June 21, 2010

  At lunchtime, the male students gathered in the cafeteria, debating Gamamusa’s “Law of Enemy Preservation.” Jung Sun-beom, recently promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant, was the most vocal. “If war is human instinct, where does it come from? All animals fight for survival. Limited resources drive competition, fueling evolution.” Another student countered, “…I don’t think so. The professor said humans fight ‘equal enemies.’ If that’s the goal, it’s not about seizing resources but war being humanity’s purpose itself.”

  While the male students debated, the female students ate quietly. Even as non-commissioned officers in the military, they seemed uninterested in war talk. After lunch, the students returned to the classroom. Gamamusa, ever the serious professor, surveyed them. “…Everyone done eating? Tough balancing military service and college, huh?” The students, especially the males, nodded. He erased the blackboard. “As we discussed, war stems from the Law of Enemy Preservation. So, where does this law come from? I bet you’re curious.” The students focused. Gamamusa wrote Glory on the board.

  “…The root of why we fight is ‘glory.’ It’s the very ‘reason for existence’ for all living things.” The students looked puzzled. Having viewed war through an evolutionary lens of survival, “glory” seemed absurd. Gamamusa cleared his throat. “…You probably thought of war in evolutionary terms. Evolution says all life ‘struggles’ for survival advantages.” He wrote Survival Struggle. “Evolution assumes resources are scarce. For example, giraffes’ long necks evolved to reach high fruit when low fruit ran out.”

  He drew animals on the board. “Carnivores like lions evolved when herbivores overgrazed, so one herbivore species began eating others to gain resources. Herbivores evolved from photosynthetic plankton that blocked sunlight, prompting some to become predatory zooplankton, eating others.” He erased the board. “Malthus’s population theory claims human overpopulation outstrips resources, dooming the poor to die. Poverty, famine, and war were seen as necessary to curb this.”

  Gamamusa set down the eraser. “…I think Malthus was wrong. As I told another university—and you might’ve heard from Ko Ye-eun—humans have ‘restriction’ to reduce population when food is scarce and ‘expansion’ to grow when it’s not. Population always aligns with available food. Thus, humans, animals, and plants avoid extinction, securing just enough resources.” He took a deep breath. “…Simply put, my theory rejects evolution and materialism.” The students murmured. Jung Sun-beom, arms crossed, clearly disagreed.

  Gamamusa wrote a sentence: “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” A student, a former chaplain, raised his hand. “…Matthew 10:30, right?” Gamamusa nodded. “…God is omniscient and omnipotent—knowing and doing all. In other words, God can love all.” The students were confused by the sudden religious turn. He continued.

  “To love someone, you must know them. No idol can ‘love’ a fan they don’t remember or acknowledge. To love, you must know. Being known and loved—that’s ‘glory.’” He drew a massive waterfall. “God is like a waterfall, endlessly pouring out ‘glory.’ He loves us and receives small ‘love’ in return—a fraction of the glory He gives. Seeing this, humans wanted to be ‘gods,’ believing they’d be worshipped by lesser beings. They rejected God’s infinite love, choosing adoration from countless lesser beings.”

  He drew a bucket beside the waterfall. “God knows all and can give infinite glory and love. Humans, with limited memory and knowledge, can’t love everyone—like pouring water into a small bucket.” He drew other buckets pouring into the central one. “For humans, glory is finite. Famous people, like idols, need others’ buckets to pour glory into theirs for infinite fame. Ordinary buckets rarely receive glory, dying unnoticed.”

  He erased the drawings, then drew two buckets surrounded by others. “Early on, group leaders monopolized limited glory. To claim it, some fought the leader, broke away, and took followers to share glory. That was the first war.” Jung Sun-beom frowned. “…So, it’s like evolution—fighting for limited resources, right?” Gamamusa nodded. “Yes. Christianity teaches us to return to God for infinite glory and love, but most humans fight for human glory. Only a few seek God’s glory and enter heaven.”

  He drew more buckets, some pouring into each other instead of the central one. “…Humans give glory to leaders or key figures. But most glory goes to family and friends. Early leaders fought to keep followers’ glory. As groups grew too large to know everyone, humans sought glory for their group as a ‘brand.’ They saw their group’s defeat as shameful.”

  He turned to the students. “…Human groups are brands formed to protect glory from other groups. Without external enemies, groups splinter and turn on each other. When a huge enemy appears, groups unite. When a small group faces a large one, the large group scales down its forces to maintain cohesion, while the small group desperately expands to protect its glory. Human groups are collectives built to preserve glory and wage war—because ‘glory’ is why humans exist.”

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