"Vučić je rekao da nemamo više oko čega da se otimamo, a da, opet svi, sve i ne izgubimo i da pritom, ne izgubimo i budućnost. "Pošto ona uopšte nema nameru da čeka na naše rasprave. Od onih manje važnih, poput, čiji je Tesla, do onih gorkih, višedecenijskih i viševekovnih prebacivanja odgovornosti za sukobe iz prošlosti. I pri tome, ne bežimo od istine, istina je lekovita za svakoga, ali i Tesla, naš Srbin ne pripada samo nama" podvukao je. Kako je rekao on pripada i Americi čije je državljanstvo uzeo, ali i svima drugima na Balkanu koji njegovim delom mogu da se ponose. Iz istog razloga i sa istim pravom kao što mi to činimo. Tesla je odavno otišao, rekao je i podvukao da postoji danas kao veličanstveno ime u istoriji čitavog sveta, i možda još važnije, kao ogromna kompanija koja pravi električne automobile, planira putovanja u svemir, i izvodi prve probe vozova, koji treba da se kreću supersoničnim brzinama. "I ti vozovi, sutra neće svraćati ni u Srbiju, ni u Hrvatsku, ni u Makedoniji, Crnu Goru, Bosnu, Albaniju, ako im ne damo prostor za to, i ako provalije ostanu između nas" (Vučić kaže: S Hrvatima možemo planine da pomeramo, portal Mondo)
Vučić je u pravu, Tesla u nacionalnom smislu ne pripada samo Srbima, već i Crnogorcima. Tesla se izjašnjavao kao Srbin, ali se u jednom dijelu svog života neprestano izjašnjavao kao Crnogorac, i to bez dodavanja da je i Srbin.
Šestog juna 1896. godine američki list "The Evening Star" objavio je intervju sa Nikolom Teslom, Tesla se u posljednjoj deceniji 19. vijeka mnogo puta izjasnio kao nacionalni Crnogorac, pa i u razgovoru sa novinarom Klivlendom Mofetom (CLEVELAND MOFFETT), rekao mu je da je njegova rodna zemlja Crna Gora.
Nećemo previše ulaziti u to zašto se Tesla izjašnjavao kao Crnogorac, moje je mišljenje da je to bilo zbog velike velike vojničke slave Crnogoraca, junaštvo je u 19. vijeku bilo na najvećoj cijeni, a svi ljudi koji su išta znali o Crnogorcima cijenili su to što su se Crnogorci potpuno sami vjekovima borili protiv 500 puta brojnijeg okupatora. Ili se Tesla nacionalno predstavljao kao Crnogorac, jednostavno zbog toga što je imao crnogorske korijene? U svakom slučaju ako se Tesla ośećao kao Crnogorac, mi to moramo poštovati.
Novinar Klivlend Mofet je u tekstu opisao kako je sa Teslom razgovarao u nekom kafeu, napravljen je i crtež koji prikazuje taj razgovor, prema tome novinar je samo prenosio ono što mu je Tesla kazivao.
Među Srbima naravno ima mnogo Teslinih biografa, ali oni ove Tesline intervjue ne pokazuju javnosti, razlog je jednostavan - Tesla se izjašnjavao kao Crnogorac.
Evo prijevoda intervjua, poslije prijevoda ide originalni tekst na engleskom, a originalni tekst možete čitati i sa faksimila koji se nalazi na sajtu Montenegro - Canada.
RAZGOVOR SA TESLOM
Neka iskustva o rukovanju elektricitetom
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Odnos rada i spavanja
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Brak, po njegovom mišljenju nije za pronalazača
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Što se tiče budućnosti - LTFE
Jedne noći oko 11 sati našao sam g. Teslu u kafeu, śedio je za stolom na svom uobičajenom mjestu, izgledao je umorno i ispijeno. Pozdravio me je ljubazno sa osmijehom i jakim stiskom ruke, što je za njega prirodno, ali sam vidio blijedilo na njegovom licu i zabrinut pogled u njegovim tamnim očima, da nešto nije u redu.
„Plašim se“ rekao je „da noćas nećete u meni naći baš prijatno društvo. U stvari ja sam skoro poginuo danas“.
Ovo je rekao tihim tonom, što me nije spriječilo da pokažem zabrinutost koju sam ośetio. „Da" nastavio je „imao sam strujni udar/šok/ od oko 3 i po miliona volti iz jedne od mojih mašina. Iskra je iskočila oko 3 metra u vazduh i udarila me u desno rame. Kažem vam, to mi je izazvalo vrtoglavicu. Da moj pomoćnik nije isključio struju to bi bio moj kraj. Kako je bilo mogu vam pokazati trag na grudima đe je udarilo, a zatim izgorjelo petu na jednoj od mojih čarapa, đe je napuštilo moje tijelo. Naravno, obim struje bio je izuzetno mali, u suprotnom bilo bi fatalno. Vi znate volti nijesu šala, kako god malog obima“.
Veoma teško, istovremeno i lijepo u razgovoru sa Teslom, bilo je teško čoeku da shvati što on govori ili je to nemogućnost da podignete sebe u ravni u kojoj on razmišlja. Šta običan čoek može sa idejom od 3 i po miliona volti ili električnim izumima neophodnim da je proizvedu. Ja sam znao vrlo dobro da potencijal od 20.000 volti se smatra apsolutno fatalnim za izvršenje egzekucije, a ipak je tu bio čoek, možda najveći električar njegovog vremena koji mirno opisuje svoja ośećanja o strujnom udaru 150 puta jačem. Bilo je jasno da je beznadno pokušavati razumjeti ovu anomaliju, pa sam pitao o nečemu lakšem.
„Mislio sam da bi iskra iz takve struje mogla skočiti dalje od stopala“ - rekoh.
„Pa moglo bi da sam želio. Ja imam česte iskre iz moje mašine visokog pritiska koje iskaču duž i širom moje laboratorije, dužine 30 ili 40 stopa. Zaista ne postoji ograničenje u njihovoj dužini iako ih ne možete viđeti na početku jer je blic tako brz. To je munja, činjenica je da ne bi bilo posebno teško imitirati munje sa varnicama dužine 1 milju u slučaju da se plati za neophodnu aparaturu. Da, ja sam potpuno siguran da mogu napraviti iskre milju duge, ali ja ne znam da li bi to koštalo mnogo.“
Pitao sam g. Teslu, da li je tokom svih ovih godina eksperimentisanja sa strujom imao mnogo nezgoda sa njom. „Ne",rekao je „imao sam vrlo malo nezgoda. Ne više od jedne u godini, a niko nikada nije poginuo od mojih mašina. Ja mogu napraviti aparaturu tako da sve što se dešava ne može ubiti nikog. Požar u mojoj laboratriji prije 2 godine je najozbiljniji incident koji sam ikada imao. Niko ne zna što sam time izgubio.“
Radosti i tuge pronalazača
Odmahnuo je glavom i prešao njegovom snažnom rukom preko obrva. “Vidite“ - nastavio je „to je jedna od tužnih stvari u životu pronalazača. Mnogo ideja prolazi kroz njegov mozak, a može da iskoristi samo neke od njih, može da nađe vrijeme i snagu da samo nekoliko njih dovede do savršenstva. I dešava se mnogo puta da drugi pronalazač koji je zamislio iste ideje, jednu od njih ostvari. I kažem vam, to pravi bol srcu. Kada je moja laboratorija gorjela uništene su aparature. Bio sam na pragu uspjeha, mjeseci odlaganja dok je njemački naučnik rješavao problem, baš kada sam htio da ga riješim ostalo je samo śećanje na ono što sam mogao da uradim. Bio sam slomljen tih dana i nijesam vjerovao da mogu da se uzdignem i obavim regularne električne tretmane koje sam administrirao za sebe.
Vidite, struja unosi u umorna tijela upravo ono što najviše treba-životnu snagu-nervnu silu. To je odličan ljekar, mogu da vam kažem, možda najveći od svih ljekara.“
Pitao sam g. Teslu da li često u godini pada depresiju.
„Možda ne često, ali sada i nekada. Svaki čoek umjetničkog temperamenta ima recidive od velikog entuzijazma koji ga podižu i obaraju. Uglavnom moj život je veoma srećan, srećniji od bilo kog života koji mogu zamisliti. Kada sam bio student znao sam śeđeti za kockarskim stolom 48 sati na potezu. Mislio sam na intezivni ośećaj fasciniran igrom i vjerujem da mnogi ljudi to smatraju najjačom emocijom, ali mogu vam reći da već dugi niz godina te su mi igre pitome i neukusne u odnosu na moj ogroman, uzbudljiv rad u laboratoriji. Ja ne mislim da postoje uzbuđenja koja mogu proći kroz ljudsko srce mada pronalazač vidi neke stvari u mozgu tako da se sve odvija ka uspjehu. Jer on gleda neki od ključnih značaja eksperimenta koji je dokazao, a tu su najčeće mjeseci čekanja i nadanja. Takve emocije učine da on zaboravi na hranu, san, bolest, prijatelje, ljubav, sve.“
U očima ovog čoeka bilo je nešto blago, nježno, a ipak bilo je strogosti, takođe. On je bio čoek koji se radovao samoći svoje laboratorije, koji je odlutao tako visoko u domenima znanja da je bilo malo onih, možda nikog da podijeli sa njime u potpunosti zadovoljstvo svojih otkrića. Tako daleko je bio udaljen od ljudi koji su mu izgledali kao da pripadaju – drugoj rasi.
Pronalazači ne treba da se žene
„Da li vjerujete u brak, g. Tesla, kao osoba umjetničkog temperamenta?“ - pitao sam ga.
„Za jednog umjenika, da; za muzičara, da; za pisca, da; ali za pronalazača, ne. Prva tri moraju imati inspiraciju od žene što utiče i vodi ih ljubavlju do dostignuća, ali pronalazač ima tako intenzivnu prirodu sa toliko divlje strasti, koja u davanju njega ženi koju može voljeti, on može dati sve i odnijeti sve iz njegovog izabranog polja. Mislim da nema mnogo velikih pronalazača koji su oženjeni.“ Zastao je na momenat i nastavio sa śenkom patnje u njegovom tonu. “To je šteta, takođe, ponekada se ośećamo usamljeno.“
Količina rada g. Tesle u danu, svakog dana, jednostavno je čudesna. Bukvalno je tačno da je njegov život prošao u stalnom radu u laboratoriji sa povremenim pauzama za jelo i spavanje i poslije rada cijelog dana od 8 sati ujutru do 8 sati uveče, on je često donosio večeru u laboratoriju i nastavljao da radi do 11 ili 12 sati. Dva puta u dvije godine je bio u pozorištu. U veoma rijetkim slučajevima kada nije mogao izbjeći društveni poziv on bi izašao na prijem ili večernje okupljanje i uživao iako priznaje da se unaprijed ośećao zaprepašćeno. Jedna od njegovih relaksacija je bilo pola sata u kafeu uveče, đe smo se sreli, tu bi razmijenio ljubazno riječi sa drugovima koje nađe tamo.
„Šta mislite o spavanju?“ pitao sam ga. “Je li mudro za čovjeka da negira sebe i spava samo nekoliko sati na dan, a da radi mnogo više?“
Tesla zatrese glavom. “Smatram da je to velika greška. Čoeku je dato mnogo sati da bude budan i malo ih koristi svakog dana, više dana će mu trebati da ih iskoristi, što mu daje mogućnost da duže živi. Mislim da čoek može živjeti 200 godina ako bi spavao većinu vremena. Zato crnci često dožive pozne godine starosti jer spavaju mnogo. Da li znate da Gladston spava 17 sati svaki dan. Zato su njegove sposobnosti neoštećene uprkos velikoj starosti. Pravi način ekonomičnog života je spavati svakog momenta kada nije potrebno ili poželjno biti budan. Da li tu mislim na sebe? Ne, ali ovđe, u mnogim stvarima ja sam daleko o toga da budem model.“
Kao mladi čoek u njegovoj rodnoj Crnoj Gori, Tesla je bio poznat po neobičnoj tjelesnoj snazi. U rvanju je savladavao svoje drugove i to uz malo truda. Čak i sada, uprkos zanemarivanju svojih mišića, on je čoek izuzetnog rasta i fizičke sile.
Teslina porodica
Dok je konobar donosio poručena pića primijetio sam tečnost u tome kako g. Tesla govori francuski jezik i pitao sam ga koliko jezika zna.
„Ne mnogo“ – rekao je „šest ili sedam ili osam, ali moj otac je bio veliki lingvista, govorio je osamnaest jezika, osim toga bio je izvanredan matematičar."
Pitao sam g. Teslu o članovima njegove porodice koji su živi. Rekao mi je da ima tri sestre u Srbiji prema kojima ima najdublju naklonost. One su udate prema običaju u zemlji, od 16 ili 17 godina, što je smatrao velikom greškom.
„Imate prave ideje“ – rekao je „o tome u Americi. Kada se đevojke udaju u ranim godinama one su sa 35 godina stare žene.“
„Da li vaše sestre znaju za vaš veliki uspjeh koji ste napravili u ovoj zemlji i za čast koja vam je dodijeljena?“ pitao sam.
„Da“ – rekao je Tesla „one znaju i obožavaju me, čine toliko odonog što sam uradio, ali ne razumiju to. Dao bih sve da su ovđe sa mnom, ali one ne žele da napuste svoju zemlju. One ne mogu živjeti daleko od nje.“
Njegovo đečaštvo
Ista ona svjetlost zračila je u Teslinim očima kada je pričao o njegovom dalekom domu i odjednom je počeo govoriti tiše, pričajući o njegovom đetinjstvu u Crnoj Gori. Bio sam veoma impresioniran kako je govorio, dok je bio student na univerzitetu, skoro da je umro od azijske kolere.
„U to vrijeme“ – rekao je“ ta bolest je uništila čitava sela. "U malom gradu đe je živjela moja porodica, sa populacijom od 2000 ljudi, 123 ih je umrlo u jednom danu. Otac mi je poslao poruku da ne dolazim kući, ali nijesam obratio pažnju na njegovo upozorenje. Pošao sam tamo pješke. Dok sam prolazio kroz malo mjesto nedaleko od mog doma sreo sam đevojku sjajnih očiju koja mi je ponudila posudu u kojoj bio ovčji krem, koji smo smatrali velikim delikatesom. Pijući to mislim da sam unio uzročnike bolesti, poslije nekoliko sati, kada sam skoro stigao kući, dobio sam grčeve u stomaku i od bola pao na pod. Bio sam modar i mnogo sam se mučio i patio. Čudo da sam preživio, jer u tim zemljama veoma malo je načina da se pomogne i olakša ljudima koji boluju od kolera. Devet mjeseci sam bio nesposoban, ali konačno sam ojačao i bio bolje. Bio sam blizu smrti baš kao i danas. Ne volim pomisao na smrt. Teško je tako brzo odustati od nečijeg rada.“
Pogled o budućem životu
„A budući život?“ pitao sam.
„E, to je druga priča. Neki put ću vam reći svoje mišljenje o budućem životu, ali da li znate da je moguće napraviti prihvatljivu demonstracju svog budućeg postojanja i uma pomoću laboratorijskih eksperimenata?“
„Stvarno?“ - upitah.
„Da, i to počiva na studiji ćelijskih organizama, poenta je u tome da svaka osnovna ćelija koja je nekada ušla u određenu kombinaciju, kažu predstavlja vas ili mene ili neku drugu individuu, bazira se na činjenici, izgleda pokazuje i čuva tendenciju same grupe ili sjedinjavanje u svakom budućem vremenu sa drugim ćelijama, koje su sa njom povezane ranije.Tako da sve se svodi na pitanje vjerovatnoće. Ako bi postojala određena formula za svakog pojedinca, jedna za vas, jedna za mene, jedna za svako drugo tijelo. Ako se atomi koji sačinjavaju tu formulu, rasuti na tvoju ili moju smrt, ikada nađu zajedno ili u blizini jedan drugog u beskrajnom prostoru, kada bi jurili kao prije i prema konstanti zakona uzroka i posljedice isti rezultat će pratiti njihov ponovni susret kao i ranije i vi ili ja moramo živjeti ponovo. I tako u beskonačnost godina mogli bismo živjeti opet mnogo puta. Ovo je samo da vam dam ideju o ogromnoj zanimljivoj temi za spekulacije koje ću rado dati da preuzmete neki drugi put.“
I tako smo rekli laku noć.
CLEVELAND MOFFETT
(Napomena: Prijevod nije uradio profesionalni prevodilac)
CHAT WITH TESLA
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Some Experiences in Handling the Electric Fluid.
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RELATION OF WORK TO SLEEP
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Marriage, in His Opinion, is Not for an Inventor.
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AS TO THE FUTURE LTFE
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One knight at about 11 o'clock I found Mr. Tesla in the cafe, seated at his usual table, looking tired and haggard. He greeted me with the kindly smile and strong grasp of the hand that are natural to him, but I saw by the pallor of his face his face and the troubled look In his dark eyes that something had gone wrong.
"I am afraid," he said, "you won't find me a pleasant companion tonight. The fact is, I was almost killed today."
This he said in quite a matter-of-fact tone, which did not prevent me from showing the concern I felt.
Yes," he continued, "I got a shock of about three and a half million volts from one of my machines. The spark jumped three feet through the air and struck me here on the right shoulder. I tell you it made me feel dizzy. If my assistant had not turned off the current instantly it might have been the end of me. As it was, I have to show for it a queer mark on my light breast, where the current struck in, and a burned heel In one of my socks, where it left my body. Of course, the volume of current was exceedingly small, otherwise it must have been fatal. You know volts is no joke, however small the volume."
A great difficulty, and at the same time a delight, in talking with Tesla, is the utter inability one feels to understand what he is saying, or lift one's self to the plane on which he is thinking. What ordinary person could graple with the idea of 3.500,000 volts or the electric contrivances necessary to produce it! I knew perfectly well that 20.000 volts is the potential considered absolutely fatal in the current used for execution, and yet here was a man, perhaps the greatest electrician of his time, calmly describing his sensations in receiving the shock of a current more than 150 times as strong. It was plainly hopeless to attempt any understanding ot this anomaly, so I asked about something easier.
"I should have thought the spark from such a current would have jumped farther than three feet," I ventured.
"So it would if И had wanted it to. I have frequently hail sparks from my high-tension machines jump the width or length of my laboratory, say thirty or forty feet. Indeed, there is no limit to their length, although you can't see them except for the first yard or so, the flash is so quick. It is just like lightning. The fact is, there would be no particular difficulty in imitating lightning with sparks, say a mile long, if any one chose to pay for the necessary apparatus. Yes. I am quite sure I could make a spark a mile long, and I don't know that it would cost so much, either."
I asked Mr. Tesla If he had had many accidents with electricity during all the years he has been experimenting with it. "No", he said; "I have had very few accidents. I don't suppose I average more than one in a year, and no one has ever been killed by one of my machines. I allways build my apparatus so that whatever happens it cannot kill any one. The burnning of my laboratory two years ago wasthe most serious accident I have ever had. No one knows what I lost by that."
Joys and Sorrows of the Inventor
He shook his head and passed his large hand ficross his brow in regretful reminiscence.
"You see", he went on, "that is one of the sad things in an inventor's life. So many ideas go chasing through his brain that he can only seize a few of them as they fly, and of these he can only find the time and strength to bring a few to perfection. And it happens many times that another inventor who has conceived the same ideas anticipates him in carrying out one of them. Ah, I tell you, that makes a fellow's heart ache. When my laboratory was burned there was destroyed with it apparatus I had devised for liquifying air by a new methed; I was on the eve of success, and in the months of delay that ensued a German scientist solved the problem, just as I was about to solve It, and left me only the memory of what I might have done. I was so blue and discouruged in those days that I don't believe I could have borne up but for the regular electric treatment which I administered to myself. You see, electricity puts into the tired body just what it most needs - life force, nerve force. It's a great doctor, I can tell you, perhaps the greatest of all doctors."
I asked Mr. Tesla If he often fell Into these periods of depression.
"Perhaps not often, but now and then. Every man of artistic temperament has relapses from the great enthusiasms that buoy him up and sweep him forward. In the main my life is very happy, happier than any life I can conceive of. When I was a student I have known what it is to sit at the gaming table forty-eight hours at a stretch. I thought that an intense emotion, the fascination of play, and I believe many people regard it as the strongest emotion, but I can tell you that for many years all the allurements of the game would have seemed tame and insipid to me compared with the tremendous, overmastering excitement of my life in the laboratory. I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by tho inventor as he sees some creation of his brain unfolding to success, as he watches some crucial experiment prove that through months of waiting and hoping he has been in the right. Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, sickness, friends, love, everything."
What a gentle, tender light there was in this man's eyes as he spoke thus, and yet there was something of sternness, too, allmost fierceness, as If he had flung away with scorn all the world's cherished prizes from devotion to these creatures of his brain. Here was a man who rejoiced in the loneliness of his laboratory, who had strayed so high up into urtraveled realms of knowledge that there were few, perhaps none, to share with him in full the delight of his discoveries. So far had he strayed from the beaten ways of men that he seemed almost to belong - to another race.
Inventors Should not Marry
"Do you believe in marriage, Mr. Tesla, for persons of artistic temperament?" I asked.
"For an artist, yes; for a musician, yes; for a writer, yes, but for an Inventor, no. The first three must gain inspiration from a woman's influence and be led by her love to tiner achievement, but an inventor has so intense a nature with so much in it of wild, passionate quality, that in giving himself to a woman be might love, he would give everything, and so take everything from his chosen field. I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men." He paused a moment and then added, with a shade of pathos in his tone: "it's a pity, too, for sometimes we feel so lonely."
The amount of work Mr. Tesla does in a day, does every day, is simply prodigious. It is literally true that his life is passed in continuous labor in the laboratory with occasional intervals for food and sleep, and after working all day long from 8 o'clock In the morning till 8 o'clock at night, he often has his dinner brought to the laboratory and continues to work until 11 or 12. Twice in the last two years he has been to a theater. On very, very rare occasions when ne could not avoid it, he has heeded some social call and enjoyed it, too, as he admits, although the thought of going to a reception or evening gathering fills him with dismay In advance. One of his few relaxations is the half hour he spends every evening at the cafe, where we met, exchanging a pleasant word with friends he finds there.
"What do you think about sleep?" I asked his. "Is it wise for a man to deny himself and get along with a few hours' sleep a day so as to do more work?"
Tesla shook his head. "That is a great mistake, I am convinced. A man is given just so many hours to be awake, and fewer of these he uses up each day, the more days it will take to use them up, that is, the longer he will live. I believe that a man might live 200 years if he vould sleep most of the time. That is why
negroes often live to advanced old age, because they sleep so much. Do vou know that Gladstone sleeps seventeen hours every day; that is why his faculties are stil unimpaired in spite of his great age. The proper way to economize life is "to sleep every moment that it is not necessarv or desirable that you should be awake Do I do It myself? No, but here, as in many other things, I am far from being a model.
As a young man in his native land of Montenegro, Tesla was famous for unusual bodily strength, overcoming all his comrades with little effort in wrestling bouts and feats of prowess. Even now, despite the neglect of his muscles, he is a man of remarkable stature - and physical force.
The Tesla Familly
As the waiter was bringing some things that had been ordered I remarked the fluency with which Mr. Tesla spoke French and asked him how many languages he knew.
Not very many," he said, "six, or seven, or eight: but my father was a great linguist; he spoke eighteen languages, Besides that, he was a remarkable mathematician."
I asked Mr. Tesla about the members of his family still living, anl he told me that he had three sisters In Servia, for whom he has the most profound affection. They were all married, acording to the custom of the country, at the early age oi sixteen, which, or seventeen, which, he thinks, a great mistake.
"You have the right ideas," he said, "about that in America. When girls marry at such an early age they are old women at thirty-five."
"Do your sisters know," I asked, "of the great success you have made in tnis country and the honors that have come to you?"
"Yes," said Tesla, "they know, and they worship me; they make so much of what I have done because they do not understand it. I would give anything to have them here with me, but they would not leave their country. They could not live away from It."
His Boyhood days
The same tender light beamed Into Tesla's eyes as he spoke of his far-away home, and presently he began to speak in a lower tone, telling of his boyhood days in Montenegro. I was most impressed by his telling how, while a student at the university, he nearly died with an attack of Asiatic cholera.
"In that year", he said, "the scourge was wiping out whole villages. In the little town where my family lived, with a population of only about 2000 as many as 123 died In a single day. My father sent me a message not to come home, but, heedless of his warning. I started and made the journey on foot. As I passed through a little place not far from my destination a bright-eyed girl who was fond of me brought me a bowl filled with sheep's cream, which we regarded as a great delicacy. In drinking this I think I absorbed the germs of the diseise, for a few hours later, when I had scarcely reached my home, I was writhing on the floor in the first tortures of the plague. Then I turned livid and blue, and the tortures I suffered are beyond description. It is a miracle that I lived, for in those countries there is little relief for sufferers of cholera. For nine months I was an invalid, but I finaly got strong and well. I passed close to death that time, Just as I did today. I don't like the thought of death. It seems hard to give up one's work so soon."
Views about the future life
"And the future life?" I ventured.
"Ah, that Is another story. Some time I will tell you my views about the future life; but do you know this, that it is possible to make a plausible demonstration of your future existence and mine by laboratory experiments?"
"Really?" I said.
"Yes; It rests on a study of cellular organisms, the point being that each elementary cell which has ever entered into a certain combination, say to represent you or me or any other individual, has the consciousness of that fact, as seems to be shown, and preserves the tendency to group itself or reunite itself at any future time with the other cells, which have associated with it previously. So it all come down to the question of probability. There if, a certain formula for each individual, one for you, one for me, one for every body else. If the atoms that compose that formula, dissipated at your death or mine, ever again in infinite time find themselves together or near one another, when they would rush together as before and according to the unvarying law of cause and effect, the same result will follow their reunion as followed it before, and you or I must live again. And so in an infinity of ages we might live again many times.
That is just to give you a faint idea of a vast and interesting subject for speculation, which I shall be glad to take up some other time."
And so we said good-night.
CLEVELAND MOFFETT
Priredio: Miroslav ĆOSOVIĆ
