Colour and the Human Races
GA 349
3 March 1923, Dornach
II. Color and the Human Races
[ 1 ] Now, Gentlemen, I have not yet fully answered the last question about colors. We will take it a little further or complete it.
[ 2 ] First of all, today we have to consider a most interesting question, namely, the human color itself. You know, of course, that over the face of the earth are people showing skins differing in color. The Europeans to whom we belong are called the “White Race.” Well, we know indeed that a man in Europe is not quite healthy when he is cheese-white. He is healthy when he shows his natural, fresh color, created by himself inwardly, through the white.
[ 3 ] But now besides this European coloring we have four other principal colors of the skin. We will consider this a little today because one actually understands the whole of history and the whole social life, even modern social life, only if one can turn to the race-characteristics of humanity [see drawings]. Only then can one rightly understand the spiritual element if one first studies how the spirit works in man precisely through the skin-color.
[ 4 ] I should now like to put the racial color before you in this way. Let us start from Europe where we ourselves are living. Here we have therefore—I can draw it for you only roughly—first Europe; bordering on Europe: Asia, England, Ireland; here Japan, China; further India, India proper, Arabia; here we have Africa. Thus: Europe, Asia, Africa [see scheme at end].
Now we will sketch in the men as they are in the corresponding regions. We call ourselves in Europe the white race. If we go over to Asia we have the yellow race, principally in Asia. And when we go over to Africa there we have the black race. Those are the original races. All others living in these regions are the consequence of migration.
So if we ask: What races belong to these parts of the earth?—Then we must say: To Asia belongs the yellow race, the Mongolian; to Europe belongs the white race or the Caucasian race, and to Africa belongs the black or Negro race. The Negro race does not belong to Europe and it is naturally only mischievous that it now plays so great a role in Europe. These races are, as it were, at home in these three parts of the earth.
[ 5 ] Now we will consider the color of these three races. I have already told you that color has to do with light. When one sees the black of universal space through the illumined universe, then it appears blue. When one sees light, illumination through the dark air, it appears reddish, as in the glow of morning and evening.
[ 6 ] Let us just simply consider colors on ordinary objects. You first distinguish—let us say—black and white. These are the most striking colors, black and white. What is the position then with a black body? A black body assimilates in itself all the light that falls upon it and mirrors back none at all.
So if you have a black body, it takes the light that falls on it, absorbs everything into itself, and gives none back. It therefore appears black because it reflects no light.
When you have a white body it says: I do not need the light, I will only use what is in myself, I send all the light back. It is therefore white.
Thus a white body sends back all light and we see its surface light, white. A dark body absorbs all the light and also all the warmth and throws back no light, no warmth at all, and therefore appears black.
[ 7 ] You can study that more closely if you consider the following. Suppose there is some object on the earth which takes up all light. In the first place it gives back a little light and so appears bright. But it allows itself time and takes up the most light possible. When it can take up no more and one brings it into the light, then it appears black.
[ 8 ] Now, suppose there is a tree. It stands at first on the earth's surface and takes up a certain amount of light. But it absorbs a good deal of both light and warmth. That goes on until the time when it falls below the earth. When, for a length of time,—but that means thousands or millions of years—it has remained beneath the earth, what does it become? Black coal. It becomes black because it took up light and warmth into itself when it was a tree. It does not give that out unless we destroy it. If we burn it then it yields it, but if we only bring it into the air for a time it keeps it. It has taken up so much light and warmth that it gives nothing out—we must destroy it. That is the condition of coal.
[ 9 ] Let us suppose that the object does not take up further light, it sends all back again, then something of such a nature will be white. That is the snow in winter. It reflects all light, it takes up no light and no warmth and thus becomes white. You see by this difference between coal and snow the relation that exists between objects on earth and universal space.
[ 10 ] Let us apply that to man in universal space. Let us look just at the blacks in Africa. These blacks in Africa have the characteristic of absorbing from the universe all light and all warmth. They take it up. Now this light and this warmth in the universe cannot go through the whole body because a human being is always a human being even if he is a black one. It does not go through the whole body but stops short on the surface of the skin, and therefore the skin itself becomes black.
Thus a black man in Africa is one who absorbs the most possible warmth and light from the universe and assimilates it in himself. Through the fact that he does this the forces of the cosmos work over the whole man like this [see drawing]. He takes up light and warmth everywhere and uses it in himself. Now there must be something which helps him in this assimilation.
Well, you see, what helps him in particular is his posterior brain. In the Negro the posterior brain is specially developed. That goes through the spinal cord and can work over all the light and warmth that is in him.
Hence alt that is connected with the body and metabolism is strongly developed in the Negro. He has, as one says, a strong desire-life, instinctive life [see drawing]. And since he actually has the sun-like, light and warmth, on the surface of his skin, his whole metabolism proceeds as if there were a cooking by the sun itself in his interior. Hence comes his desire-life. There is really a continuous cooking going on within him, and what stokes the fire is the posterior brain.
[ 11 ] Sometimes man's organization throws off further byproducts. That is to be seen just in the Negro. The Negro not only has this cooking in his organism, it not only boils there, but he also has a frightfully crafty and observant eye. He peers craftily and very observantly. You can easily take this as a contradiction. But it is like this: If there in front is the nerve of the eye [see drawing], the nerves go just into the posterior brain; they cross there [see drawing]. The nerve goes into the posterior brain, and since that is specially developed in the Negro therefore he peeps out so craftily, is such a sly observer of the world. [ 12 ] If one begins to understand the matter, it all becomes clear. But modern science does not make such studies as we do and so it knows nothing about these things.
[ 13 ] Let us now pass over from the black to the yellow man. Yellow is already related to the red, and so light is reflected to some extent but much is absorbed. However, the yellow man throws back more light than a black. The black man is an egoist, he takes up all light and all warmth. The yellow Mongolian gives indeed some light back, but he absorbs a great deal. That makes him what he is [see drawing]. Thus he takes up much light but gives some back. He contents himself with less. This less amount of light cannot work in the whole metabolism, and so the metabolism must be referred to its own force. That works chiefly in the breathing and blood-circulation.
Thus in the yellow race—Japanese, Chinese—the light and warmth work principally in breathing and blood-circulation. If you have ever met a Japanese, you will have noticed how he pays attention to his breathing. When he talks to you he keeps himself under restraint so that his breathing may be in good order. He has a certain feeling of well-being in breathing.
This means that less is worked over in his interior, it is principally worked upon in the breast [see drawing]. This causes the yellow man to develop strongly, not the posterior brain, but the middle brain. It is there that his breath and blood-circulation are maintained. The yellow Asiatic lives rather less in the metabolism.
You can notice that too by his walking. He has a less energetic walk. He does not work so strongly with the limbs and the metabolism. The Negro is more to the fore in racing and outer movement that is governed by desires. The Asiatic, yellow man, develops more an inner dream life and therefore the whole Asiatic civilization has this dreamer-element.
Thus he is not only living more in himself; he absorbs something from the universe. And so it comes about that the Asians have such wonderful poems about the whole universe. The Negro has not got this quality. He takes everything into his metabolism and really he only digests the universe.
The Asiatic breathes it into himself, has it in his blood-circulation. And so he can also give it out from himself when awake. For speech is in fact only a metamorphosed breathing. Yes. Gentlemen, they are beautiful, wonderful poems. The Asians are altogether an inward people. They scorn the European today because they say: They are external people. We shall see why immediately. That then is the yellow race [see drawing] and it is connected with color in the way I have told you.
[ 14 ] Now let us look at ourselves in Europe. We are a white race in regard to the universe, for we must give back all external light. We give back all light and. in fact, all warmth too. The warmth has to be very powerful if we want to take it into us. And when it is not there we are stunted, as we see by the Eskimos. There is the human being [see drawing] of such a nature that he throws back all light and warmth. He absorbs them only when they become powerful. He throws them back and develops only the light and warmth that arise in his inner being through his own inner activity.
Yes, neither breathing nor blood-circulation comes to help him, nor the creation of warmth; but he must himself work out light and warmth through his brain, that is, through his head. We actually throw back all external light and warmth. We ourselves must give the color to our blood. That then presses through the white and so we obtain the human color of the Europeans. It is from within.
And so indeed we are such a white body as assimilates everything within and throws back all light and warmth.
And whereas the Mongolian mainly needs the middle brain, we Europeans use the frontal brain, the anterior brain. Through this fact the following is shown. The man with the posterior brain has mainly the desire-life, life of instinct: the one here with the middle brain has the feeling life, situated in the breast; and we Europeans, we poor Europeans, have the thought-life that sits in the head. Thereby, as it were, we do not feel our inner man at all. For we feel the head only when it is ill. Otherwise we do not feel it.
But this makes us aware of the whole outer world and we easily become materialists. The Negro becomes no materialist, he remains man inwardly, only he develops the inner desire-life. Nor does the Asiatic become materialist, he remains at the feeling-life, he does not bother about external life as the European does. Of the latter he says: He is only an engineer, concerning himself only with outer life.—He is, in fact, since he must develop his frontal brain, assigned to the outer world, and everything is connected with that.
[ 15 ] Thus we are the white race, inwardly the white is colored through our blood. Then there is the Mongolian, the yellow race; and then there is the black race. And we can understand that quite well when we start from the colors—then the whole thing is explained.
[ 16 ] Now you only need to consider how that is. The Negroes live on a part of the earth where the sun oppresses them very much indeed, penetrates into them. So they give themselves up to it, absorb it fully into their bodies, become friendly with it, reject nothing.
With the Asians—more comes to them from the heat of the earth. They do not give so much back. They are no longer so friendly with the sun.
And with the Europeans—here the fact is that they would actually obtain nothing from the sun if they did not evolve their own human element. Europe has therefore always been the starting point for all that develops the human element in connection with the outside world.
Inventions have very seldom been made in Asia. They can be assimilated, but inventions themselves, by which the Asians can apply what is produced through practical experience with the outer world—these the Asians cannot make.
[ 17 ] For instance, this is what once happened with a screw-steamer. Some Japanese had learnt about it through stealthily watching Europeans, and they also wanted to manage it alone. Previously the Europeans had always been in charge and directed things. Now the Japanese wanted to manage the steamer alone. The English remained behind on the shore. Suddenly the Japanese who were on board fell into evident despair, for the steamer continually revolved round itself. They could not make out how to bring the proper forward motion to the revolving movement. The Europeans who knew how to do it naturally grinned tremendously on the shore. This independent thought which the European develops in familiarity with the environment is not possessed by the Asiatic peoples. The Japanese will therefore develop all European inventions, but they will not think out something by themselves.
As regards the human race, men all over the earth are actually dependent on one another. They must help each other. That is a consequence of their natural ability. [ 18 ] That is connected, you see, with the whole of man's development. Think for a moment of a black man; his desire-life is especially evolved, all that boils in the interior. This gives much ash, and the ash is deposited in the bones. He is therefore more developed in his bones than a man of the white race. The latter rather directs to the blood what he has inwardly and his bones are more finely developed. Thus the Negro has coarsely developed bones, the European has more finely developed bones. And the Asiatics, the yellow race, stand in between.
[ 19 ] You can observe by the manner in which a Japanese stands and walks that in his bone-structure he stands between the European and the African. The Africans have these strong bones continuously in movement. The European has more the blood system. The Japanese has all that acts on the breathing and from the breath on the blood-circulation.
[ 20 ] But now, Gentlemen, men on earth do not simply remain where they are. If one were to go back into ancient times, one would already find that the yellow race belonged to Asia, the white race to Europe and the black race to Africa. But it has also always happened that people have wandered out. And it can happen that either the yellow wander to the East or the blacks wander to the West. And that was once done. The yellow have always wandered eastwards. There they have come to those islands which lie between Asia and Australia [see scheme]. When the yellow wander over to the East they become brown. There arose the Malayans who became brown. Why?
Yes, why do they become brown? What does it mean to become brown? Well, when they are yellow they throw back a definite degree of light; the rest they absorb. When they become brown through the different way in which they now live in the sun—for they come from another part of the earth—then they throw back, reflect, less light. They take more light into themselves. So these brown Malayans are migrated Mongolians, but who now, since the sun works on them differently, accustom themselves to absorb more light and more warmth.
But consider how they have not the nature tor this. They have already accustomed themselves to have a bony structure which limits them to a definite degree of warmth. They have not the right nature for taking up so much warmth as they now take up as Malayans.
The result of this is that they begin to become unusable people, people who break to pieces in the body, whose body dies away. This is in fact the case with the Malayan population. They die of the sun. They die of the Fast. One can say that whereas the yellow, the Mongolians, are still men in full strength, the Malayans are already a dying race. They are dying out.
[ 21 ] In ancient times the Negroes wandered over to the West—today circumstances are different, they can do it less—but they wandered westwards in ancient times; there had always been a ship passage, and there were still islands over the whole Atlantic Ocean, for earlier this was in fact a continent. Now when the blacks wandered west they could no longer absorb so much light and warmth as in their native Africa. Less light and warmth reaches them. What is the result? Their nature is organized to take up as much as possible of light and warmth and actually in that way to become black. Now they do not get as much light and warmth as they need in order to become black. So they become copper-red, become Indians. That comes from the fact that they are obliged to reflect something of light and warmth. That gleams a copper-red. Copper is itself a body which must reflect a little light and warmth.
They cannot hold out against this and so die in the West as Indians. They are again a race that is going under, they die from their own nature which gets too little light and warmth. They die from the earthly, and the earthly element of their nature is their desire-life. They can no longer develop that properly, whereas they still get strong bones. Since much ash goes into their bones these Indians can no longer hold out against it. Their bones become frightfully strong, but so strong that the whole man goes to pieces by reason of his bones.
[ 22 ] You see, this is how things have developed, so that these five races have come about. One might say: Black, yellow, white in the center: as a side-branch of the black the copper-red, and as a side-branch of the yellow the brown: those are always the dying-out parts.
[ 23 ] The whites are actually those who evolve the human element and so they are assigned to themselves. When they migrate they somewhat take on the characteristics of the other regions, yet they do not go to pieces as a race, but rather as individuals. But instead they do something else altogether.
You see, all that I have been describing to you are things that go on in man's body, and the soul and spirit are more independent of it. And so soul and spirit can be most active in the European, since they make most claim on him. He can more easily bear going into different parts of the earth.
Hence it also once came about that starting from up above there [see scheme] a great migration of people went over as far as India. A stream of white people struck into a region where the population was yellow. Thus arose the Hindus, a mixture of Mongolian and Caucasian. Hence came the very beautiful Indian poetry, the most beautiful in existence. But again at the same time something of which one notes that it has already become inert, because the white element is not in its own territory.
[ 24 ] And so one can say that the white man can go everywhere, today even lo America—and all the white inhabitants of America have come from Europe. The white element therefore comes into American regions, but something happens to man when he comes to America from the Europe for which he is naturally constituted. It means that some demand must be made on the posterior brain. As European in Europe he has made demands chiefly on his frontal brain. Now in America there flourish those people who were once actually decadent Negroes—that is to say, they do not flourish, they are going to pieces—the Red Indians. When one comes there a conflict always arises in the head between the anterior and the posterior brain.
It is found that if a family moves to America and settles there, then the descendants have the peculiarity of acquiring somewhat longer arms. The arms and legs grow rather more when the European settles in America—not in himself, of course, but in his descendants. That comes from the fact that things move over through the middle brain to the posterior brain when as European one comes to America.
[ 25 ] But at the same time something very peculiar comes about in the American. Now the European lives entirely in his inner being, does he not—especially if he is a thinker. If he is no thinker, he barely reflects at all, but that produces a life which is not quite filled up. But as soon as the European settles in America he no longer is such a brooder. So the following arises: When you read a European book, things are always proved. One cannot get away from the proving. One reads through a whole book, reads through 400 pages, only proofs. Even if it is a novel there is always proving. For the most part, nothing is proved at the end on the 400th page.
The American does not do that. When you read an American book everything is put forward as a statement. There again it is a going-back, nourished by the instinct. The animal proves nothing; the lion does not prove that he will devour another animal, he will devour it. If the European wants to do anything, it must first be proved. Today that is the great difference between the European and the American. Europeans prove, Americans affirm.
[ 26 ] But that is not to say that what they affirm cannot be just as true, it is even realized more through the whole man. The Americans have that in advance of the European. On the one hand they approach decadence—the American Indian is decadent—but when one begins to go to pieces one becomes clever. So the Europeans become clever when they go over: they disaccustom themselves from the proving. [ 27 ] This wanting to prove is not exactly a quality to bring one forward. If one is to do something in the morning, one can begin with proving, and at night on going to sleep one can still not do it, because one still must prove. The American will not do that, because he has not been trained at all to prove. And so it comes that America will quite certainly go ahead of Germany in some things. One can make quite interesting observations. If one takes up a European book it proves somewhat as follows—let us say it is a book about the digestive system of the cockchafer—such books are indeed written. It begins by proving: “The animal species of the cockchafer contains also digestive organs, they only withdraw from ordinary observation, one must penetrate deeper into the whole organization of the cockchafer.”—Well, so it goes on. One has to prove everything.
The American begins with: “When one dismembers a cockchafer then one finds in it that and that”—he affirms as he observes.
And so you see in the case of the Europeans: they no longer develop their racial character on behalf of their whole organization. They develop rather the qualities of soul and spirit. For this reason they can penetrate into all other parts of the world. The process of becoming decadent is naturally a slow one.
[ 28 ] The sun always sends more or less of warmth and light down to the earth. Now we have the Vernal Point in the Fishes, as I have told you. Previously it was in the Ram, Aries. After some time it will be in Aquarius: only then will the true American civilization come.
Before then civilization will go more and more over to America. One who will, can already see today how powerful the Americans are becoming and how Europe is getting increasingly impotent. And the reason why no kind of peace can now come to Europe is because Europe no longer actually understands its own land.
Now all civilization moves over to America; it will take a long time, but when the sun's vernal point has entered the Sign of Aquarius then it will send down its rays to earth just in such a favorable way that the American culture and civilization will be especially powerful. That is already to be seen today.
[ 29 ] It is very remarkable: In Europe over here what we call Anthroposophy can be developed. It must be developed out of the Spirit—that does not come at all out of racial characteristics. It must be developed out of the Spirit. And the men who are unwilling to approach the Spirit will plunge Europe into disaster.
[ 30 ] The Americans do not yet need it, especially those who travel over there. For they can still maintain themselves on racial characteristics. And so over in America, curiously enough, arises something remarkable. Anyone who reads American books really attentively, who reads parliamentary speeches, one who takes a general interest in what goes on in America today, will say to himself: Good gracious! That is very remarkable. We in Europe develop Anthroposophy out of the Spirit. Over there they develop something that is a kind of wooden doll of Anthroposophy. Everything becomes materialistic.
But for one who is not a fanatic, there is something similar in American culture to what is anthroposophical science in Europe. Only everything there is wooden, it is not yet alive. We can make it alive in Europe out of the Spirit: those over there take it out of instinct.
[ 31 ] You see, one cart notice that in all detail. The time will one day come when this American “wooden man”—which actually everyone is still—when he will begin to speak. Then he will have something to say very similar to European Anthroposophy.
One can say that we in Europe develop Anthroposophy in a spiritual way; the American develops it in a natural way. Therefore when I explain anthroposophical matters I can so often point out: Well, that is how it is anthroposophically, and that is the American caricature of it [sketch]. That is the caricature of it.
[ 32 ] But if someone is a fanatic and has come to Anthroposophy not through the inner life but through fanaticism, then he finds the very sharpest invectives for Americanism because—well, man abuses the apes chiefly—since the ape is like himself—as a caricature. And so it is really such a remarkable affair as between North and South Pole, between what we achieve spiritually in Europe and what is gained over there in America in a natural way.
[ 33 ] Books on natural science in America do not look at all as they do in Europe. They really talk continually of Spirit, but they represent it to themselves in the crudest, most material way. Hence Spiritism has also arisen in America in recent times. For what does Spiritism do? It wants to talk of the Spirit and imagines it as cloud-phenomena, would prefer everything to be like cloud-phenomena. And so Spiritism is an American product, it aims at the Spirit but in a materialistic way.
It is in fact so interesting that in America materialism simply flourishes, but actually on the way to the Spirit; while in Europe if someone becomes a materialist he dies as human being. The American is a young materialist. In fact, all children are at first materialistic, and then grow to what is not materialism. So too will the American blatant materialism sprout to a spiritual element. That will be when the sun rises in the Sign of Aquarius.
[ 34 ] Now, you see, in this way we can realize what we as Europeans have as a task. Our task as Europeans is not at all always to abuse the Americans, but naturally we must found over the whole earth a civilization which is put together from the best.
[ 35 ] If one thinks about things as the Prince of Baden does who has been taken in by the American European Wilson, then it does not do. For Wilson was not a true American. He had actually taken all his theories from Europe and therefore made things so dreadfully theoretic. But genuine Americanism will one day unite with Europeanism which will have taken a more spiritual path. When one studies something in this way one sees the attitude one should take in the world.
[ 36 ] And so it is really quite interesting: On the one hand we have the black race, which is most of all earthly. When they go westwards, they die out. We have the yellow race, which is between earth and cosmos. When they go to the East they become brown, connect too much with the cosmos, die out. The while race is the future one, is the race creating in the Spirit. When they moved over to India they developed the inward, poetical and spiritual Indian culture. When they now go to the West they will develop a spirituality which does not so much grasp man's inner being, but turns to the spirituality of the outer world.
[ 37 ] And so in the future, purely out of the racial characterization those things will emerge which one must know in life so that one takes the right stand. Men are getting less and less adjustment in life. They want indeed to have everything fall from the skies and not actually to learn.
[ 38 ] This has come about through the fact that in the last third of the 19th century nothing more of a human element was provided in education, particularly in scientific education. Knowledge of man is so difficult to present nowadays. Materialistic scholars themselves realize this, they get no farther.
It was very interesting at the last Natural Science Conference. One of these scientists had especially realized it—one does not advance, one learns nothing of the human being through science today.—But he did not go on to say: “We must develop towards Anthroposophy:” he said: “Give us corpses so that we may dismember them.”
[ 39 ] You see, that was all he could say: Give us corpses! People want to have more corpses, they want to study the dead man. That was a right catchword: Give us corpses!—Whereas we here can do without corpses, for we want to observe and study the living man. For that it is only necessary to open one's eyes and through one's eyes somewhat the soul, for one finds the living man everywhere. One meets nothing but living men. Only one must be able to live with them, so that they may make known to one what a human being is.
But the learned scholars of today have really quite weak eyes; they do not see man. And then they fervently beg “Give us corpses!” Then they can study them. Give us corpses! This was the position in educational centers in recent years, recent decades. People have taken in nothing there pertaining to man. And so knowledge of man has disappeared from all science.
[ 40 ] That is why I dealt with this question in the first chapter of my “Threefold Commonwealth.” I had to show how those who had not been occupied with science but with work had advanced and now naturally wanted science. But the others, the bourgeois, could not give them this, which they appeared to have. And thus arose the great calamity in civilization. The workers demanded science and it was not there, because only a science was there that is devoid of man.
I have shown that in the first chapter of the “Threefold Commonwealth” because that must first be understood if one talks of the social question. So that it was in fact necessary for the “Threefold Commonwealth” to begin with it in the first chapter.
[ 41 ] Now, we have dealt with colors somewhat further today.
Dritter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Guten Morgen! Nun, meine Herren, die letzte Frage über die Farben habe ich natürlich noch nicht ganz beantwortet. Wir wollen sie noch etwas weiter oder zu Ende führen.
[ 2 ] Da kommt heute für uns zunächst dasjenige in Betracht, was am meisten interessant ist, nämlich die menschliche Farbe selber. Sie wissen ja, daß über die Erde hin die Menschen verschiedene Farben zeigen. Von den Europäern, zu denen wir gehören, sagt man, sie seien die weiße Rasse. Nun, Sie wissen ja, eigentlich ist der Mensch in Europa nicht ganz gesund, wenn er käseweiß ist, sondern er ist gesund, wenn er seine naturfrische Farbe, die er im Innern selber erzeugt, durch das Weiße nach außen zeigt.
[ 3 ] Nun haben wir aber außer dieser europäischen Hautfarbe noch vier hauptsächliche andere Hautfarben. Und das wollen wir heute ein bißchen betrachten, weil man eigentlich die ganze Geschichte und das ganze soziale Leben, auch das heutige soziale Leben nur versteht, wenn man auf die Rasseneigentümlichkeiten der Menschen eingehen kann. Und dann kann man ja auch erst im richtigen Sinne alles Geistige verstehen, wenn man sich zuerst damit beschäftigt, wie dieses Geistige im Menschen gerade durch die Hautfarbe hindurch wirkt.
[ 4 ] Ich möchte Ihnen nun die Farbigkeit der Menschen in der folgenden Weise auseinandersetzen. Gehen wir aus von Europa, wo wir selber wohnen. Da haben wir also - ich kann es Ihnen nur ganz schematisch aufzeichnen — zunächst Europa (siehe Zeichnung), an Europa angrenzend Asien; England, Irland; hier Japan, China, Hinterindien, Vorderindien, Arabien; dahier haben wir dann Afrika angrenzend. Also: Europa, Asien, Afrika. Nun wollen wir da einmal die Menschen, wie sie in den betreffenden Gegenden sind, hineinzeichnen. Wir selber in Europa nennen uns die weiße Rasse. Gehen wir nach Asien hinüber, so haben wir hauptsächlich in Asien die gelbe Rasse. Und wenn wir nach Afrika hinübergehen, da haben wir die schwarze Rasse. Das sind auch die ursprünglichen Rassen. Alles andere, was sonst noch in diesen Gegenden lebt, beruht eben auf Einwanderung. Also wenn wir fragen: Was gehört zu diesen Erdteilen für eine Rasse hinzu? - so müssen wir eben doch sagen: Zu Asien gehört die gelbe Rasse, die Mongolen, die mongolische Rasse, und zu Europa gehört die weiße Rasse oder die kaukasische Rasse, und zu Afrika gehört die schwarze Rasse oder die Negerrasse. Die Negerrasse gehört nicht zu Europa, und es ist natürlich nur ein Unfug, daß sie jetzt in Europa eine so große Rolle spielt. Diese Rassen sind gewissermaßen in diesen drei Erdteilen heimisch.
[ 5 ] Nun wollen wir uns einmal mit der Farbe dieser drei Rassen beschäftigen. Ich habe Ihnen schon das letzte Mal gesagt: Die Farbe hat mit dem Licht zu tun. Wenn man durch das Beleuchtete des Weltenraumes hindurch das Schwarze des Weltenraumes sieht, so erscheint es blau. Wenn man Licht, Beleuchtetes, durch die dunkle Luft hindurch sieht, so erscheint es rötlich, wie bei der Morgen- und Abenddämmerung.
[ 6 ] Wollen wir uns einmal einfach an gewöhnlichen Gegenständen die Farben betrachten. Da unterscheiden Sie zunächst, sagen wir, Schwarz und Weiß. Das sind ja die auffälligsten Farben, Schwarz und Weiß. Wie steht es denn nun mit einem schwarzen Körper? Mit einem schwarzen Körper steht es so, daß er all das Licht, das auf ihn fällt, in sich verarbeitet und gar kein Licht zurückspiegelt. Wenn Sie also hier einen schwarzen Körper haben, so nimmt der alles Licht, das auf ihn fällt, in sich auf, und gar nichts gibt er zurück. Daher erscheint er schwarz, weil er kein Licht spiegelt. Wenn Sie einen weißen Körper haben, der sagt: Ich brauche das Licht nicht; ich will nur das verarbeiten, was in mir selber ist. Ich schicke alles Licht zurück. - Daher ist er weiß. Also ein weißer Körper, der schickt alles Licht zurück. Wir sehen daher seine Oberfläche hell, weiß. Ein schwarzer Körper nimmt alles Licht auf, und auch alle Wärme mit dem Licht, und er wirft gar kein Licht, gar keine Wärme zurück; also erscheint er schwarz, dunkel.
[ 7 ] Sehen Sie, Sie können das näher studieren, wenn Sie sich folgendes überlegen. Nehmen Sie an, hier ist ein Körper auf der Erde; der nimmt alles Licht auf. Zunächst gibt er ein bißchen Licht zurück, erscheint also hell. Aber er läßt sich Zeit und nimmt möglichst viel Licht in sich auf. Nun hat er möglichst viel Licht in sich. Wenn er nun keines mehr aufnehmen kann, und man bringt ihn ins Licht, so erscheint er schwarz.
[ 8 ] Nun nehmen Sie einen Baum an. Der steht zunächst auf der Oberfläche der Erde, nimmt etwas Licht auf, aber viel Licht verschluckt er, viel Wärme verschluckt er. Nun, das geht solange, bis er unter die Erde hinunterstürzt. Wenn er nun eine Zeitlang — das bedeutet aber Jahrtausende oder Jahrmillionen — unter der Erde geblieben ist, was wird er? Schwarze Kohle! Schwarz wird er, weil er, als er ein Baum war, Licht und Wärme in sich aufgenommen hat. Er gibt das nicht her, wenn wir ihn nicht vernichten. Wenn wir ihn verbrennen, dann gibt er es her. Aber wenn wir ihn nur so eine Weile an die Luft legen, da gibt er es nicht her. Da hat er so viel von Licht und Wärme aufgenommen, daß er nichts hergibt. Wir müssen ihn vernichten. Das ist der Zustand der Kohle.
[ 9 ] Nehmen wir an, daß der Körper das Licht nicht weiter aufnimmt, er schickt jetzt alles wieder zurück: dann wird dasjenige, was so beschaffen ist, weiß sein. Das ist der Schnee im Winter. Er schickt alles Licht zurück, nimmt kein Licht und keine Wärme auf. Also wird er weiß. Sie schen an dem Unterschied zwischen Kohle und Schnee, wie das eigentlich ist mit dem Verhältnis der Gegenstände auf Erden zum Weltenraum.
[ 10 ] Wenden wir das auf den Menschen selber im Weltenraum an. Sehen wir uns zunächst die Schwarzen in Afrika an. Diese Schwarzen in Afrika haben die Eigentümlichkeit, daß sie alles Licht und alle Wärme vom Weltenraum aufsaugen. Sie nehmen das auf. Und dieses Licht und diese Wärme im Weltenraum, die kann nicht durch den ganzen Körper durchgehen, weil ja der Mensch immer ein Mensch ist, selbst wenn er ein Schwarzer ist. Es geht nicht durch den ganzen Körper durch, sondern hält sich an die Oberfläche der Haut, und da wird die Haut dann selber schwarz. So daß also ein Schwarzer in Afrika ein Mensch ist, der möglichst viel Wärme und Licht vom Weltenraum aufnimmt und in sich verarbeitet. Dadurch, daß er das tut, wirken über den ganzen Menschen hin die Kräfte des Weltenalls. (Zeichnung $. 56, links.) Überall nimmt er Licht und Wärme auf, überall. Das verarbeitet er in sich selber. Da muß etwas da sein, was ihm hilft bei diesem Verarbeiten. Nun, sehen Sie, das, was ihm da hilft beim Verarbeiten, das ist namentlich sein Hinterhirn. Beim Neger ist daher das Hinterhirn besonders ausgebildet. Das geht durch das Rückenmark. Und das kann alles das, was da im Menschen drinnen ist an Licht und Wärme, verarbeiten. Daher ist beim Neger namentlich alles das, was mit dem Körper und mit dem Stoffwechsel zusammenhängt, lebhaft ausgebildet. Er hat, wie man sagt, ein starkes Triebleben, Instinktleben. Der Neger hat also ein starkes Triebleben. Und weil er eigentlich das Sonnige, Licht und Wärme, da an der Körperoberfläche in seiner Haut hat, geht sein ganzer Stoffwechsel so vor sich, wie wenn in seinem Innern von der Sonne selber gekocht würde. Daher kommt sein Triebleben. Im Neger wird da drinnen fortwährend richtig gekocht, und dasjenige, was dieses Feuer schürt, das ist das Hinterhirn.
[ 11 ] Manchmal wirft die Einrichtung des Menschen noch solche Nebenprodukte ab. Das kann man gerade beim Neger sehen. Der Neger hat nicht nur dieses Kochen in seinem Organismus, sondern er hat auch noch ein furchtbar schlaues und aufmerksames Auge. Er guckt schlau und sehr aufmerksam. Das könnten Sie leicht als Widerspruch auffassen. Aber das ist so: Wenn da vorne der Nerv des Auges sitzt (Zeichnung S. 56), so gehen die Nerven just ins Hinterhirn hinein; die kreuzen sich da. Der Nerv, der geht also ins Hinterhirn. Und weil der Neger das Hinterhirn besonders ausgebildet hat, deshalb guckt er auch so schlau, deshalb ist er ein so schlauer Beobachter der Welt.
[ 12 ] Wenn man das anfängt zu verstehen, so wird einem alles klar. Aber solche Betrachtungen, wie wir sie jetzt wieder machen, die macht die heutige Wissenschaft gar nicht. Sie versteht daher nichts von all dem.
[ 13 ] Gehen wir jetzt vom Schwarzen zum Gelben herüber. Beim Gelben das ist schon verwandt mit dem Roten - ist es so, daß das Licht etwas zurückgeworfen wird, viel aber aufgenommen wird. Also da ist es schon so, daß der Mensch mehr Licht zurückwirft als beim Schwarzen. Der Schwarze ist ein Egoist, der nimmt alles Licht und alle Wärme auf. Der Gelbe, von der mongolischen Bevölkerung, der gibt schon etwas Licht zurück, aber er nimmt noch viel Licht auf. Das macht, daß er eigentlich ein solcher Mensch ist (siehe Zeichnung, Mitte). Also er nimmt viel Licht auf, gibt aber einiges zurück. Er begnügt sich mit weniger Licht. Dieses wenigere Licht, das kann nun nicht im ganzen Stoffwechsel arbeiten. Da muß der Stoffwechsel schon auf seine eigene Kraft angewiesen sein. Das arbeitet nämlich in der Atmung und in der Blutzirkulation. Also beim Gelben, beim Japaner, beim Chinesen, da arbeitet das Licht und die Wärme hauptsächlich in der Atmung und in der Blutzirkulation. Wenn Sie je einem Japaner begegnet sind, so werden Sie bemerkt haben, wie der auf seine Atmung achtet. Wenn er mit Ihnen redet, hält er sich immer zurück, daß die Atmung so recht in Ordnung ist. Er hat ein gewisses Wohlgefühl an der Atmung. Da ist es also so, daß da drinnen im Innern schon weniger verarbeitet wird. Da wird hauptsächlich in der Brust alles verarbeitet. Und das bewirkt, daß der gelbe Mensch nicht sein Hinterhirn so stark ausbildet, sondern das Mittelhirn. Da hat er das, was seine Atmung und seine Blutzirkulation versorgt. Er lebt also doch ziemlich im Innern, der gelbe Asiate. Sie können das auch seinem Gang anmerken; er hat einen mehr lässigen Gang. Er arbeitet nicht so stark mit den Gliedmaßen und dem Stoffwechsel. Der Neger ist viel mehr auf Rennen und auf die äußere Bewegung aus, die von den Trieben beherrscht ist. Der Asiate, der Gelbe, der entwickelt mehr ein innerliches Traumleben, daher die ganze asiatische Zivilisation dieses Träumerische hat. Also er ist nicht mehr so in sich bloß lebend, sondern er nimmt schon vom Weltenall etwas auf. Und daher kommt es, daß die Asiaten so wunderschöne Dichtungen über das ganze Weltenall haben. Der Neger hat das nicht. Der nimmt alles in seinen Stoffwechsel herein und eigentlich verdaut er nur das Weltenall. Der Asiate eratmet es sich, hat es in seiner Blutzirkulation. Daher kann er es auch in Worten von sich geben. Denn die Sprache ist ja auch nur eine umgestaltete Atmung. Ja, es sind schöne, wunderschöne Gedichte. Es sind überhaupt innerliche Menschen. Der Asiate verachtet den Europäer heute, weil er sagt: Das sind äußerliche Menschen. — Wir werden gleich sehen, warum. Das also ist die gelbe Rasse, und sie hängt so zusammen mit der Farbe, wie ich es Ihnen gesagt habe.
[ 14 ] Nun, meine Herren, betrachten wir uns selber in Europa. Wir sind in der Tat dem Weltenall gegenüber eine weiße Rasse, denn wir werfen alles äußere Licht zurück. Wir werfen alles äußere Licht und im Grunde genommen auch alle Wärme zurück. Die Wärme muß schon ganz mächtig werden, wenn wir sie in uns aufnehmen wollen. Und wenn sie nicht da ist, so verkümmern wir, wie es sich an den Eskimos zeigt. Da ist es also so: Da ist der Mensch so, daß er im Grunde genommen alles Licht und alle Wärme zurückwirft - nur wenn sie mächtig wird, nimmt er sie auf -; er wirft sie zurück und entwickelt nur dasjenige an Licht und Wärme, was in seinem Innern durch seine eigene innere Arbeit entsteht. Ja, meine Herren, da kommt ihm nicht das Atmen und die Blutzirkulation zu Hilfe und nicht die Wärmeerzeugung, sondern da muß er durch sein Gehirn, durch seinen Kopf selber dasjenige ausarbeiten, was Licht und Wärme ist. Wir müssen also mit unserem Kopf auch das erarbeiten, was Licht und Wärme ist. Wir werfen eigentlich alles äußere Licht und Wärme zurück. Wir müssen unserem Blut selber die Farbe geben. Das dringt dann durch das Weiße durch, und dadurch bekommen wir diese europäische Menschenfarbe. Die ist also vom Innern. Daher sind wir schon so wie ein weißer Körper, der alles im Innern verarbeitet, und alles Licht und alle Wärme zurückwirft. Wir sind schon so ein weißer Körper. Und während der Mongole das Mittelhirn hauptsächlich braucht, müssen wir Europäer das Vorderhirn anwenden (siehe Zeichnung $. 56, rechts). Dadurch aber stellt sich das Folgende heraus: Der mit dem Hinterhirn, der hat vorzugsweise das Triebleben, das Instinktleben. Der da hier mit dem Mittelhirn hat das Gefühlsleben, das in der Brust sitzt. Und wir Europäer, wir armen Europäer haben das Denkleben, das im Kopfe sitzt. Dadurch fühlen wir gewissermaßen unseren inneren Menschen gar nicht. Denn den Kopf, den fühlen wir nur, wenn er uns weh tut, wenn er krank ist. Sonst fühlen wir ihn nicht. Dadurch aber nehmen wir die ganze Außenwelt auf, werden dadurch leicht Materialisten. Der Neger wird schon kein Materialist. Der bleibt schon innerlich Mensch. Nur entwickelt er innerlich das Triebleben. Der Asiate wird auch nicht Materialist. Der bleibt beim Gefühlsleben. Der kümmert sich nicht so ums äußere Leben wie der Europäer. Von dem sagt er: Der wird nur ein Ingenieur, der sich nur mit dem äußeren Leben beschäftigt. Er ist eben dadurch, daß er sein Vorderhirn entwickeln muß, hauptsächlich auf die Außenwelt hingewiesen. Und mit dem hängt nun zunächst alles zusammen.
[ 15 ] Wir sind also die weiße Rasse. Innerlich ist das Weiß durch unser Blut gefärbt. Dann ist da die gelbe Rasse, die Mongolen, und dann ist da die schwarze Rasse. Und wir können das ganz gut begreifen, wenn wir von den Farben ausgehen. Da erklärt sich die ganze Geschichte.
[ 16 ] Nun brauchen Sie sich aber nur zu überlegen, wie das ist. Die Neger, die leben auf einem Erdstück, wo die Sonne sie sehr, sehr belästigt, eindringt in sie. Also geben sie sich ihr hin, nehmen sie ganz in ihren Körper auf, werden freundschaftlich mit ihr, werfen nichts zurück. Bei den Asiaten, da geht es schon mehr aus dem Heißen der Erde heraus. Die geben nicht mehr so viel zurück. Die werden nicht mehr so freundschaftlich mit der Sonne. Und bei den Europäern, da ist es so, daß sie eigentlich überhaupt nichts von der Sonne bekommen würden, wenn sie nicht ihr eigenes Menschliche entwickelten. Daher ist Europa immer der Ausgangspunkt für alles dasjenige gewesen, was nun das Menschliche so entwickelt, daß das zu gleicher Zeit mit der Außenwelt in Beziehung kommt. Erfindungen sind in Asien sehr wenig gemacht worden. Verarbeitet kann dann die Geschichte werden; aber Erfindungen selber, wie gesagt, das, was durch die Erfahrung mit der Außenwelt entspringt, das können die Asiaten nicht machen.
[ 1+ ] Zum Beispiel war es einmal so mit einem Schraubendampfer. Den hatten die Japaner den Europäern abgeguckt, und nun wollten sie auch allein fahren. Vorher fuhren immer die Europäer und haben die Geschichte dirigiert. Nun wollten sie einmal allein fahren. Die englischen Ingenieure sind zurückgeblieben an der Küste. Plötzlich gerieten die Japaner draußen, die dann das Schiff geleitet haben, in helle Verzweiflung, denn das ganze Schiff drehte sich fortwährend um sich selber. Sie kriegten es nicht heraus, wie sie zu der Drehung die richtige Fortbewegung hinzubringen konnten. Die Europäer, die das wußten, die grinsten natürlich furchtbar am Ufer. Also dieses selbständige Denken, das der Europäer im Umgang mit der Umgebung entwickelt, das haben die Asiaten nicht. Die Japaner werden daher alle europäischen Erfindungen ausbilden; aber selber etwas ausdenken, das werden die Japaner nicht. Es ist einmal so beim Menschengeschlecht, daß die Menschen über die Erde hin eigentlich alle aufeinander angewiesen sind. Sie müssen einander helfen. Das ergibt sich schon aus ihrer Naturanlage.
[ 18 ] Nun, sehen Sie, das hängt aber mit der ganzen übrigen Ausbildung des Menschen zusammen. Denken Sie sich einmal solch einen schwarzen Menschen. Der entwickelt besonders das Triebleben, also dasjenige, was im Innnern kocht. Das gibt viel Asche. Die Asche, die setzt sich dann in den Knochen ab. Dadurch wird er mehr in den Knochen ausgebildet sein als derjenige, der der weißen Rasse angehört. Der verwendet dasjenige, was er im Innern hat, mehr auf das Blut. Daher werden seine Knochen feiner ausgebildet sein. Also der Neger hat grob ausgebildete Knochen, der Europäer hat feiner ausgebildete Knochen. Und das, was Asiaten sind, die gelbe Rasse, die stehen in der Mitte drinnen.
[ 19 ] Jetzt können Sie, wenn Sie den Japaner anschauen, an der ganzen Art und Weise, wie er dasteht und geht, sehen: er ist in seinem Knochenbau so, daß er zwischen dem Europäer und dem Afrikaner mitten drinnen steht. Die Afrikaner haben diese starken Knochen, die immer ausschlagen. Der Europäer, der hat mehr das Blutsystem. Der Japaner, der hat eigentlich alles das, was auf den Atem und vom Atem aus in die Blutzirkulation wirkt.
[ 20 ] Nun aber, meine Herren, bleiben eben die Menschen nicht bloß auf der Erde sitzen. Wenn man in alte Zeiten zurückgehen würde, so würde man schon finden, daß zu Asien die gelbe Rasse, zu Europa die weiße Rasse und zu Afrika die schwarze Rasse gehört. Aber immer ist es auch vorgekommen, daß die Menschen nun ausgewandert sind. Und da können sie nun entweder so herwandern (Zeichnung Seite 53), die Gelben können nach Osten wandern, oder die Schwarzen können nach Westen wandern. So ist es wohl einmal gewesen. Die Gelben sind immer nach Osten gewandert. Da sind sie auf diese Inseln gekommen, die zwischen Asien und Australien sind. Die Gelben wandern nach Osten hinüber. Wenn die Gelben nach Osten hinüberwandern, dann werden sie braun. Da entstehen dann die Malaien; die werden braun. Warum? Ja, warum werden sie braun? Was heißt denn das: sie werden braun? Nicht wahr, wenn sie gelb sind, werfen sie einen bestimmten Grad von Licht zurück; das andere nehmen sie auf. Wenn sie braun werden durch die andere Art, wie sie jetzt in der Sonne leben, weil sie ja von einem anderen Erdstück kommen, dann werfen sie weniger Licht zurück. Sie nehmen mehr Licht in sich auf. Also diese braunen Malaien sind ausgewanderte Mongolen, die sich aber jetzt, weil die Sonne anders auf sie wirkt, angewöhnen, mehr Licht und mehr Wärme aufzunehmen. Bedenken Sie aber, daß sie nicht die Natur dazu haben. Sie haben sich schon angewöhnt, sogar ein solches Knochengerüste zu haben, daß sie nur einen bestimmten Grad von Wärme aufnehmen können. Sie haben nicht die Natur, so viel Wärme aufzunehmen, als sie jetzt als Malaien aufnehmen. Die Folge davon ist, daß sie anfangen, unbrauchbare Menschen zu werden, daß sie anfangen, Menschen zu werden, die am Menschenkörper zerbrökkeln, deren Körper abstirbt. Das ist in der Tat bei der malaiischen Bevölkerung der Fall. Die stirbt an der Sonne. Die stirbt an der Östlichkeit. So daß man sagen kann: Während die Gelben, die Mongolen, noch Menschen in der Vollkraft sind, sind die Malaien schon eine absterbende Rasse. Sie sterben ab.
[ 21 ] Wenn die Neger — was sie allerdings heute weniger tun können, heute sind die Verhältnisse schon anders, aber in Urzeiten war das schon so, wie ich es erzähle - nach dem Westen hinüberwandern - eine Schifffahrt hat es ja immer gegeben, und es waren ja außerdem durch den ganzen Atlantischen Ozean noch Inseln, der Atlantische Ozean war ja früher auch ein Kontinent —, also wenn die Schwarzen nach dem Westen auswandern, da können sie nicht mehr so viel Licht und Wärme aufnehmen wie in ihrem Afrika. Da kommt ihnen weniger Licht und Wärme zu. Was ist die Folge? Ja, ihre Natur ist eingerichtet darauf, so viel als möglich Licht und Wärme aufzunehmen. Ihre Natur ist eigentlich eingerichtet, dadurch schwarz zu werden. Jetzt kriegen sie nicht so viel Licht und Wärme, als sie brauchen, um schwarz zu werden. Daher werden sie kupferrot, werden Indianer. Das kommt davon her, weil sie gezwungen sind, etwas von Licht und Wärme zurückzuwerfen. Das glänzt dann so kupferrot. Das Kupfer ist selber ein Körper, der Licht und Wärme so ein bißchen zurückwerfen muß. Das können sie nicht aushalten. Daher sterben sie als Indianer im Westen aus, sind wiederum eine untergehende Rasse, sterben an ihrer eigenen Natur, die zu wenig Licht und Wärme bekommt, sterben an dem Irdischen. Das Irdische ihrer Natur ist ja ihr Triebleben. Das können sie nicht mehr ordentlich ausbilden, während sie noch starke Knochen kriegen. Weil viel Asche hineingeht in ihre Knochen, können diese Indianer diese Asche nicht mehr aushalten. Die Knochen werden furchtbar stark, aber so stark, daß der ganze Mensch an seinen Knochen zugrunde geht.
[ 22 ] Sehen Sie, so hat sich die Sache entwickelt, daß diese fünf Rassen entstanden sind. Man möchte sagen, in der Mitte schwarz, gelb, weiß, und als ein Seitentrieb des Schwarzen das Kupferrote, und als ein Seitenzweig des Gelben das Braune - das sind immer die aussterbenden Teile.
[ 1 ] Die Weißen sind eigentlich diejenigen, die das Menschliche in sich entwickeln. Daher sind sie auf sich selber angewiesen. Wenn sie auswandern, so nehmen sie die Eigentümlichkeiten der anderen Gegenden etwas an, doch sie gehen, nicht als Rasse, sondern mehr als einzelne Menschen, zugrunde. Aber sie tun dafür noch etwas anderes. Sehen Sie, meine Herren, alles dasjenige, was ich Ihnen jetzt geschildert habe, das sind ja die Dinge, die im Leibe des Menschen vor sich gehen. Die Seele und der Geist sind mehr oder weniger unabhängig davon. Daher kann der Europäer, weil ihn Seele und Geist am meisten in Anspruch nimmt, Seele und Geist am meisten verarbeiten. Der kann es am ehesten vertragen, in verschiedene Erdteile zu gehen.
[ 23 ] Daher ist es auch gekommen, daß, von da oben ausgehend, einstmals eine große Völkerwanderung bis nach Indien hinunterging. Da traf ein Strom weißer Bevölkerung in das Gebiet hinein, wo man gelb wird. Daher kamen dann die Inder, so eine Mischung von Mongolischem und Kaukasischem. Daher die schönsten indischen Dichtungen, das Schönste, was da ist; aber zu gleicher Zeit wiederum etwas, von dem man merkt, es ist schon träge geworden, weil eben das Weiße nicht in seinem eigentlichen Gebiet drinnen ist.
[ 24 ] Und so kann man sagen: Die Weißen können überall hin, können heute sogar nach Amerika hinüber. Alles dasjenige, was an weißer Bevölkerung in Amerika ist, das ist ja von Europa gekommen. Da kommt also das Weiße hinein in die amerikanischen Gegenden. Aber es geschieht ja etwas mit dem Menschen, wenn er von Europa, wo er dazu natürlich gebildet ist, daß er alles im Innern entwickelt, nach Amerika hinüberkommt. Da ist es so, daß gewissermaßen schon etwas sein Hinterhirn in Anspruch genommen werden muß. In Europa, sehen Sie, hat er als Europäer hauptsächlich das Vorderhirn in Anspruch genommen. Nun, in Amerika, da gedeihen diejenigen, die eigentlich zugrunde gehende Neger einmal waren, das heißt, sie gedeihen nicht, sie gehen zugrunde, die Indianer. Wenn man dahin kommt, da ist eigentlich immer ein Kampf zwischen Vorderhirn und Hinterhirn im Kopf. Es ist das Eigentümliche, daß wenn eine Familie nach Amerika zieht, sich niederläßt, dann bekommen die Leute, die aus dieser Familie hervorgehen, immer etwas längere Arme. Die Arme werden länger. Die Beine wachsen auch etwas mehr, wenn der Europäer in Amerika sich ansiedelt - nicht bei ihm selber natürlich, aber bei seinen Nachkommen. Das kommt davon, weil die Geschichte mehr durch das Mittelhirn hindurch nach dem Hinterhirn sich hinzieht, wenn man als Europäer nach Amerika kommt.
[ 25 ] Aber gleichzeitig kommt beim Amerikaner etwas sehr Eigentümliches zustande. Nicht wahr, der Europäer lebt, namentlich wenn er ein Denker wird, ganz in seinem Innern. Wenn er kein Denker wird, denkt er zwar auch nach, aber es gibt das ein Leben, das nicht ganz ausgefüllt ist. Aber sobald der Europäer in Amerika sich ansiedelt, da geht es nicht mehr, daß er so grübelt. Daher kommt folgendes. Wenn Sie ein europäisches Buch lesen, da wird immer bewiesen, man kommt gar nicht mehr heraus aus dem Beweisen. Da liest man ein ganzes Buch durch, vierhundert Seiten durch, nur Beweise; selbst wenn es ein Roman ist, wird immer bewiesen. Meistens ist dann am Ende auf der vierhundertsten Seite doch nichts bewiesen. Der Amerikaner tut das nicht. Wenn Sie ein amerikanisches Buch lesen, da wird alles als Behauptung hingestellt. Da geht es wiederum zurück, wo es dem Instinkt sich nähert. Das Tier beweist überhaupt nichts. Der Löwe beweist nicht, daß er ein anderes Tier fressen will; er frißt es. Der Europäer — wenn er etwas tun will, muß es erst bewiesen sein. Alles muß erst bewiesen sein. Das ist heute der große Unterschied zwischen dem Europäer und dem Amerikaner: Die Europäer beweisen, die Amerikaner behaupten.
[ 26 ] Aber man kann nicht sagen, daß das nicht ebensogut wahr sein kann, was die behaupten. Es wird eben mehr durch den ganzen Menschen eingesehen. Das haben die Amerikaner dem Europäer voraus. Sie nähern sich auf der einen Seite dem Zugrundegehen — der Indianer geht ja zugrunde -, aber wenn man anfängt zugrunde zu gehen, so wird man gescheit. So werden schon die Europäer gescheit, wenn sie hinüberkommen; sie gewöhnen sich ja das Beweisen ab.
[ 27 ] Das ist nicht gerade eine vorwärtsbringende Eigenschaft, das Beweisenwollen. Nicht wahr, wenn man morgens etwas tun soll, so kann man morgens anfangen mit Beweisen, und abends beim Schlafengehen kann man es noch nicht tun, weil man immer noch beweisen muß. Der Amerikaner wird das nicht tun, weil er gar nicht auf das Beweisen eintrainiert, einexerziert ist. Und so kommt es, daß zunächst ganz gewiß Amerika etwas voraus haben wird vor Deutschland. Man kann da ganz interessante Beobachtungen machen. Wenn man ein europäisches Buch in die Hand nimmt, so beginnt es etwa — sagen wir, es ist ein Buch, und solche Bücher werden ja geschrieben, es ist ein Bericht über die Verdauung der Maikäfer —, so beginnt es damit: Das Tiergeschlecht der Maikäfer enthält ja auch Verdauungsorgane; allein sie entziehen sich der gewöhnlichen Beobachtung. Man muß tiefer in die ganze Organisation der Maikäfer eindringen — und so geht es weiter; man muß also alles beweisen. Der Amerikaner beginnt damit: Wenn man einen Maikäfer zergliedert, so findet man in ihm das und das. — Der behauptet, indem er beobachtet. Und so, sehen Sie, ist es bei den Europäern so, daß sie ja ihre Rasseeigentümlichkeiten wegen ihrer ganzen Einrichtung nicht mehr so ausbilden. Sie bilden mehr die seelisch-geistigen Eigenschaften aus. Daher können sie auch in alle übrigen Weltteile eindringen. Mit dem Zugrundegehen geht es natürlich langsam.
[ 28 ] Die Sonne sendet immer mehr oder weniger dasjenige auf die Erde herunter, was Licht oder Wärme ist. Jetzt haben wir den Frühlingspunkt, wie ich Ihnen gesagt habe, in den Fischen. Vorher war er im Widder. Nach einiger Zeit wird er im Wassermann sein. Da wird erst die richtige amerikanische Zivilisation kommen. Bis dahin wird sich immer mehr und mehr Zivilisation nach Amerika hinüberbegeben. Wer das sehen will, kann es heute schon sehen, wie mächtig die Amerikaner werden, und wie Europa allmählich immer mehr und mehr ohnmächtig wird. Und daß es in Europa zu gar keinem Frieden jetzt kommen kann, das beruht eben darauf, daß Europa eigentlich das eigene Land nicht mehr versteht. Nun schlägt sich die ganze Zivilisation nach Amerika hinüber. Es wird langsam gehen; aber wenn die Sonne in ihrem Frühlingspunkte in das Zeichen des Wassermannes eingetreten sein wird, dann wird sie gerade so günstig ihre Strahlen herunterschicken auf die Erde, daß die amerikanische Kultur und Zivilisation dann ganz besonders mächtig sein wird. Das sieht man schon heute.
[ 29 ] Sehen Sie, es ist wirklich so merkwürdig: In Europa herüben kann man das, was wir Anthroposophie nennen, entwickeln. Das muß man aus dem Geist heraus entwickeln. Das geht gar nicht mehr aus den Rasseeigentümlichkeiten heraus. Das muß man aus dem Geiste heraus entwickeln, Und die Menschen, die in Europa nicht heranwollen an den Geist, die werden Europa ins Unglück stürzen.
[ 30 ] Die Amerikaner, die brauchen das heute noch nicht, namentlich diejenigen, die da hinüberreisen. Da können sie sich noch mehr auf die Rasseeigentümlichkeiten stützen. Und so entsteht da drüben in Amerika kurioserweise etwas Merkwürdiges. Wer ganz aufmerksam amerikanische Bücher liest, wer aufmerksam Parlamentsreden liest, wer überhaupt etwas aufnimmt von dem, was heute in Amerika vorgeht, der wird sich sagen: Donnerwetter, das ist ja etwas ganz Merkwürdiges. Wir in Europa bilden die Anthroposophie aus dem Geiste heraus aus. Da drüben bilden sie etwas aus, was so wie eine Art Holzpuppe der Anthroposophie ist. Es wird alles materialistisch. Aber für den, der nicht ein Fanatiker ist, für den hat das, was amerikanische Kultur ist, etwas Ähnliches mit dem, was anthroposophische Wissenschaft ist in Europa. Nur ist dort alles aus Holz. Es ist noch nicht lebendig. Lebendig machen können wir es in Europa aus dem Geiste heraus. Die nehmen es dort aus dem Instinkte heraus.
[ 31 ] Sehen Sie, das können Sie in allen Einzelheiten bemerken. Es wird einmal die Zeit kommen, wo dieser amerikanische «Holzmensch», der eigentlich jeder noch ist, anfangen wird, zu reden. Dann wird er der europäischen Anthroposophie sehr Ähnliches zu sagen haben. Man kann sagen: Wir in Europa bilden Anthroposophie auf geistige Weise aus; der Amerikaner bildet sie auf naturhafte Weise aus. Daher kann ich so oft, wenn ich Anthroposophisches auseinandersetze, darauf hinweisen: Nun ja, so ist es anthroposophisch, und so ist es die amerikanische Karikatur. Das ist die Karikatur davon.
[ 32 ] Wenn aber einer ein Fanatiker ist und sich nicht durch innerliches Leben, sondern durch Fanatismus in die Anthroposophie hereinfindet, dann findet er gerade die schärfsten Schimpfworte für das Amerikanertum, weil - nicht wahr, der Mensch schimpft am meisten über den Affen, weil der Affe ihm ähnlich ist, aber Karikatur ist. Und so ist es wirklich eine solche merkwürdige Geschichte, wie zwischen Nordund Südpol, zwischen dem, was wir geistig uns erringen in Europa und zwischen dem, was man sich da drüben auf naturhafte Weise in Amerika erringt.
[ 33 ] Naturwissenschaftliche Bücher schauen in Amerika ganz anders aus als in Europa. Sie reden eigentlich fortwährend vom Geist, aber sie stellen sich den Geist grobklotzig materiell vor. Daher ist auch der Spiritismus in neuerer Zeit in Amerika aufgekommen. Denn was tut der Spiritismus? Er will vom Geist reden und stellt sich den Geist vor so wie Wolkenerscheinungen, möchte am liebsten alles wie Wolkenerscheinungen haben. Daher ist der Spiritismus ein amerikanisches Produkt; er geht auf den Geist, aber auf materialistische Weise. Das ist eben so interessant, daß in Amerika der Materialismus richtig grassiert, aber eigentlich auf dem Wege zum Geist ist, während, wenn der Europäer Materialist wird, dann stirbt er als Mensch. Der Amerikaner ist ein junger Materialist. Eigentlich sind alle Kinder zunächst materialistisch, wachsen sich dann aus zu dem, was nicht Materialismus ist. So wird sich der amerikanisch krasse Materialismus gerade zu einem Geistigen auswachsen. Das wird sein, wenn die Sonne im Zeichen des Wassermannes aufgeht.
[ 34 ] Nun, Sie sehen, auf diese Weise kann man durchschauen, was wir als Europäer für eine Aufgabe haben. Wir haben gar nicht die Aufgabe als Europäer, über die Amerikaner immer zu schimpfen, sondern wir müssen natürlich über die ganze Erde hin eine Zivilisation begründen, die aus dem Besten zusammengesetzt ist.
[ 35 ] Natürlich, wenn man die Sache so denkt, wie sie der Prinz von Baden gedacht hat, der auf den amerikanischen Europäer Wilson hereingefallen ist, dann geht es nicht. Denn Wilson war nicht ein richtiger Amerikaner. Der hat alle seine Theorien eigentlich von Europa genommen. Dadurch hat er so unfruchtbare Theorien gemacht. Aber das richtige Amerikanertum, das ist dasjenige, was tatsächlich einmal mit dem Europäertum, das auf mehr geistige Weise seine Sache finden wird, sich vereinigen wird. Und dann sieht man, wie man sich eigentlich verhalten muß in der Welt, wenn man so etwas auf diese Weise studiert.
[ 36 ] Und so ist es wirklich ganz interessant: Auf der einen Seite hat man die schwarze Rasse, die am meisten irdisch ist. Wenn sie nach Westen geht, stirbt sie aus. Man hat die gelbe Rasse, die mitten zwischen Erde und Weltenall ist. Wenn sie nach Osten geht, wird sie braun, gliedert sich zu viel dem Weltenall an, stirbt aus. Die weiße Rasse ist die zukünftige, ist die am Geiste schaffende Rasse. Wie sie nach Indien gezogen ist, bildete sie die innerliche, poetische, dichterische, geistige indische Kultur aus. Wenn sie jetzt nach dem Westen geht, wird sie eine Geistigkeit ausbilden, die nicht so sehr den innerlichen Menschen ergreift, aber die äußere Welt in ihrer Geistigkeit begreift.
[ 37 ] Und so werden in der Zukunft gerade aus den Rasseeigentümlichkeiten solche Dinge hervorgehen, die man kennen muß, damit man sich richtig hineinstellt ins Leben. Die Menschen bekommen immer weniger eine richtige Einstellung im Leben. Sie wollen eben alles aus dem Blitzblauen heraus haben, die Menschen, und nicht eigentlich lernen.
[ 38 ] Das ist dadurch gekommen, weil eben im letzten Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts im Grunde den Menschen, die gebildet worden sind, namentlich die wissenschaftlich gebildet worden sind, ja nichts Menschliches mehr angeboten wurde. Nicht wahr, es geht jetzt so schwer mit der Menschenkunde. Das merken selbst schon die materialistischen Gelehrten. Sie kommen nicht weiter. Und bei der letzten Naturforscherversammlung war es interessant. Da war einer von diesen Naturforschern, der hat es besonders stark gemerkt: man kommt ja nicht mehr weiter, man erfährt durch die gegenwärtige Wissenschaft nichts vom Menschen. Aber er hat nicht gesagt: Also müssen wir uns der Anthroposophie nähern, sondern er hat gesagt: Gebt uns Leichen, damit wir die zergliedern können.
[ 39 ] Sehen Sie, das war alles, was er sagen konnte: Gebt uns Leichen! Mehr Leichen wollen die Menschen haben. Den toten Menschen wollen sie studieren. Das war so ein richtiges Schlagwort: Gebt uns Leichen! — während wir hier die Leichen entbehren können, denn wir wollen den lebendigen Menschen anschauen und studieren. Dazu muß man nur seine Augen aufmachen, und durch seine Augen etwas die Seele, denn den lebendigen Menschen findet man überall. Man begegnet lauter lebendigen Menschen. Nur muß man mit ihnen leben können, damit sie einem das wirklich bekunden, was Menschenwesen ist. Aber die Leute, die heute Gelehrte sind, haben ja tatsächlich ganz schwache Augen. Sie sehen ja nicht den Menschen. Und dann flehen sie sehnsüchtig: Gebt uns Leichen! Da können sie dann studieren. Gebt uns Leichen! In einer solchen Situation waren in den letzten Jahrzehnten die Bildungsanstalten. Da haben die Menschen nichts Menschliches aufgenommen. Daher ist aus allen Wissenschaften das Menschliche herausgekommen.
[ 40 ] Deshalb habe ich in dem ersten Kapitel meiner «Kernpunkte der sozialen Frage» diese Frage behandelt. Ich mußte zeigen, wie diejenigen, die nichts mit der Wissenschaft zu tun gehabt haben, sondern mit der Arbeit, herangekommen sind. Und nun natürlich wollten sie Wissenschaft. Aber die konnten ihnen die anderen nicht geben, die sie scheinbar hatten, die Bourgeois. Und dadurch entstand die ganze Kalamität in der Zivilisation. Die Arbeiter verlangten nach Wissenschaft, und sie war nicht da, weil nur eine Wissenschaft, die menschlos ist, da war. Das habe ich im ersten Kapitel der «Kernpunkte» dargestellt, weil man wirklich erst das verstehen muß, wenn man von der sozialen Frage redet. So war es schon notwendig, daß die «Kernpunkte der sozialen Frage» in dem ersten Kapitel damit begannen.
[ 41 ] Nun, wir haben also die Farben heute etwas weiter behandelt, meine Herren.
Third Lecture
[ 1 ] Good morning! Now, gentlemen, I have, of course, not yet fully answered the last question about colors. Let us pursue it a little further or to its conclusion.
[ 2 ] Today, we are considering the most interesting aspect of all, namely the human color itself. You know that people all over the world have different skin colors. The Europeans, to whom we belong, are said to be the white race. Now, you know that in Europe, a person is not really healthy if he is as white as cheese; rather, he is healthy when he shows his natural fresh color, which he produces within himself, on the outside through the white skin.
[ 3 ] But now, in addition to this European skin color, we have four main other skin colors. And we want to look at this a little today, because you can only understand the whole of history and the whole of social life, including today's social life, if you can go into the racial peculiarities of people. And then you can only understand everything spiritual in the right sense if you first deal with how this spiritual works in people through skin color.
[ 4 ] I would now like to explain the coloration of people to you in the following way. Let us start with Europe, where we ourselves live. There we have – I can only show it to you schematically – first Europe (see drawing), bordering Europe Asia; England, Ireland; here Japan, China, Hinterindien, Vorderindien, Arabia; here we then have Africa bordering. So: Europe, Asia, Africa. Now let us draw the people as they are in the respective areas. We ourselves in Europe call ourselves the white race. If we go to Asia, we have mainly the yellow race in Asia. And if we go to Africa, we have the black race. These are also the original races. Everything else that lives in these areas is based on immigration. So if we ask: What race belongs to these continents? we have to say that Asia is home to the yellow race, the Mongols, the Mongolian race, Europe is home to the white race or Caucasian race, and Africa is home to the black race or Negro race. The Negro race does not belong to Europe, and it is, of course, only nonsense that it now plays such a great role in Europe. These races are, so to speak, native to these three parts of the world.
[ 5 ] Now let us take a look at the color of these three races. I already told you last time: color has to do with light. When you see the black of outer space through the illuminated parts of outer space, it appears blue. When you see light, illumination, through dark air, it appears reddish, as at dawn and dusk.
[ 6 ] Let us just look at ordinary objects and consider their colors. First of all, you distinguish, say, black and white. These are the most striking colors, black and white. What about a black body? A black body absorbs all the light that falls on it and reflects no light at all. So if you have a black body here, it absorbs all the light that falls on it, and reflects nothing back. That is why it appears black, because it does not reflect any light. If you have a white body that says: I don't need light; I just want to process what is inside me. I send all light back. - That's why it is white. So a white body sends all light back. We therefore see its surface as bright, white. A black body absorbs all light, and also all heat along with the light, and it reflects no light, no heat at all; so it appears black, dark.
[ 7 ] You see, you can study this in more detail if you consider the following. Assume that there is a body on Earth that absorbs all light. At first, it reflects a little light and appears light-colored. But it takes its time and absorbs as much light as possible. Now it has as much light as possible. If it can't absorb any more and you bring it into the light, it appears black.
[ 8 ] Now suppose you take a tree. It initially stands on the surface of the earth, absorbs some light, but it swallows a lot of light, a lot of heat. Well, that goes on until it falls underground. If it has remained underground for a while – but that means for thousands or millions of years – what does it become? Black coal! It turns black because, when it was a tree, it absorbed light and warmth. It does not give this up unless we destroy it. If we burn it, then it gives it up. But if we just leave it in the air for a while, it does not give it up. It has absorbed so much light and warmth that it does not give anything away. We have to destroy it. That is the state of coal.
[ 9 ] Let us assume that the body no longer absorbs light, but instead reflects all light back: then that which is so constituted will be white. That is the snow in winter. It sends back all light, takes no light and no warmth. Therefore it becomes white. You see the difference between coal and snow, how it actually is with the relationship of the objects on earth to the cosmic space.
[ 10 ] Let us apply this to man himself in space. Let us first look at the blacks in Africa. These blacks in Africa have the peculiarity that they absorb all light and all warmth from space. They absorb that. And this light and warmth in space cannot pass through the whole body, because a person is always a person, even if he is a black person. It does not pass through the whole body, but remains on the surface of the skin, and then the skin itself becomes black. So a black person in Africa is a person who absorbs as much warmth and light as possible from space and processes it within himself. Because of this, the forces of the universe are at work in the whole person. (Drawing $. 56, left.) He absorbs light and warmth everywhere. He processes this within himself. There must be something there to help him with this processing. Now, you see, what helps him with this processing is his hindbrain. Therefore, the hindbrain is particularly well developed in Negroes. This goes through the spinal cord and can process everything that is inside a person in terms of light and warmth. That is why everything in the Negro that is connected with the body and metabolism is particularly well developed. They have, as one says, a strong instinctive life. So the negro has a strong libido. And because he actually has the sunny, light and warmth on the surface of his skin, his entire metabolism is as if it were being cooked by the sun itself inside. Hence his libido. Inside the negro is constantly being cooked, and that which stokes this fire is the hindbrain.
[ 11 ] Sometimes the human body still produces such by-products. This can be seen especially in the negro. Not only does the negro have this boiling in his organism, but he also has an awfully clever and observant eye. He looks cleverly and very attentively. You could easily take that as a contradiction. But it is like this: When the nerve of the eye is located at the front (see illustration on p. 56), the nerves go straight into the hindbrain; they cross there. So the nerve goes into the hindbrain. And because the negro has a particularly well-developed hindbrain, that is why he looks so clever, that is why he is such a clever observer of the world.
[ 12 ] When you begin to understand this, everything becomes clear. But today's science does not make such observations as we are making again now. It therefore understands nothing of all this.
[ 13 ] Now let us move from black to yellow. With yellow, which is already related to red, light is reflected to some extent but a great deal is absorbed. So here the person reflects more light than with black. The black person is an egoist who absorbs all light and warmth. The yellow one, of the Mongolian population, he does give some light back, but he still absorbs a lot of light. This makes him actually such a person (see drawing, center). He absorbs a lot of light, but gives some back. He is content with less light. This less light cannot work in the whole metabolism. The metabolism must rely on its own strength. This works in the breathing and blood circulation. So in the yellow, in the Japanese, in the Chinese, the light and heat works mainly in the breathing and blood circulation. If you have ever met a Japanese, you will have noticed how he pays attention to his breathing. When he talks to you, he always holds back so that the breathing is all right. He has a certain sense of well-being when breathing. So it is the case that less is processed inside. Everything is mainly processed in the chest. And this means that the yellow man does not develop his hindbrain so much, but rather the midbrain. That is where he has what supplies his breathing and blood circulation. So the yellow Asian lives quite a bit inside after all. You can also tell from the way he walks; he has a more casual gait. He does not work so much with his limbs and metabolism. The Negro is much more oriented towards running and external movement, which is controlled by the drives. The Asian, the yellow man, develops more of an inner dream life, which is why the whole Asian civilization has this dreaminess. So he is no longer just living within himself, but he is already absorbing something from the universe. And that is why Asians have such beautiful poetry about the whole universe. The Negro does not have that. He takes everything into his metabolism and actually only digests the universe. The Asian breathes it in, has it in his blood circulation. Therefore, he can also express it in words. For language is also only a transformed breathing. Yes, they are beautiful, wonderful poems. They are inward people, in any case. The Asian despises the European today because he says: They are outward people. — We will see in a moment why. So that is the yellow race, and it is connected to color as I have told you.
[ 14 ] Now, gentlemen, let us look at ourselves in Europe. We are indeed a white race in relation to the universe, for we reflect all external light. We reflect all external light and, basically, all warmth as well. Warmth has to become quite powerful if we want to absorb it. And when it is not there, we wither away, as can be seen in the Eskimos. So it is like this: Man is such that he basically reflects back all light and all warmth – only when it becomes powerful does he absorb it –; he reflects it back and develops only that light and warmth that arises within him through his own inner work. Yes, gentlemen, breathing and blood circulation do not come to his aid, nor does heat production. Instead, he has to work out through his brain, through his head itself, what light and warmth are. So we also have to work out with our heads what light and warmth are. We actually reflect all external light and warmth. We have to give our blood its color ourselves. This then penetrates through the whites, and this is how we get this European human color. It is therefore from within. Therefore, we are already like a white body that processes everything within and reflects all light and warmth. We are already such a white body. And while the Mongol mainly needs the midbrain, we Europeans have to use the forebrain (see drawing $. 56, right). But this leads to the following: the person with the hindbrain has primarily the instinctual life. The person with the midbrain has the emotional life, which is located in the chest. And we Europeans, we poor Europeans, have the thinking life, which is located in the head. As a result, we have no sense of our inner being. We only feel our head when it hurts, when it is sick. Otherwise we do not feel it. But we take in the whole outer world through our head, and so easily become materialists. The Negro does not become a materialist. He remains inwardly human. He only develops the life of the instincts inwardly. The Asian does not become a materialist either. He remains with the emotional life. He does not care so much about the outer life as the European does. He says of him: He will only become an engineer if he only deals with the outer life. He is mainly directed towards the outer world because he has to develop his forebrain. And everything is connected with that for the time being.
[ 15 ] So we are the white race. Internally, the white is colored by our blood. Then there is the yellow race, the Mongols, and then there is the black race. And we can understand this quite well if we start from the colors. That explains the whole story.
[ 16 ] Now you just have to think about what it is like. The Negroes live on a piece of earth where the sun harasses them very, very much, penetrates into them. So they give themselves up to it, take it all into their bodies, become friendly with it, throw nothing back. The Asians, on the other hand, get more out of the heat of the earth. They don't give back as much. They don't become as friendly with the sun. And the Europeans are in a position where they would actually get nothing from the sun at all if they did not develop their own humanity. That is why Europe has always been the starting point for everything that develops the human aspect in such a way that it comes into relation with the outside world at the same time. Very few inventions have been made in Asia. History can then be processed; but inventions themselves, as I said, that which arises from experience with the outside world, the Asians cannot make.
[ 17 ] For example, it was once the case with a screw steamer. The Japanese had copied it from the Europeans, and now they wanted to sail alone. Before that, it was always the Europeans who sailed and directed the story. Now they wanted to sail alone. The English engineers stayed behind on the coast. Suddenly the Japanese on the outside, who were then navigating the ship, fell into despair because the whole ship was constantly turning on itself. They couldn't figure out how to apply the right propulsion to stop the turning. The Europeans, who knew the solution, were grinning terribly on the shore, of course. So this independent thinking, which the European develops in dealing with the environment, the Asian does not have. The Japanese will therefore develop all European inventions, but they will not think of anything themselves. It is the case with the human race that people all over the world actually depend on each other. They have to help each other. That follows from their nature.
[ 18 ] Now, you see, that depends on the whole of a person's education. Imagine a black person. They develop their sexual drive particularly strongly, so what is boiling inside them. This produces a lot of ash. The ash then settles in the bones. As a result, his bones will be more developed than those of a person belonging to the white race. The latter uses what he has inside more for the blood. Therefore, his bones will be more finely developed. So the negro has coarsely developed bones, the European has more finely developed bones. And those who are Asians, the yellow race, are in the middle.
[ 19 ] Now, if you look at a Japanese person, you can see from the way they stand and walk that their bone structure is somewhere between that of a European and an African. The Africans have these strong bones that always stick out. The Europeans have more of a blood system. The Japanese actually have everything that affects the breath and, from the breath, the blood circulation.
[ 20 ] But now, gentlemen, people do not just stay on the earth. If you go back to ancient times, you would find that Asia belongs to the yellow race, Europe to the white race and Africa to the black race. But it has also always happened that people have migrated. And then they can either migrate like this (drawing on page 53), the yellow race can migrate to the east, or the black race can migrate to the west. That is how it once was. The yellow race always migrated to the east. That is how they came to these islands, which are between Asia and Australia. The yellow race migrates to the east. When the yellow people migrate to the east, they become brown. That is where the Malays come from; they become brown. Why? Yes, why do they become brown? What does it mean when they become brown? When they are yellow, they reflect a certain degree of light; they absorb the rest. When they become brown through the different way they now live in the sun, because they come from a different part of the earth, then they reflect less light. They absorb more light. So these brown Malays are Mongolians who have emigrated, but who now, because the sun affects them differently, have become accustomed to absorbing more light and more warmth. But bear in mind that they do not have the nature for it. They have even become accustomed to having a bone structure that allows them to absorb only a certain degree of heat. They do not have the nature to absorb as much heat as they now absorb as Malays. The result is that they are beginning to become useless people, that they are beginning to become people who crumble away at the human body, whose body dies. This is indeed the case with the Malay population. They die from the sun. They die from the East. So one can say that while the yellow-skinned Mongoloid is still a man in the prime of life, the Malay is already a dying race. They are dying.
[ 21 ] When the Negroes – which they can do less today, today the conditions are different, but in primeval times it was already like this, as I tell it – migrate to the west – there has always been a ship passage. There were always islands throughout the entire Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean used to be a continent too – so when the blacks emigrate to the West, they can no longer absorb as much light and heat as they do in Africa. They get less light and heat there. What is the consequence? Yes, their nature is geared towards absorbing as much light and heat as possible. Their nature is actually set up to become black as a result. Now they do not get as much light and warmth as they need to become black. That is why they turn copper-red, become Indians. This is because they are forced to reflect some of the light and warmth. That is what makes it shine so coppery red. Copper itself is a body that has to reflect light and warmth a little. They cannot stand that. That is why they are dying out as Indians in the West, they are a dying race, dying from their own nature, which gets too little light and warmth, dying from the earthly. The earthly nature is, after all, their instinctual life. They can no longer properly develop this, while they still get strong bones. Because a lot of ash goes into their bones, these Indians can no longer stand this ash. The bones become terribly strong, but so strong that the whole person perishes because of his bones.
[ 22 ] You see, this is how the matter developed, that these five races came into being. One would like to say, in the middle black, yellow, white, and as a side shoot of the black the copper red, and as a side branch of the yellow the brown - these are always the dying parts.
[ 1 ] The whites are actually the ones who develop the human in themselves. Therefore, they depend on themselves. When they emigrate, they take on the peculiarities of the other areas to some extent, but they perish, not as a race, but more as individual people. But they do something else in return. You see, gentlemen, all that I have described to you now are the things that take place in the body of man. The soul and the spirit are more or less independent of it. Therefore, because the soul and spirit take up most of the European, he can process the soul and spirit the most. He is the one most likely to be able to tolerate going to different parts of the world.
[ 23 ] That is why, starting from up there, a great migration of peoples once went down as far as India. A stream of white people entered the area where people turn yellow. That is why the Indians are a mixture of Mongolian and Caucasian. That is why the most beautiful Indian poetry is a mixture, and why it is the most beautiful that exists; but at the same time, it is something that shows how the people have become lethargic because the White Race is no longer in its own territory.
[ 24 ] And so one can say: the white people can go everywhere, today they can even go to America. All the white people in America came from Europe. So the white element comes into the American regions. But something happens to people when they come over to America from Europe, where they are naturally educated to develop everything internally. There it is so that, so to speak, something has to be claimed in the hindbrain. In Europe, you see, as a European, he has mainly claimed the forebrain. Now, in America, those who were actually once perishing Negroes thrive, that is, they do not thrive, they perish, the Indians. When you get there, there is actually always a struggle between the forebrain and hindbrain in the head. It is peculiar that when a family moves to America and settles down, the people who come from that family always get slightly longer arms. The arms become longer. The legs also grow a little more when a European settles in America – not for himself, of course, but for his descendants. This is because, when a European comes to America, history progresses more through the midbrain to the hindbrain.
[ 25 ] But at the same time, something very peculiar happens to the American. The European, especially if he becomes a thinker, lives entirely within himself. If he does not become a thinker, he also reflects, but there is this one life that is not completely filled. But as soon as the European settles in America, he can no longer brood like that. Hence the following happens. When you read a European book, it is always full of proof, you can't get away from it. You read a whole book, 400 pages, and it's all proof; even if it's a novel, there's always proof. Most of the time, though, by the end of the 400th page, nothing has been proved. The American doesn't do that. When you read an American book, everything is presented as an assertion. This is where it goes back to where instinct begins. The animal does not prove anything. The lion does not prove that it wants to eat another animal; it eats it. The European – if he wants to do something, it must first be proved. Everything must first be proved. This is the great difference between the European and the American today: the Europeans prove, the Americans assert.
[ 26 ] But one cannot say that what they claim cannot be equally true. It is just that it is more thoroughly understood by the whole person. In this the Americans have an advantage over the Europeans. On the one hand, they are approaching their demise – the Indians are indeed perishing – but when you begin to perish, you become wise. So the Europeans become wise when they cross over; they get out of the habit of proving.
[ 27 ] The desire to prove is not exactly a forward-looking trait. If you have to do something in the morning, you can start proving it in the morning, and you still can't do it by the time you go to bed at night because you still have to prove it. The American will not do this because he is not trained or drilled to prove anything. And so it will certainly be the case that America will have an initial advantage over Germany. One can make very interesting observations here. If you pick up a European book, it begins, let's say, with a book, and such books are indeed written, it is an account of the digestion of cockchafers. The animal genus of the cockchafer also contains digestive organs; however, they elude ordinary observation. One must penetrate deeper into the entire organization of the cockchafer – and so it goes on; one must therefore prove everything. The American begins by saying: If you dissect a cockchafer, you will find such and such inside it. — He claims by observing. And so, you see, it is the case with the Europeans that they no longer develop their racial peculiarities so much because of their overall set-up. They develop more the mental and spiritual characteristics. Therefore, they can also penetrate into all other parts of the world. Of course, it happens slowly with extinction.
[ 28 ] The sun always sends more or less that down to Earth which is light or warmth. Now, as I told you, we have the vernal point in Pisces. Before that it was in Aries. After some time it will be in Aquarius. Only then will the real American civilization come. Until then, more and more civilization will move over to America. Those who want to see it can already see today how powerful the Americans are becoming, and how Europe is gradually becoming more and more powerless. And the fact that there can be no peace in Europe now is due to the fact that Europe no longer understands its own country. Now the whole civilization is moving over to America. It will happen slowly, but when the sun enters the sign of Aquarius at its vernal point, it will send its rays down on the earth so favorably that American culture and civilization will be particularly powerful. We can already see that today.
[ 29 ] You see, it is really so strange: over here in Europe, we can develop what we call anthroposophy. It must be developed out of the spirit. It can no longer be derived from racial characteristics. It must be developed out of the spirit. And those people in Europe who do not want to grow closer to the spirit will plunge Europe into disaster.
[ 30 ] The Americans do not need it yet, especially those who travel there. There they can rely even more on racial characteristics. And so, curiously enough, something strange is happening over there in America. Anyone who reads American books very carefully, who listens carefully to parliamentary speeches, who takes in anything at all of what is going on in America today, will say to themselves: Gosh, that's something very strange. We in Europe are developing anthroposophy from the spirit. Over there they are developing something that is a kind of wooden puppet of anthroposophy. Everything is becoming materialistic. But for those who are not fanatics, what American culture is for them is similar to what anthroposophical science is in Europe. Only there everything is made of wood. It is not yet alive. We in Europe can bring it to life out of the spirit. They take it out of instinct.
[ 31 ] You see, you can see that in every detail. The time will come when this American 'wooden man', which in fact everyone still is, will begin to speak. Then he will have very similar things to say to European anthroposophy. One can say: we in Europe develop anthroposophy in a spiritual way; the American develops it in a natural way. Therefore, when I discuss anthroposophical matters, I can often point out: well, this is anthroposophical, and this is the American caricature. That is the caricature of it.
[ 32 ] But if someone is a fanatic and finds his way into anthroposophy not through an inner life but through fanaticism, then he will find the harshest words of abuse for Americanism, because – it is not true that a person rants most about the monkey because the monkey is similar to him but is a caricature. And so it really is a strange story, like between the North and South Pole, between what we spiritually achieve in Europe and what is achieved naturally in America.
[ 33 ] Scientific books in America look quite different than in Europe. They actually talk about the mind all the time, but they imagine the mind in a rough and material way. That is why spiritualism has emerged in America in recent times. Because what does spiritualism do? It wants to talk about the spirit and imagines the spirit as cloud phenomena, would like to have everything as cloud phenomena. That is why spiritualism is an American product; it is based on the spirit, but in a materialistic way. It is so interesting that materialism is really rampant in America, but is actually on the way to the spirit, while when a European becomes a materialist, he dies as a human being. The American is a young materialist. Actually, all children are materialistic at first, and then they grow out of it and move on to something that is not materialism. So the American crass materialism will grow into something spiritual. That will be when the sun rises in the sign of Aquarius.
[ 34 ] Now, you see, in this way one can see what our task is as Europeans. It is not our task as Europeans to constantly grumble about the Americans, but rather we must, of course, establish a civilization across the whole earth that is composed of the best.
[ 35 ] Of course, if you think about it the way the Prince of Baden did, who fell for the American European Wilson, then it doesn't work. Because Wilson was not a real American. He actually took all his theories from Europe. That is why he came up with such unfruitful theories. But true Americanism is that which will actually unite with Europeanism, which will find its way in a more spiritual way. And then you see how you actually have to behave in the world when you study something like this in this way.
[ 36 ] And so it is really quite interesting: on the one hand you have the black race, which is most earthly. When it goes west, it dies out. You have the yellow race, which is in the middle between earth and space. When it goes east, it turns brown, aligns itself too much with space, and dies out. The white race is the future race, it is the race that works with the spirit. When it moved to India, it formed the inward-looking, poetic, literary, spiritual Indian culture. When it now moves to the West, it will develop a spirituality that does not so much take hold of the inner man, but rather grasps the outer world in its spirituality.
[ 37 ] And so in the future, precisely because of the racial peculiarities, things will arise that one must know in order to properly place oneself in life. People are getting less and less of a proper attitude in life. They just want to have everything at lightning speed, people, and not really learn.
[ 38 ] This has come about because in the last third of the 19th century, basically, nothing human was offered to people who had been educated, especially those who had been educated scientifically. Isn't it true that it is now so difficult with the study of man? Even the materialistic scholars themselves are noticing that. They are getting nowhere. And at the last natural science conference it was interesting. There was one of these natural scientists who noticed it particularly strongly: one no longer gets anywhere, one learns nothing about the human being from current science. But he did not say: So we have to approach anthroposophy, but he said: Give us corpses so that we can dissect them.
[ 39 ] You see, that was all he could say: Give us corpses! People want more corpses. They want to study the dead human being. That was a real catchphrase: Give us corpses! — while we can do without corpses here, because we want to look at and study the living human being. To do that, one need only open one's eyes and look through one's eyes somewhat at the soul, for the living human being can be found everywhere. One meets nothing but living human beings. One must be able to live with them, however, in order to gain a true insight into the nature of the human being. But the people who are scholars today actually have very weak eyes. They do not see the human being. And then they longingly plead: Give us corpses! Then they can study. Give us corpses! In recent decades, educational institutions have been in such a situation. There people have not absorbed anything human. Therefore, the human element has been eliminated from all sciences.
[ 40 ] That is why I dealt with this question in the first chapter of my “Key Points of the Social Question”. I had to show how those who had nothing to do with science, but with work, had come to it. And now, of course, they wanted science. But the others, the bourgeois, could not give them the science they apparently had. And that is how the whole calamity in civilization came about. The workers demanded science, and it was not there, because only a science that is unhuman was there. I presented this in the first chapter of the “Key Points” because one really must understand this first when talking about the social question. So it was necessary that the “Key Points of the Social Question” begin with this in the first chapter.
[ 41 ] Well, we have covered the colors a little further today, gentlemen.