Ask the Author: Johnny Armstrong
Answered Questions (1)
Johnny Armstrong
About twenty years ago, I came across the notion of humanity’s loss of self-identity on my own. But I was certainly not the first on the scene. It’s an old stomping ground of poets, writers, artists and scientists from the past and eloquently stated by the French writer, Jean Bruller.
In his book, Half Earth, world preeminent biologist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner E. O. Wilson expressed the danger of humanity’s lack of self-understanding. He drove his point home by quoting Bruller who, on the brink of World War II wrote, “All of mankind’s troubles are due to the fact that we do not know what we are and cannot agree on what to become.” In another example, Wilson used the famous mural by French impressionist, Paul Gaugin, for the cover of his book, The Social Conquest of Earth. The mural is entitled, “D’ou venons nous?
Que sommes nous? Ou allons nous? (From where do we come? What are we? Where are we going?).
My own personal experience came about 18 or 19 years ago. My wife, Karen, and I were in a Paris bar and I casually picked up a sous-bock (French for beer coaster). At the time, Paris was celebrating sous-bock art and all the city’s bars were following the art theme on their coasters. When I looked at the one in my hand, I couldn’t decipher the image on the front at all. But the backside explanation almost knocked me off my stool. The image was a depiction of humanity’s crise d’identite’ face a la nature—humanity’s identity crisis in the face of nature.
Seems I had a long-lost sibling somewhere on the streets of the City of Lights.
In his book, Half Earth, world preeminent biologist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner E. O. Wilson expressed the danger of humanity’s lack of self-understanding. He drove his point home by quoting Bruller who, on the brink of World War II wrote, “All of mankind’s troubles are due to the fact that we do not know what we are and cannot agree on what to become.” In another example, Wilson used the famous mural by French impressionist, Paul Gaugin, for the cover of his book, The Social Conquest of Earth. The mural is entitled, “D’ou venons nous?
Que sommes nous? Ou allons nous? (From where do we come? What are we? Where are we going?).
My own personal experience came about 18 or 19 years ago. My wife, Karen, and I were in a Paris bar and I casually picked up a sous-bock (French for beer coaster). At the time, Paris was celebrating sous-bock art and all the city’s bars were following the art theme on their coasters. When I looked at the one in my hand, I couldn’t decipher the image on the front at all. But the backside explanation almost knocked me off my stool. The image was a depiction of humanity’s crise d’identite’ face a la nature—humanity’s identity crisis in the face of nature.
Seems I had a long-lost sibling somewhere on the streets of the City of Lights.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more