Assignment 3: First and Second Knowledge

Gor has what is known as First and Second Knowledge. Please write an Essay on this subject. Please touch on the significance and need for these different levels of knowledge in the populace, the tenets of each type of knowledge and the level to which each “knowledge” is guarded if at all. Is there a “third” knowledge and what is it if it exists? . Don’t just say yes or no, but explain the logic and research points that make you think one way or the other. Wordiness won’t help your evaluation in this. Succinct, clear and to the point counts more than 1000 words.

Also explain within the essay the concepts behind much of the myths of Gor and how they relate to similar myths of Earth. This is important in terms of connecting Earth and Gor with the second knowledge.

Helpful Study Links

http://members.aol.com/UbarLuther/Scroll33.html

Learn from this as well, scribe to be- UbarLuther is perhaps the best reference and analysis site regarding Gor that you will find. It is urged that you study his essays, which are many and quite deep in delving into the Goran way of life.

 

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Assignment:

First & Second Knowledge

The word "Gor" translates literally to "Home Stone." Home Stones are central to the culture of Known Gor. A Home Stone is just that, a rock. Typically, each man will have his own Home Stone, a rock kept in his home to show that it is his place and that he claims it as his own. While Terrans think of borders from the outside in, Goreans think of them from the inside out, with the center being the Home Stone of a city. Citizens of a city swear allegiance to its Home Stone, not to individual rulers or ruling bodies, typically in a ceremony on reaching adulthood. Home Stones are very dear to Goreans: a man who speaks of Home Stones should stand, as matters of honor are at stake. A conqueror may destroy the Home Stone of a city, which in essence destroys the city, but while the Home Stone survives and is uncaptured, its city lives and fights. A meek and mild man is a larl in the place of his Home Stone, and a man defending his Home Stone is not to be trifled with even by a Warrior.It is a common practice in some online circles to refer to a Home Stone as a place, as in "Let us return to the Home Stone," or "You are welcome in my Home Stone." This is categorically incorrect. A Home Stone is a rock, not a place. Persons from the same city might refer to themselves as "sharing a Home Stone," and this does indicate some minimal social bonding, but they do not refer to their City as a Home Stone. A person would not say "Ar is my Home Stone," but rather "my Home Stone is that of Ar." The reverence for the two is somewhat interchangeable: while a citizen of Ar might speak negatively of the rulers of his city, he will always express profound reverence for "Glorious Ar" herself, and a man who insults his city, insults him.
The bonding of the Home Stone, while profound, is very nebulous: for instance, merchants will try to get dear prices from customers whether or not they share a Home Stone. However, persons who do not share a Home Stone will be naturally suspicious of each other: the Gorean word for "stranger" is the same as the word for "enemy." Goreans are not irrationally xenophobic: they are aware that there are friendly strangers and familiar enemies. The sharing of a Home Stone basically entitles a person to the benefit of the doubt, whereas persons who do not share the Home Stone have a higher burden of proof to show that they are not hostile or otherwise negative.
The definition of "outlaw," on Gor, is "one who has no Home Stone." As this implies it is a very serious matter indeed not to have a Home Stone. Only outlaws and slaves have no Home Stone. Note that not all Gorean cultures have the institution of the Home Stone.

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