A New Cognitive Transformation

Yemenat

19-06-2025

In high school, I would read and reflect as I roamed the desert after noon on the chosen days of the week, distributing my directions and traversing a new path each day. Sometimes, I aimed for a destination at a specific angle in the vast expanse of the desert, returning without necessarily retracing my steps.
I ventured deep into the desert, as far as I could go, as if searching for a new world, always mindful of the time to return before dusk, ensuring that darkness did not descend before I reached my dormitory.
I felt as if I were the first human to traverse that neglected desert, seemingly untouched, with no significant trace of human activity across its wide stretch. I appeared like the first explorer, treading upon its vastness.
Just as I raised my voice in the desert, I also unleashed my questioning mind. In the face of doubt, I flung open the doors of inquiry. The bewilderment of questioning occupied much of my thoughts.
A stark contradiction brewed between the notions I had grown up with, shaped by what I learned in Islamic education, and the knowledge I was gaining in geography, biology, philosophy, and other sciences. The questions stimulated my mind and consciousness, still tender and inexperienced, as I eagerly sought to understand all that was possible and new.
Through accumulated knowledge, I realized that submission does not cultivate awareness or understanding; rather, it breeds stagnation, lethargy, and dullness. It is the debate, contradiction, and pursuit of answers to the questions simmering in consciousness—even the simplest ones—that create knowledge, enriching it and challenging the ignorance and false consciousness that cling to the mind.
The skeptical questions opened my mind to deeper understanding, including some that defied answers and sparked frustration in my mother during my innocent, curious childhood.
As I contemplated the desert, I delved deeper despite the heat and the scorching winds and sands. I would ask myself: Has this desert always been in this state since the earth was formed or since God created the simple existence?
I would pause at small, peculiar stones—lightweight black rocks, jagged or filled with numerous voids in their outer walls—that seemed out of place in the desert's nature. Clearly, they had come from a different environment altogether. Most were about the size of a fist or slightly larger. I would wonder: Were these once celestial bodies or asteroids drifting through space? Could these be remnants of meteors cast by God to thwart the devils?
Whenever I spotted the various shells scattered across the desert, I would question: Did the sea once cover all this land? When did the sea rise to this point, or was it here and then receded? Were these shells a stage in the evolution of life?
* * *
I was captivated by my tall Palestinian biology teacher, with his fair skin and political affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as he explained Darwin's theory of evolution. I followed him with astonishment, thinking to myself: it seems quite reasonable and logical, at least to a large extent—especially the parts supported by evidence and scientific endorsement, which appeared to hold a degree of certainty or a place on the ladder of truth.
What I heard from my biology teacher was unlike anything I had encountered before. His words were striking and worthy of attention as he spoke of the ladder of evolution and its many details. I found some aspects of human origins shared or closely aligned between Darwin's theory of evolution and some ideas presented by Engels in his work 'The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State.'
Perhaps I sensed the logic in the theory, or at least much of it, which, at its worst, contained elements of truth and utility. I enjoyed the way he presented it and the evidence he provided for its various facets, which perhaps unsettled some of my convictions and sparked doubts, shaking the foundations of my firmly rooted beliefs, while also exploring broad horizons for the possible.
Today, supporters of Darwin's theory continue to grow steadily within scientific circles, and it is increasingly applied in fields such as biology, paleontology, and anthropology.
In 2009, a nonpartisan American research center called the Pew Research Center conducted a survey within scientific communities regarding Darwin's theory of evolution. The results indicated that 97% endorsed the view that humans and other living organisms have evolved over time, with 87% attributing this evolution to natural processes such as natural selection.
* * *
I found myself captivated by the subject of philosophy and its teacher, a Palestinian with a slight olive complexion who was also affiliated with the Popular Front. He introduced the philosophical question: 'Is man free or destined?' This was the first time I had encountered such a question, and it continued to stimulate my mind, revealing the fragility of my beliefs as I tentatively approached the thresholds and doors of knowledge.
From philosophy, I learned the importance of debate, the collision and fusion of ideas and theories, and their historical evolution within the broader process of knowledge. I became aware of the significance of questioning and doubting assumptions in the pursuit of truth and understanding. I recognized my own illusions and the many weaknesses in the beliefs that had dominated my mind during the years that had passed.
I generally enjoyed subjects like the sciences and social studies, feeling that they shaped my awareness and made a difference in both my academic and general knowledge. They posed numerous questions to my mind, leading to newfound insights or brighter understandings in the face of ignorance. Many things in my young mind shifted from what I once thought and believed. I felt these subjects were adding something new to my experience, something I had never encountered before.
In my third year of high school, the distance between me and my previous beliefs began to shift in favor of doubt, or at least some of it. I recalled the questions I had innocently and spontaneously posed as a child. New convictions started to form—convictions that were more logical and reasonable, some supported by evidence. I sensed that new concepts were crystallizing in my mind, moving away from sentiment and emotion towards rationality, fueled by increasing doubt and a plethora of questions.