{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 120/1910-05-16/p027","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"In spite of this, we shall not understand human life if we only follow the sequence of phenomena as we have just done, if we only fix our attention on what man has within him in the way of cause and the effects which concern him. We need only bring forward a simple case to make things clearer, and we shall at once see that we cannot understand human life if we take into consideration only what has already been said. Let us take a discoverer or an inventor, for example, Columbus, or the inventor of the steam-engine, or any others: in the discovery there is a distinct action, a distinct achievement. If we examine the action and seek for the cause why the man did it, we shall always find such causes by searching along the lines just pointed out. We shall find in his individual and personal karma the reasons why Columbus sailed to America and why he determined to do so at just that particular time. But now we might ask if the cause must be sought for only in his personal and individual karma; and is the action only to be considered as an effect for the individuality working in Columbus. That Columbus discovered America had certain consequences for him. He rose by doing so, and became more perfect, and this will show itself in the development of his individuality in succeeding lives. But what effects has this achievement had on other men? Must it not also be considered as a cause which affected the lives of countless human beings?","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"1. The Nature and Significance of Karma in the Personal and Individual; and in Humanity, the Earth and the Universe","site_heading":null,"date":"1910-05-16","location":null,"word_count":264,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-16/p027","alignment_confidence":"medium","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"not_established","translator":null,"identified_edition":"RSP1984","book_title":"Manifestations of Karma","publisher":"Rudolf Steiner Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100516p01.html","evidence":null,"reason":"source_says_translator_unknown","note":"The source page itself says the translator is unknown. No translator is established for this lecture: nothing at the level of the lecture names one. Do not attribute this English to a translator, and do not borrow a credit from another lecture of the volume. Cite the German for anything load-bearing."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","edition_basis":null,"is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-16/p027"},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/120/1910-05-16/p027","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1910-05-16","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-16/p032","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-16/p032"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false,"length_check":{"de_words":290,"en_words":264,"ratio":0.91,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 120/1910-05-16/p032","passage_number":32,"text":"Nun würden wir das menschliche Leben aber trotzdem nicht verstehen, wenn wir nur die Reihe der Erscheinungen verfolgen würden, wie wir es bis jetzt getan haben, indem wir nur dasjenige ins Auge faßten, was im Menschen um des Menschen selber willen an Ursachen liegt und an Wirkungen aufgesucht wird. Wir brauchen uns nur einen einfachen Fall vor die Seele zu führen, der nur so dargestellt werden soll, daß er anschaulicher wirkt, und wir werden gleich sehen, daß wir das menschliche Leben nicht verstehen, wenn wir nur dasjenige in Betracht ziehen, was wir jetzt eben gesagt haben. — Nehmen wir einen Erfinder oder Entdecker, zum Beispiel Kolumbus oder den Entdecker der Dampfmaschine oder irgendeinen andern. In der Entdeckung liegt eine bestimmte Handlung, eine bestimmte Tat. Wenn wir diese Tat ins Auge fassen, so wie sie der Mensch getan hat, und dann die Ursache suchen, warum sie der Mensch getan hat, dann werden wir immer solche Ursachen finden, welche in der Richtung liegen, wie wir sie jetzt angegeben haben. Warum Kolumbus zum Beispiel nach Amerika fuhr, warum er gerade in einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt diese Absicht faßte, dazu werden wir die Ursachen finden in seinem individuellen und persönlichen Karma. Aber wir werden uns jetzt fragen können: Wird diese Ursache nur im persönlichen und individuellen Karma gesucht werden müssen? Und wird die Tat als Wirkung nur betrachtet werden müssen für die Individualität, die in Kolumbus wirksam war? -— Daß Kolumbus Amerika entdeckt hat, hat eine bestimmte Wirkung für ihn gehabt. Er ist dadurch gestiegen, ist vollkommener geworden. Das wird sich zeigen in der Fortentwickelung seiner Individualität im folgenden Leben. Aber welche Wirkungen hat diese Tat noch für andere Menschen gehabt? Müßte sie nicht auch als Ursache betrachtet werden, die in unzählige Menschenleben eingegriffen hat?","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":290,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/120/1910-05-16/p032"}],"english":["GA 120/1910-05-16/p027"],"method":"length","confidence":"medium","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":290,"en_words":264,"ratio":0.91,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":1.01,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":8705,"original_word_count":8647,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"not_established","translator":null,"identified_edition":"RSP1984","book_title":"Manifestations of Karma","publisher":"Rudolf Steiner Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100516p01.html","evidence":null,"reason":"source_says_translator_unknown","note":"The source page itself says the translator is unknown. No translator is established for this lecture: nothing at the level of the lecture names one. Do not attribute this English to a translator, and do not borrow a credit from another lecture of the volume. Cite the German for anything load-bearing.","warning":"No translator is recorded for this edition. An unattributed translation cannot be weighed as a witness: you cannot tell which hand made the choices in it. Cite the German for anything load-bearing."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 120/1910-05-16/p032"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"medium","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}