How The MAN Hijacked The Human Experience
By Sam Sukumar
From Human Spirit to Human Race—The Cycles That Keep Us Running
IN THE BEGINNING: The Human Spirit In Motion
The Human Spirit was a force of movement—not rushed, not frantic, but steady, expansive, and alive.
It thrived in the rhythms of nature, in the cycles of the moon, in the wisdom carried through generations.
It did not seek dominion, only understanding.
It did not seek victory, only experience.
The Human Spirit pursued depth, not accumulation.
It found purpose in:
- Seeing — Observing the world through direct experience, not searching for validation.
- Reflecting — Pausing to understand, to question, to grow.
- Becoming — Not in competition, but in alignment with the unfolding of life.
To be alive was to move with existence, not against it. To belong was not a contest.
Communities gathered around stories, wisdom was passed through song and speech, and status was measured not in ownership, but in insight.
The world was not broken into winners and losers. There was no scarcity of belonging, no manufactured urgency to prove one’s worth.
But whispers can be more powerful than weapons. The first battle was not fought with swords—it was fought with doubt.
He planted questions where there had once been certainty:
- “What if I don’t have enough?”
- “What if I am not enough?”
- “What if others are getting more than me?”
Doubt was his entry point. Control was his endgame.
And so began The Race.
The MAN: The Slow Cancer That Led To The Race
The MAN is not a king. Not a ruler. Not a god.
He is not any one thing, yet he is embedded in everything.
He is a system—a self-sustaining force that feeds on three things:
- Malice — Choosing power over truth.
- Apathy — Ignoring the slow decay.
- Negligence — Refusing to see what is being lost.
The MAN did not come with shackles. He came with ideas.
First, he questioned the natural abundance of the world.
Then, he introduced the idea of scarcity—that some must have more, and others must have less.
And finally, he made competition seem inevitable—that some must win, and others must lose.
The MAN’s greatest con was not his rule—it was his patience.
He did not force The Race upon humanity overnight. Instead, he influenced it, shaping each cycle carefully, embedding it so deeply into society that no one could remember a world without it.
And neither can you.
Try to imagine it—a world where you are enough without running, without proving, without accumulating. A world where belonging isn’t something you earn but something you are.
Does it feel impossible? That’s the real con.
The MAN didn’t just build The Race. He built a world where you believe you can never leave.
And in time, the Human Spirit, once free in its motion, became the Human Race—locked into a contest it never agreed to run.
THE FIRST CYCLE: The Invention Of The Race
(Doubt & Division – The MAN’s First Trap)
The MAN knew that power is easiest to maintain when people believe they are supposed to be in a race.
So, he turned human identity into a fixed ranking system:
- Some people had more value than others.
- Some lives were worth more than others.
- Some were born to lead, others to follow.
What Stayed With The Man
- Control was tied to identity. If people could be categorized, they could be controlled.
- Hierarchy was justified through myths. Rulers became gods, chosen ones, divine right holders.
- The Race felt inevitable. The MAN made sure people saw it as the natural order rather than an imposed system.
What Stayed With The Man Within
- The need for belonging to something “greater”—even at the cost of freedom.
- The comfort of certainty in roles—even if it meant inequality.
- The fear of existing outside the structure.
Have you ever heard that voice? The whisper of doubt, the fear of stopping, the question no one says out loud: ‘What happens if I step off?’
Think about the last time you wanted to stop, even for a moment. What pulled you back? Was it fear? Was it obligation? Or was it the quiet terror of not knowing who you’d be without The Race?
The MAN doesn’t have to keep you running. He only has to make you afraid of stopping.
The MAN within is the voice that whispers: ‘What if you fall behind?’
It is the hesitation before stepping outside the system, the fear that without The Race, you might be nothing at all. It is the part that chooses division over uncertainty because certainty—however painful—feels safer than the unknown.
But what happens when you can’t run anymore? What happens when the exhaustion outweighs the fear?
Some don’t leave The Race because they choose to. They leave because it breaks them. Their body collapses, their mind fractures, their spirit refuses to keep going.
And others? They leave because they find something real. They wake up to something beyond The Race—something worth more than speed, status, or survival.
Some wake up through fracture. Some wake up through fusion. But no one wakes up unchanged.
Historic Reinforcement: The Birth Of Social Race
- 3100 BCE – The Egyptian Pharaohs: The MAN created divine kingship. Some were born to rule, others born to serve.
- 2000 BCE – The Caste System (India): Identity was no longer fluid. People were locked into their status at birth.
- 500 BCE – The Greek and Roman Republics: The illusion of freedom—where only the elite were allowed to run in the race.
Empires fell. Kings were overthrown. Revolutions reshaped nations.
But The Race didn’t end—it evolved.
Where once the divine right of kings kept people in their place, now the illusion of endless opportunity keeps them running. If anyone can ‘win,’ then no one ever stops moving.
And when hierarchy alone was no longer enough, The MAN adapted.
THE NEXT CYCLE: The Race Becomes Survival
(Scarcity & Struggle – The MAN’s Expansion Tactic)
The Race could not survive on power alone. Too many saw through the lie. Too many revolutions, too many uprisings.
So, The MAN introduced scarcity.
When people believe there is not enough, they will fight for what little they have—without ever questioning why the race exists in the first place.
What Stayed With The Man
- Divide and conquer. If people fight for scraps, they never fight The MAN.
- Control through need. A population struggling to survive has no time to reflect.
- Expansion masked as progress. The Race evolved from controlling people to controlling resources and economies.
What Stayed With The Man Within
- The fear that if we stop running, we will fall behind.
- The belief that competition is the only way to thrive.
- The idea that “if I don’t take it, someone else will.”
The MAN within is the part that clings to survival, even when survival is no longer at stake. It is the part that hoards, competes, and justifies harm in the name of not being left behind.
Historic Reinforcement: The Race Becomes Survival
- The Crusades (11th–15th Century): The MAN turned faith into war, forcing people to fight for their place in existence.
- The Transatlantic Slave Trade (15th–19th Century): The MAN redefined race as biological destiny, barring entire populations from even entering The Race.
- The Industrial Revolution (19th Century): The MAN shifted The Race from land to labor, making survival a competition.
- The World Wars & Global Economy (20th Century): The MAN turned war into business, ensuring destruction and reconstruction were equally profitable.
By this stage, The Race was no longer just about control—it was about survival.
THE CYCLE NOW: The Race No One Can Win
(Speed & Spectacle – The MAN’s Modern Tactic)
The MAN had already succeeded in making the race a part of human history.
Now, he made sure it never stopped.
What Stayed With The Man
- Control through distraction. Speed, spectacle, and infinite scrolling keep people too busy running to question the race. The goal is no longer just to win—it’s to stay visible. If you are not seen, you do not exist. If you stop, you disappear.
- Gamification of success. The illusion that “anyone can make it” ensures people never stop chasing.
- Self-policing. People now enforce the race themselves—no need for kings or empires.
What Stayed With The Man Within
- The addiction to movement—fearing stillness as failure.
- The need to be seen, measured, and validated.
- The belief that if you’re not keeping up, you’re already behind.
The MAN within is the part of us that checks the scoreboard, even when there’s no game. It is the part that compares, competes, and never rests.
Historic Reinforcement: The Race Now
- The American Dream (20th Century): The MAN sold success as a prize, making The Race seem winnable.
- The Digital Age (21st Century): The MAN turned attention into currency, ensuring competition never stops.
- Globalization & Economic Instability (Present): The MAN made speed the measure of survival, where stopping means failure.
Now, The Race is no longer about survival—it is about speed. Hesitation is weakness, and questioning it is drowned out by the noise.
But what happens when the noise fades? What happens when you stop running long enough to listen? Do you even remember the last time you stood still?
Every runner thinks they are different. Every runner believes they are choosing The Race. But if you stopped running today—no more proving, no more competing, no more keeping up—who would you be?
Can you even imagine it?
Because that’s the real trick of The Race. It doesn’t just make you run. It makes you afraid to stop.
And if you don’t know how to stop, then who is really in control—you, or The MAN?
THE ONLY WAY OUT: To Break The Con
The MAN’s greatest trick was making us believe that the race is normal.
But what happens if you stop?
- What happens if you stop searching and simply see?
- What happens if you stop following and simply reflect?
- What happens if you stop accumulating and simply grow?
The MAN thrives in noise, movement, and competition.
He fears stillness.
He fears awareness.
He fears you waking up one day and realizing—
There is no race. There never was.
The only way to win is not to run faster. The only way to win is to step off the track.
But stopping is not the end—it’s the beginning. The MAN doesn’t just fear realization. He fears what comes after.
Because once you wake up, you can never unsee the truth.
But how does someone wake up?
The Race is designed to make stopping feel like failure—like falling behind, like becoming invisible, like death itself.
And yet, some wake up anyway.
Some wake up because The Race breaks them. Their body collapses under exhaustion. Their mind fractures under pressure. Their soul refuses to keep going.
Others wake up because they find something real—something beyond The Race, something undeniable, something that makes The Game irrelevant.
Fracture or Fusion.
Breaking apart or breaking through.
But waking up is only the beginning.
The Race doesn’t let you leave without a cost. The MAN doesn’t just fear you stopping—he fears what comes after.
Because waking up isn’t the end of The Race. It’s the start of something else.
Some wake up and fight. Some wake up and disappear. Some wake up and don’t know what to do next.
And so, the real question isn’t just What happens when you stop running?—but
What does it mean to be awake?