himself.”
 
“Men pretend to self-sacrifice, but this is a thing which in the ordinary value of the phrase does not exist and has not existed. A man often honestly thinks he is sacrificing himself merely and solely for some one else, but he is deceived; his bottom impulse is to content a requirement of his nature and training, and thus acquire peace for his soul.”
 
“As a thinker and planner the ant is the equal of any savage race of men; as a self-educated specialist in several arts she is the superior of any savage race of men; and in one or two high mental qualities she is above the reach of any man, savage or civilized.”
 
Twain’s opinion on free will is brief: “There is no such thing.” He saw a difference between free will and free choice: “The one implies untrammeled power to act as you please, the other implies nothing beyond a mere mental process: the critical ability to determine which of two things is nearest right and just. The mind can freely select, choose, point out, the right and just one---its function stops there. It can go no further in the matter. It has no authority to say that the right one will be acted upon and the wrong one discarded. The authority is in other hands. In the machine which stands for him. In his born disposition and the character which has been built around it by training and environment.”
 
And here is Twain’s Admonition; that is, a summation of what he thinks one should strive to attain in life: “Diligently train your ideals upward and still upward toward a summit where you will find your chiefest pleasure in conduct which, while contenting you, will be sure to confer benefits upon your neighbor and the community.” That is, act selfishly but in a manner that is for the good of all.
 
“What is Man?” was published in 1906. From this book and many other works by Twain, one can reasonably deduce that he believed free will to be an illusion; that altruism was an illusion; that the beliefs in a soul, in heaven and hell were illusions; that narrow patriotism and war were evil; that all fundamentalist theologies were, if not frauds and scams, based on delusions and illusions; and that capitalism served the rich and oppressed the poor. On the last issue he wrote:
 
“Who are the oppressors? The few: the king, the capitalist and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.”
 
On foreign policy he said what is most pertinent today: “I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.” Unfortunately, we have no Twain today to speak against Bush Jr.’s war and his puerile, impudent and callow celebration on the carrier Abe Lincoln.
 
Twain was a cynic. He had good reason to be one. And in spite of all his efforts to bring truth to the eyes of the world, as well as to inspire it to compassion and justice, the world exhibits very little change from his day. In fact, were he here now, his cynicism would have ample sustenance to grow on. Although “What is Man?” was Twain’s Bible, his wife shuddered over it. So do most people who read it. Truth hurts.
 
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Perry Mann is a former teacher, a lawyer, a former prosecuting attorney of Summers County and a regular columnist for the Nicholas Chronicle in Summersville and Huntington News Network.