Ishmael: Paradigms of Yesterday"Come with me if you want to live", was all Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and after reading the masterpiece by Daniel Quinn Ishmael, one might get the impression that Quinn is echoing such sentiments. Few books have as much relevance in this ever-changing, technological world as Ishmael. In the beginning, according to Ishmael, God created man to live peacefully on Earth, supported by the Earth's fruitful gifts and subject to God's control. That is, until Man ate of the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of God. 'Eden, and conveniently forgot all the rules that God had so kindly placed in front of him. From that moment on the Caucasian race, full of vanity and pride at having seen so clearly what was good on Earth and what was not, decided to submit the Earth to its will. During this turn of events, totalitarian agriculture was born. And God shook his head. Fortunately, there are creatures on Earth still willing to teach Man his roots and, at the same time, save him from his self-destructive impulses. Enter Ishmael, a gorilla with a conscience. Yes, a gorilla. Trapped and controlled by the man, Ishmael developed a self-awareness of his situation and that of the man. Realizing that his destiny is intertwined with that of man, he decides to save man from himself. Placing an advert in the newspapers, Ishmael finds a willing if disillusioned student and presents a course of education that will ensure the salvation of the world. It makes you wonder if the sign in Ishmael's office is true: "Without gorillas, will man survive?" ...... middle of paper ......If you do this, you end up fragmenting the entire food chain. Ecologically, the Taker lifestyle was doomed from the start. However, the reader feels a sense of pleasure when Quinn points out that many of the primitive societies have a great deal of wisdom that they can teach the world about how to live in a self-sustaining society. Of course, new ideas will mean that yesterday's paradigms will have to be abandoned. However, if innovative solutions to today's ecological problems could be found and the wisdom of the centuries were preserved, man would have the possibility of not committing cultural suicide. In attempting to control all life on the planet, man has exceeded his limits. Ultimately, man must realize that he is interconnected to all life on Earth. Consider for a moment the back of Ishmael's office sign. "Without humans, gorillas will survive?"