741. At this point one might object that the good thing about this phenomenon is that the beings that follow on afterwards will be more perfect and will experience higher and more beautiful forms of existence. Yes, but it is totally meaningless. The beings that follow on after us have never lived before and cannot therefore in any way whatsoever have wished for, or have been without, this perfect, higher form of existence, but are born in the midst of it without having had to have made the slightest effort or to have gone to any trouble in acquiring it. But, on the contrary, this higher form of existence is to the very greatest extent an expression of an innermost secret hope or wish within the beings that are now living. But these beings would never in all eternity experience this more perfect existence, because they will perish or die together with their physical body. It is certainly the case that the beings that are now living have been granted advantages that their forefathers did not have, such as more refined organisms, a more developed intelligence, improved means of communication, improved hygiene and housing conditions, outstanding technical skill etc. But what is the point of these improved and more perfect conditions? The living conditions of our forefathers cannot possibly be outlived, antiquated or tedious to beings who have never experienced them. The living conditions that our forefathers were subject to would have the same current interest and arouse the same joy in living for every new generation that is born, since these beings have never existed previously. If the beings that are now living have never existed previously, they would find exactly the same degree of vitality in the previous primitive living conditions as their forefathers. The new improved conditions would be just as unrequired by the human beings of the present as of the past; indeed, they would be absolutely superfluous, especially as such an elevated and improved form of existence cannot possibly be a wish or a desire in the beings, without it being due to these same beings having absolutely grown out of or become satiated with its opposite. Until this satiation has been reached the only thing that one can desire or hunger for is this contrast, and one would therefore to a corresponding extent be happy and delighted with it. And to the extent that one is content with this, the higher and more perfect form of culture or existence cannot possibly be relevant, in fact it will even be the object of these beings' antipathy and even downright persecution. Are not all forms of religious persecution an incontestable expression of this point? Are not political struggles an expression of this same thing? All beings without exception will feel antipathy towards phenomena that are the opposite of the phenomena they have not grown out of and are not satiated with and therefore still more or less desire. These phenomena will therefore be the driving force behind their wishes or their life.
      But a being that has never existed before cannot possibly represent such a satiation with a form of existence. How should this have come about? New generations, that is to say, beings that have never existed before and that are therefore with their present life existing for the first time, cannot possibly be satiated with either primitive or intellectual forms of existence. They must by nature be immune to the one as well as the other form of existence. Such a being must be just as happy in any normal form of existence, regardless of what type it represents and regardless of which step on the scale of perfection it might have been born on. But if it therefore achieves exactly the same happiness or vitality regardless of which step on the evolutionary scale it is born on, these steps then become totally without meaning. If the beings on a certain step are just as happy as beings on steps that are even higher, what is the purpose of the higher steps? Why have any steps at all? To say that the higher steps are there in order to create a happier existence for the beings, at the same time as denying the possibility of the existence of rebirth, is to express a complete lack of knowledge of the consequences of absolute mortality or the necessity of rebirth. Without any rebirth or any kind of existence or experience of life existing before its present life, the being would be totally without the prerequisites for feeling happier on one evolutionary step than on another. These steps would then be one hundred per cent superfluous. But can there be an intellectual human being who believes that this is the true solution? Does not Nature in itself, or in its true essence, show extremely clearly that the opposite is the case? Every genuinely truth-loving and intellectually advanced researcher acknowledges particularly irrefutably that Nature knows nothing whatsoever of chance manifestations. Everything is bound by law and is therefore purposeful and logical. Every researcher who asserts the opposite thereby reveals himself to be at the tender infant stage as a researcher. And terrestrial mankind is far too advanced in its mental development for it to be able to make do with the mental child-like sighing that can emanate from such an infant stage or can treat these as expressions of perfect thinking or intellectuality.