Shipwrecks and Rafts

Acali raft

How often do we hear that the base nature of humanity is pretty nasty and brutish? We may not hear it in our day-to-day conversations, but the belief is not far below the surface.

With the westernised culture based very much on Judeo-Christian teachings and credos the idea that humanity is basically flawed has been taught from early on.  The phrase original sin is not used in the Bible, but the implication is there. It was Saint Augustine (354 – 430 CE) who coined the phrase original sin and the term and its connotations have harassed and tormented us ever since.

Not only have theologians persuaded us of the nastiness of humanity, so too have philosophers over the ages. Thomas Hobbes 17^th century claim that life is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’ is well known. In the 20^th century we hear the Italian philosopher, George Santayana, claiming that, if you ‘dig a little beneath the surface you’ll find a ferocious, persistent, profoundly selfish man.’

Psychologist too, could not resist the urge to tarnish our human nature. Consider this quote from the grandaddy of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud. Writing in 1930 he asserted that ‘the inclination to aggression is an original, self-subsisting, instinctual disposition’ of humans.

All this can be summarised in the oft-quoted line, ‘Man’s (sic) inhumanity to man.’ Many of those quoting this are probably unaware of the source of the quotation. It is from a poem by the Scottish bard, Robert Burns. The poem was written in the late 18^th century amidst a time of social upheaval and economic gloom and reflects the pessimism and despair of the times. Even though the poem was written about a particular place and time the words have come to suggest inhumanity is the general nature of the human psyche and being.

In literature too we find this idea well established. Lord of the Flies (1954), by William Golding, is often cited as portraying the base nastiness and brutality of humanity if left without authority and any ethical grounding.

Yet, all these beliefs and worldviews are fictional, imaginary, and false.

At least two events indicate the spurious nature of the claim that we are nasty and brutish by nature.

A Shipwreck …

In June 1965 six Tongan boys (aged between 13 and 19 years old) stole a boat to run away from the boarding school in Nuku’alofa. Unfortunately for them a storm arose and the boat’s sail and rudder were destroyed. The anchor rope was also broken. For eight days they drifted in the Pacific Ocean aboard a steadily disintegrating boat. Eventually they sighted land, the uninhabited island of ‘Ata.

There they remained for the next 15 months before an Australian fishing boat captain noticed them. They were rescued and returned to their homes and families. By this time their families had given them up for dead.

The remarkable thing about the 15 months they spent castaway was that, contrary to the Lord of the Flies narrative, the boys remained in good spirits and shared out any resources and work that needed doing. Working in pairs they tended a garden, collected rainwater, and kept guard. They shared out cooking duties; one of them had built a fire by rubbing sticks together and they kept that fire going throughout their isolation.

At night they kept their spirits high by singing and playing an improvised guitar. Over the 15 months they wrote five original songs.

Following their rescue all six of the boys were found to be in good health.

A Youtube re-enactment with the boys was filmed in 1966. It can be seen here.

… and a Raft

Almost a decade later, in 1973, an experiment was undertaken designed by a Mexican anthropologist, Santiago Genovés. Genovés had read about research suggesting that violence amongst monkeys often was about males sexually competing for females. He wanted to see if this applied to humans as well. Although his intention, of discovering the sources of human violence and hence being able to bring about world peace, may have been admirable, the design and implementation of the experiment was not. The experiment might well fail the standards of an Ethics Committee if presented for academic study today.

Genovés chose a diverse group of five men and five women, all (according to him) sexually attractive, and all aged in their 20s and 30s. He had a raft built and named it Acali (from a Mexican language meaning house on the water. Using only the power of the wind and ocean currents the Acali took 101 days to sail from Spain to Mexico.

The voyage was a dangerous one, especially as they were heading into hurricane season. However, Genovés believed that in dangerous situations people would ‘revert to their baseline instincts.’

When violence between any of the participants did not eventuate within a week or so of leaving Spain, Genovés tried to provoke it by passing out questionnaires to the participants. Amongst the questions were ones such as; ‘who would you like to get rid of?’ ‘Who would you like to sleep with’, and other questions designed to ramp up the tension.

As the voyage progressed the participants, far from descending into their baseline instincts became friendly and more and more suspicious of the intentions of Genovés himself. At one stage they even debated whether to kill him and throw him overboard but decided against this.

The experiment did not bolster Genovés thesis that diverse groups of humans, when faced with danger, would descend into their baseline instincts of nastiness and brutality.

The experiment showed exactly the opposite.

At one point during the experiment Genovés retreated below deck in a depressed state. During this time he wrote perhaps the most insightful line in his journal that he had had during the entire journey.

He wrote: ‘Only one has shown any kind of aggression and that is me, a man trying to control everyone else, including myself.’

Genovés insight shows a keen observation and understanding of the nature of humanity.

Humanity’s instincts are not nasty and brutish.

But there are those amongst us that would use their power to manipulate and control others so that it would seem that way. We must continuously guard against this.

A documentary of the Acali Experiment is available on Youtube here.

The lesson from this shipwreck and raft experiment is that before we assume that the base nature of humanity is nasty, brutish, ferocious, or selfish, and that sinfulness is the natural state of Homo sapiens we might want to reflect on what these two events truly tell us.