Quote:
Originally posted by trudes1131
To know your world is to experience it. To avoid that knowledge is to merely reside within it.
And you know who else merely resides? Cockroaches.
Funny how that works.
|
"Ady also warned of the danger that 'the Nations [will] perish for lack of knowledge.' Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves." - The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (Carl Sagan, 1996)
But... then again...
"... where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise" - Thomas Grey ("The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan)
Or does it make more sense to think that...
"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have it." - Circle of the Seasons, the Journal of a Naturalist's Year (Edwin Way Teale, 1954)
But whichever the case...
"...it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. Which gives us more leverage on our future? And if out naïve self-confidence is a little undermined in the process, is that altogether such a loss? Is there not cause to welcome it as a maturing and character-building experience?" - The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (Carl Sagan, 1996)
I also read some British article many years ago,
very long article that I really wish I could find. The gist of it-- as I recall-- was this:
Say you buy a new game. The game presents you with a screen that has two buttons, like so:
Of course, you want to win, right? So you click the "win" button and a congratulations screen pops up and praises you for how wonderful you are. I mean, that's what you wanted, right? To win? But it doesn't feel that great, does it? What's missing is the
struggle. The gist of this article that I read was about struggle. It basically took a positive view on struggle and the purpose of its existence. By the way, if anyone has seen this article or knows where to find it, or has at least read something similar, I'd
really like to know. I was too young when I first read that article to really care about keeping track of it. I was old enough to understand the merits of its content, just not smart enough to make a copy of it...
But what is pleasure without pain? What is sweet without sour? Do you really want to live a life of nothing but bliss? I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it, but in the movie "The Fifth Element" this issue is briefly addressed. In the scene with Immanuel Zorg and the priest Cornelius, Zorg drops a glass onto the floor and several small robots come out and start cleaning it up. He mentions that chaos bring order, or something like that. Destruction incurs reconstruction. Struggle essentially provides purpose. What happens to all the cops when crime suddenly stops? What if all arson ceases and desists-- what will firemen do (and firewomen, too
) How about government and laws? What if everyone started behaving and being nice to eachother and started sharing? Hell, we wouldn't even need an economy anymore!
As such, I think I'd prefer the truth. I like struggle-- it brings purpose to my moogley existence. Red pill for me, please.
