Nobel-winning author Günter Grass warned of 'sleepwalking' into world war

Gunter Grass, nobel-winning author of The Tin Drum, gave his last interview on March 21. I have only been able to find the full interview in Spanish (interview was to Spanish newspaper El Pais) which you can find here

And here is a summary of the interview in English.

If anyone can find a good full translation in English, I would love to read it.

Here are some excerpts:

"As the years went by I realised that we have the possibility to autodestruct, something that did not exist before: it was said that Nature caused famine, droughts, the responsibility lay elsewhere.”
"For the first time we are responsible, we have the possibility and the capacity to auto-destroy ourselves and we don't do anything to eliminate this danger.”
"All of this together makes me realise that things are finite, that we don't have an indefinite amount of time.”
"If we take into account the existence of our planet, we have to recognise that we are guests that spend a short and very determined period in this world and all we leave behind is nuclear waste.”

"There are Russian traumas, since Napoleon, since World War II, with 27 million dead when the Germans arrived... and now the fear of being surrounded by the enemy has returned to it.”
"I don't say that this justifies what they did in Crimea, its unjustifiable, but we need to understand it and that is what we have to do, understand Russia.”

This man was recruited into the Waffen SS at age 17, so he should have a reasonable sense of the atmosphere, tension, and social destruction that lead to world war. His words certainly resonate with my own thoughts.

Excuse the only-partial interview in English, and again if anyone finds it in full, please post a link to it. Thanks!

soulwaxer

Not to take the thread off topic but the possibility to autodestruct is probably why we can not find any other intelligent civilisations.

None have made it past the nuclear power level or have failed to reach it yet.

a reply to: soulwaxer

Thanks for sharing this - I don't quite grasp what it means to "sleep walk" into World War? does he mean that even though the state of affairs may seem to be happening in isolated areas/with only a few active participants, that it could easily spiral out of control and build momentum until it was an all out World War?

a reply to: joho99

It's certainly a possibility , If evolution is really survival of the fittest then this would make sense everywhere,

although in a universe this vast then mathematically speaking a very small percentage would make it , and scaled up to Universe calculations would mean many many intelligent Civs out there

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: soulwaxer

Thanks for sharing this - I don't quite grasp what it means to "sleep walk" into World War? does he mean that even though the state of affairs may seem to be happening in isolated areas/with only a few active participants, that it could easily spiral out of control and build momentum until it was an all out World War?

What he is saying is we are walking right into it already with our eyes closed asleep. Its already all around us and we are walking towards the final act completely oblivious of the war around us and the subversion by the states and their interests.

a reply to: joho99

That's an interesting thought, but with so many possible scenarios of evolution and technology, I'm sure at least one species would make it through the gap.

soulwaxer

a reply to: Quantum_Squirrel

True but i would presume they would have more and more opportunities to self destruct as they advance more technologically.

A lot that we have not even thought of yet.

originally posted by: joho99
Not to take the thread off topic but the possibility to autodestruct is probably why we can not find any other intelligent civilisations.

None have made it past the nuclear power level or have failed to reach it yet.

That is an interesting theory! Prob true in other places as well as earth.

I think we haven't reached any other intelligent life yet because to get to that level the brain has to move beyond animalistic survival instincts. Or we just can't evolve past selfish interests as far as the effort of society as a whole,.... hence not being able to transcend our current evaluation and understanding of the cosmos. The tyrants of the work are really just unevolved monsters trying to horde resources for power.
Until we can elevate our perception of reality or what reality "could" be if we acted differently we are just animals scraping by with no plan for the future.

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: soulwaxer

Thanks for sharing this - I don't quite grasp what it means to "sleep walk" into World War? does he mean that even though the state of affairs may seem to be happening in isolated areas/with only a few active participants, that it could easily spiral out of control and build momentum until it was an all out World War?

No, I think he meant that people are just plain asleep to the chaotic state of the world and society. That they can't handle the reality of it all, and have switched to auto-pilot. This, in my view, is a very bad sign...

soulwaxer

originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel
a reply to: joho99

It's certainly a possibility , If evolution is really survival of the fittest then this would make sense everywhere,

although in a universe this vast then mathematically speaking a very small percentage would make it , and scaled up to Universe calculations would mean many many intelligent Civs out there

Survival of the fittest does not include those self-destructing, so that would not make sense. Does it make sense to you that a world leader would press that big red button and blow it all to kingdom come? I would consider him one of the least fit to survive. In fact, he'd be first on the list for the Darwin Award.

Your second point I agree with, based on statistics and all that.

soulwaxer

originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel
a reply to: joho99

It's certainly a possibility , If evolution is really survival of the fittest then this would make sense everywhere,

although in a universe this vast then mathematically speaking a very small percentage would make it , and scaled up to Universe calculations would mean many many intelligent Civs out there

I don't believe evolution is only survival of the fittest because of cosmic interaction and interference that cause random mutations. So in a sense that phrase describes evolution but the manipulation of the natural order by either planned or random events greatly effects evolution.

Major Astro impacts, volcanoes, solar and cosmic radiation, special intervention (man made disasters involving radioactive particles), old school plant grafting, genetic modifications in labs, directed breading etc.

Evolution is more like gravity or sound waves etc. It exists within nature but can be manipulated for an outcome. It is not really one thing but rather a property of a thing.

originally posted by: luthier

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: soulwaxer

Thanks for sharing this - I don't quite grasp what it means to "sleep walk" into World War? does he mean that even though the state of affairs may seem to be happening in isolated areas/with only a few active participants, that it could easily spiral out of control and build momentum until it was an all out World War?

What he is saying is we are walking right into it already with our eyes closed asleep. Its already all around us and we are walking towards the final act completely oblivious of the war around us and the subversion by the states and their interests.

Very well put! At least that's exactly how I'm experiencing the people around me. They don't seem to react to what's going on around them at all. They are acting the same way as 20 years ago.

soulwaxer

Who cares what some old Nazi has to say. He was brainwashed since youth if he was waffen SS, why would his mind be right now? He probably should have been swinging on the end of a rope.

originally posted by: luthier

originally posted by: joho99
Not to take the thread off topic but the possibility to autodestruct is probably why we can not find any other intelligent civilisations.

None have made it past the nuclear power level or have failed to reach it yet.

That is an interesting theory! Prob true in other places as well as earth.

I think we haven't reached any other intelligent life yet because to get to that level the brain has to move beyond animalistic survival instincts. Or we just can't evolve past selfish interests as far as the effort of society as a whole,.... hence not being able to transcend our current evaluation and understanding of the cosmos. The tyrants of the work are really just unevolved monsters trying to horde resources for power.
Until we can elevate our perception of reality or what reality "could" be if we acted differently we are just animals scraping by with no plan for the future.

Wow! You've got a way with words.

Just one question: What about the same-level-as-us intelligences? There must be at least a few on all those billions of habitable planets.

soulwaxer

originally posted by: soulwaxer

originally posted by: luthier

originally posted by: joho99
Not to take the thread off topic but the possibility to autodestruct is probably why we can not find any other intelligent civilisations.

None have made it past the nuclear power level or have failed to reach it yet.

That is an interesting theory! Prob true in other places as well as earth.

I think we haven't reached any other intelligent life yet because to get to that level the brain has to move beyond animalistic survival instincts. Or we just can't evolve past selfish interests as far as the effort of society as a whole,.... hence not being able to transcend our current evaluation and understanding of the cosmos. The tyrants of the work are really just unevolved monsters trying to horde resources for power.
Until we can elevate our perception of reality or what reality "could" be if we acted differently we are just animals scraping by with no plan for the future.

Wow! You've got a way with words.

Just one question: What about the same-level-as-us intelligences? There must be at least a few on all those billions of habitable planets.

soulwaxer

Yeah. They get tested too. Like a Darwin award. Either your too dumb to continue or not. At some point anger surpasses fear and people revolt. How and how smart cha he's history. Is your revolution bloody or glorious? Or did the revolt cause the end because its intelligence was too limited?

Stay tuned we may find out. Especially with all the saber rattler talking about who's army could destroy who's.

Anyone with a nuke and a great plan can do it at anytime. It doesn't even take fancy equipment.

Man's self destructive nature is the Earth's survival mechanism against man.

It's there for a reason.

a reply to: Quantum_Squirrel

Agreed. But I question the premise that other intergalactic civilizations would necessarily have had the same scientific evolution as ours. Why Joho believes that Nuclear power is a given with intelligent species is a human-centric assumption.

originally posted by: joho99
Not to take the thread off topic but the possibility to autodestruct is probably why we can not find any other intelligent civilisations.

None have made it past the nuclear power level or have failed to reach it yet.

Good theory!

Are civilizations akin to a virus infecting a host?
Like Ebola, will humankind be denied the ability to spread throughout the cosmos (As any other truly intelligent species probably hopes) because of our seemingly inescapable tendency to kill our host [planet] before we can infect others, and spread our war and destruction elsewhere

Maybe we don't encounter other interstellar civilizations because we have been quarantined in the hope that we either recover and wise up or self destruct. The greys that many people claim to have witnessed are possibly equivalent to a brave doctor entering an infected area to monitor the patients.

I don't think that we are sleepwalking into war at all I think we are being marched directly into it wide awake and willing.
Some idiot stands up and if they shout loud enough and appeal to stupidity a thousand fools will follow them.
Our inate selfishness to the point of suicide will be our undoing. We will slaughter the chicken to eat for an evening and forego the possibility of eggs every day.

I sometimes smile when I think of how interstellar observers may at this very moment invoking my username across the galaxy.

Somewhere out there an alien scientist is observing mankind, watching us slaughter each other and systematically pollute our only home for greed while the rest of the world carries on stuffing their faces with crap and staring brain dead at a TV not caring whats happening, poisoning their minds and bodies, limiting our own potential as a species.

Alien shakes their head slowly looks over at their colleague and sighs "Humans Eh!"

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight
They would probably follow a similar line because they would all ask similar questions and seek answers to things like what is a star and how is it powered and the next logical question would be can we replicate it?

originally posted by: TinfoilTP
Who cares what some old Nazi has to say. He was brainwashed since youth if he was waffen SS, why would his mind be right now? He probably should have been swinging on the end of a rope.

People do have the capacity to change. Maybe he saw what the SS was really about and vowed to change his ways. Don't forget back then, to show any sign of breaking away from the Nazi party or SS once you were signed up to it would have led to your death. Maybe he had to go along with things in order to stay alive. I don't know. As long as he was not guilty of a war crime, then he should be allowed to rehabilitate himself.