The Iks by Lewis Thomas Essay Sample free essay sample

The position of Lewis Thomas sing the similarity between the behaviour of the Iks and groups of different sizes is non accurate and unsupported by grounds. In his essay. Thomas proposed that the Iks have really â€Å"gone brainsick. † and they did so because society had become impracticable for them. He sees the Iks behaviour as a defence mechanism which resulted in each individual going his ain constituency. a metropolis which regards neighbours as competitor-cities. In his observations. he found the Iks behaviour really similar with the behaviour of different groups like commissions. metropoliss and states. Thomas said that the Iks are like metropoliss. Iks defecate in their neighbor’s belongings. hate their neighbours and happen the bad lucks of others diverting. Iks do non esteem their seniors. populating them to fend for themselves. even traveling so far as to steal from them. He said that the same is true with metropoliss. Cities defecate on their ain backyard. They do this by fouling their rivers and throwing their waste and refuse everyplace. Cities besides detest other metropoliss and are entertained when other metropoliss experience bad lucks. They have the same contempt and deficiency of regard to seniors since they build establishments that keep their seniors out of sight. ( Thomas ) . These statements of Thomas sing the nature of metropoliss seem to be full of headlong generalisations and are unsupported by a individual yarn of grounds. He did non mention a individual empirical informations or mentioned a specific illustration of a metropolis laughing at another city’s tragic destiny. Meanwhile. there are recent events that show that his observations are incorrect. Other metropoliss in the United States were sympathetic when the metropoliss in Southern California were ravaged by wildfire. In fact. the remainder of the state watched in panic when fire destroyed places and supports. The same can be said when the Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. In other parts of the state. there were calls for authorities aid for the victims of the catastrophe ; and. post-Hurricane Katrina. other parts of the state were really vocal in their unfavorable judgments of the administration’s deficiency of support for the victims of the catastrophe. His unfavorable judgment that metropoliss build establishments that keep their seniors out of sight is besides unsupported by grounds. This statement could be one manner of looking at city-sponsored installations that house and supply for the demands of the aged. but this is a deformed point of position. The fact that metropoliss build establishments that house their seniors is really the antonym of what Iks do in their society. Iks abandon their seniors when they can no longer assist in the assemblage of commissariats or fend for themselves. They do non esteem them and will travel even so far as to steal from them. The installations that metropoliss build or the establishments they create to house seniors is a manner of demoing that metropoliss care for their seniors and the metropoliss do non see them as disposable members of the community. A city’s purposes in making establishments and edifice installations are frequently baronial 1s. These activities are by and large viewe d as an activity that promote the general public assistance and are frequently dearly-won on the portion of the metropoliss. Despite the cost. many metropoliss give these benefits to their senior citizens. His unfavorable judgment that metropoliss defecate on theirs and everyone else’s doorsills. rivers and lakes and leave their rubbish everyplace is another headlong generalisation. This may be true for all or bulk of the metropoliss in old times. but this is no longer true in modern times. Waste and refuse is a fact of life. it is a merchandise of all beings. Cities of course bring forth big sums of this because there is a higher concentration of people per square metre in urban countries than in rural 1s. Waste direction is evidently a major concern. During the in-between ages. before the coming of indoor plumbing. the metropoliss in Europe throw their waste right out the window. This is no longer the instance since engineering has remedied this job for most metropoliss in the universe. The manner I see it. the deficiency of proper waste disposal in metropoliss is non because it finds that go forthing or throwing waste in its ain or another’s backyard as an diverting ma nner to hassle a adjacent metropolis or because it detests other metropoliss. It is merely because there are bigger fiscal and logistical issues that are involved when the population is condensed in a little infinite. Proper waste direction is a conflict for metropoliss mundane and progresss have been made. In fact. the new tendency seems to gravitate towards an environmentally-friendly life style. Businesss are looking for ways to do their merchandise eco-friendly. and portion of it is because of the ordinances imposed by metropoliss. Many metropoliss around the universe have ordinances restricting the emanations of a vehicle to a certain degree to minimise pollution. Some metropoliss require segregation of refuse so that reclaimable stuffs can be recycled and biodegradable stuffs can be disposed decently. Thomas said that Iks are like states. He finds states to be the groups most similar to the Iks in nature and behaviour. He said that states are avaricious. predatory. heartless and irresponsible. merely like the Iks. He besides said that states are as lone and egoistic as the Iks. He did non give any ground why he thinks states are all of those enumerated above. but he did state that states â€Å"bawl abuses from their doorsills. defecate into whole oceans. snap all the nutrient. take joy in the bad fortune of others celebrate the decease of others. populate for the decease of others. † Indeed states do all these things in the traffics of states with others. but this is exclusion and non the regulation of modern international dealingss. Alternatively of bellowing abuses from their doorsills. states are traveling towards globalisation. The fact that they are making so is a large cogent evidence against Thomas’ premiss. States formed the World Trade Organization to take o r lower trade barriers. Now. alternatively of blaring each other over trading right and districts. states come together to speak. They negotiate. they make grant and they create partnerships for the interest of continuing harmonious relationships with other states. It is true that this has non been ever been the instance. States used to travel to war for the interest of trade. but this pattern has been outgrown. In a manner. it can be said that states have managed to accommodate to their present universe. and this is really much unlike Iks. When I analyze Thomas’ decisions. I saw that he thinks that the Iks unnatural behaviour is really a normal reaction ; it is what happens when a group finds out that society has become impracticable for them. Thomas contradicted himself. This statement is an about turn from his earlier statement that the Iks are an anomalousness. He. in fact. thinks that the Iks’ behaviour is all around us. but alternatively of imputing Iks behaviour to man’s built-in evilness as the anthropologist who studied the Iks has done. he attributed it to groups. both big and little. He compared the behaviour of the Iks with â€Å"groups of one size or another. runing from commissions to nations† ( Thomas ) . My ain observation of groups’ behaviour showed that his decisions are non right. Cities and states have non â€Å"gone loony. † Cities show concern for their adjacent metropoliss. environment and their seniors. unlike the Iks. In modern times. states talk alterna tively of bash. They have realized that the public assistance of other states is inextricably bound to their ain and. for most parts. have acted in consequently. Work Cited Thomas. Lewis. TheIks. Name of Book. Publication. Year. page no.