A ride through cosmic history

Note: The universe of Star Maker is the same as that of Last and First Men, which I wrote about in a previous post

Star Maker is one of the most wildly imaginative science-fiction books I've read, which is impressive, considering it was published almost a century ago. It gives free rein to evolutionary speculation and delivers entire worlds of fantastic alien creatures. It features interstellar travel that sounds just like every faster-than-light jump from every space epic in modern cinema, with stars becoming rods of light and everything. These elements are not really what the story is about, though. At its core, Star Maker is about the evolution of the human spirit, and its yearning for its creator.

Spoilers from this point on!

The beginning

The narrative starts on an English field, where the narrator contemplates his own little life compared to the immensity of the cosmos, and wonders what it's all for. He looks at a star, and a strange feeling of awe and worship grips him.

Yet what, what could thus be signified? Intellect, peering beyond the star, discovered no Star Maker, but only darkness; no Love, no Power even, but only Nothing. And yet the heart praised.

The narrator is then lifted as a disembodied mind into outer space. What follows is an account of the many planets with human-like species the narrator visits, and how he recruits minds from each planet, who join him in a quest to aggregate as much vital experience as they can, to integrate into an ever-growing group mind. It becomes that the reason they are doing this is to grow enough, spiritually and mentally, to come face-to-face with the Star Maker.

Spiritual crisis!

The first Earth-like world that the narrator visits finds itself facing problems almost identical to the ones that society was facing in the early 20th century. By almost identical, I mean that aside from their biological differences, the society of this Other Earth is a copy of ours in the early 20th century, complete with Jews and pogroms.

In past times the bitter-sweet race had earned a reputation of cunning and self-seeking, and had been periodically massacred by its less intelligent neighbors.

Industrialism was at odds with humanity's well-being, workers were exploited by an insatiable class of capitalists, despots were rising to power, etc.

The reason why the narrator lands on this particular planet first, as he later realizes, is because of this similarity of social unease. He was drawn to a world at a similar stage of social and spiritual progress.

Are we the Other Men?

At this point the book makes me wonder whether humanity has a chance of overcoming the societal evils it faces. Tough I suspect every age may see itself reflected in the first pages of this book, that is all the more reason to think we are inescapably trapped in the cycle of growth and decay the narrator describes. The Other Men (so the narrator dubs them) are similar to us in every aspect. They share our proclivities and vices, the descriptions of which seem almost prophetic of our modern era.

The radio

The Other Men indulged in fantasies transmitted to them via radio waves, and eventually the technology was developed to immerse the listener in a complete sensory environment to supplant reality. There was talk of achieving a state where every task necessary for sustenance would be automated, and every individual would be free to live out an ideal life without ever disconnecting from his radio receiver.

Although the author's imagination is molded by the technology of his time, it doesn't require an absurd leap to think this scenario is what we could be heading towards with the Internet. Technology seems to be heading in a direction that will ultimately isolate us, with less and less of our daily lives requiring interaction with others. Meta's metaverse, where people would work and play with digital assets in their homes, comes to mind. There's no cashier at the fast food joint or the grocery store anymore, your food is drone-delivered, etc.

The radio denouncers

A compounding problem faced by the Other Men was the appearance of cults that denounced the technology that would submerge the world in idiot quiescence, which in theory was a good intention. However, these cults went on to denounce science entirely, and espouse a barbarian ideal. The unscientific man became desirable, and countries where this became mainstream were soon thrown into disarray, as technological progress and understanding stagnated and regressed.

We can draw some paralells to our current time. Social media has amplified the voices of climate change deniers, flat-earthers, conspiracy theorists, etc. Men idolize influencers who appeal to their stunted and repressed masculinity, and pressure them to prove themselves in ways that are ultimately detrimental to them.

The society of the Other Men is appreciably sick, and it's damning that so many paralells could be drawn between us and them, even after leaving the crises of our 20th century behind.They seem to be going in one of two directions: on the one hand, abandonment of reality for a Matrix-like existence; on the other, enshrinement of barbarity and eventual decay into inhumanity.

The crisis repeats itself

Before our narrator moves on, it is hinted that the Other Men have reached this crisis of the spirit many times before, but that this may be the last, as the atmosphere is slowly escaping the planet (which is a phenomenon the author imagines as common throughout the book), and the next generations will be starved of oxygen and die.

This makes me wonder if we will share a similar fate (although I don't think atmospheric depletion is something we have to worry about.). Has the polarization caused by social media ushered in an age of spiritual decay? Will subsequent generations be tasked with lifting us once again from ignorance? Will we oscillate between barbarity and civilization until we run out of the means to do so?

Redemption and advancement of the Human Spirit

Some civilizations, a handful out of thousands, manage to reach this spiritual crisis and push through. On the other side of it lies planetary government, followed by telepathic communion. The telepathically united world turns its attention to other planets, until interstellar travel is achieved. Little by little, entire sectors of a galaxy come together. This process is not without its pitfalls, however. Some civilizations are overcome by a fever of conquest, and galactic conflict ensues, only to be curbed by the action of more highly evolved species.

Eventually a galactic telepathic hive mind is achieved, which seeks to incorporate within itself other spiritually awakened galaxies, until at the zenith of spiritual development, the cosmos itself has one mind, and it is this awakened cosmos that finally comes face-to-face with the Star Maker.

In this supreme moment, intense joy is followed by the harrowing realization that the cosmos is one in an innumerable series of creations, and is in fact neither near the beginning nor the end of the series. Our universe is more refined than the Star Maker's first experiments, but it is also infinitely less complex than subsequent creations. Furthermore, the cosmic mind is apalled at the cruelty in the Star Maker, who in many of his works deliberately sets his creations up for torment. It is shocked to find that more spiritually refined universes harbored beings that suffered more keenly than we can understand.

I caught echoes not merely of joys unspeakable, but of griefs inconsolable. For some of these ultimate beings not only suffered, but suffered in darkness. Though gifted with full power of insight, their power was barren. The vision was withheld from them. They suffered as lesser spirits would never suffer.

In the end (which is not really the end, since the Star Maker ultimately lives outside our experience of time) the perfect cosmos awakens and looks at its creator, and the Star Maker is satisfied with his work.

Last thoughts

This was a great read, and a great follow-up to Last and First Men. The theme that most appeals to me is the concept of worship even through tragedy and despair. When the awakened cosmos sees that there is nothing particularly special about it in relation to all the other universes, when faced with the Star Maker's delight in the suffering of its creatures, it recoils in horror. And yet it is moved to worship!

This is seen all through the book, from the Other Men doomed to strife, to more awakened species who accept their demise with angelic grace. Whatever the Star Maker designs is good.

Oh, Star Maker, even if you destroy me, I must praise you. Even if you torture my dearest. Even if you torment and waste all your lovely worlds, the little figments of your imagination, yet I must praise you. For if you do so, it must be right. In me it would be wrong, but in you it must be right.