Status: comes and goes.
Me, My Prussian Blues (and That Guy With the Horns)
The Thoreau Challenge Final Reflection
From another world though I am, even I can feel pity for Henry David Thoreau. He is indubitably a powerful mind; but what use is that power without ambition? Simplicity holds us back, and marveling at nature only makes us fools. This return to simplicity is the death of genius. Without innovation and technology, we are nothing but beasts.
Thoreau's turn to nature is Jim Burden's explanation of happiness; just a way to feel part of something bigger. But humans have no part and no business feeling close to nature. Is it not our nature to destroy? Let's quit this flipping denial and be the creatures of intellectual self-manipulation we so desire to. The bleeding heart act is as effective as it is productive.
The reason some so idealize a return to nature and the simplicity of stupidity is residual guilt from one, eating from the tree of knowledge, and two, realizing that human society is an inherently evil entity.
I don't know why humans cling to their self-carved slots in the circle of life, looking up at the stars and trying to find balance and all that. We don't live in that world, plainly. Due to some really remarkable evolutions in thought, the human being supersedes all other living things in potential to destroy, which is exactly what we like to hear (except in different words). We don't need a god to tell us we were born to have dominion over all other organisms, that we have the right to abuse the land for our own needs; we know it! We acknowledge superior thought, we have an inimitable penchant for communication, and most of all we have the individual will to succeed. These factors of our development push us to keep thinking, to keep writing and keep finding ways to distinguish ourselves as one among many of the most successful, self-destructive mammals on earth. Ambition! Ambition! Ambition! What use is dissecting the human mind in an attempt to reduce ourselves to a common denominator with the rest of the inferior world? We are the master race, and must continue to protect that sanctioned designation by exercising and training the unlimited potential of the human mind.
It is too bad that most success happens at the expense of another of our species, but this is just what the world is asking of us: social Darwinism. While we are not cogs in the same machine as the “world”, we do respond to environmental changes upon our planet because we are still essentially animals. So, the response to overpopulation and abuse of resources will be a race of survival of the fittest for modern day people; and our greatest asset is no longer in strength but in thought, so we must never attempt to curtail progress with a return to simplicity. One will never know as much about stars by looking at them as they would listening to an in-depth lecture by a learned astronomer. The way of the human being is science and reason; with those we can conquer all.
This assignment made me think of the state our youngest generations are in. While I am temperately offended by the blatant stereotyping of my age group that this project was a front for, I must of course recognize the almost horrifying dependency on gadgets, of the American youth. When one grows up glued to the screen of an iPad and “tweeting” to strangers, one of the fundamental assets of humanity fades away: communication. Technology is forcing the population into radio silence but for the tapping of fingers on touch screens. However, I might also boldly put forth the possibility of the increased detachment from one's fellow humans constructing a new value system based on the merits of face-to-face honesty and character. The growth of the Interwebs promotes not ignorant globalization of community, but a universal distrust for all but the rare human figure engaging in dialogue. While daily conversations of meaningful value are things of the past, maybe sometime soon they will be so valued that only the really classy rich people get to do it without getting odd looks. Already the importance of character is seen in the workplace, in hospitals and banks, but that is more in the interest of making money. The fact that people prefer to talk to a sincere, polite individual rather than the recorded voice on the phone or some bratty stranger on the Internet is already a testament to the growing rift (or bridge?)
between social and technological communications.
The scroll on my wall bears the character for Victory, and I will get there alone.
Thoreau's turn to nature is Jim Burden's explanation of happiness; just a way to feel part of something bigger. But humans have no part and no business feeling close to nature. Is it not our nature to destroy? Let's quit this flipping denial and be the creatures of intellectual self-manipulation we so desire to. The bleeding heart act is as effective as it is productive.
The reason some so idealize a return to nature and the simplicity of stupidity is residual guilt from one, eating from the tree of knowledge, and two, realizing that human society is an inherently evil entity.
I don't know why humans cling to their self-carved slots in the circle of life, looking up at the stars and trying to find balance and all that. We don't live in that world, plainly. Due to some really remarkable evolutions in thought, the human being supersedes all other living things in potential to destroy, which is exactly what we like to hear (except in different words). We don't need a god to tell us we were born to have dominion over all other organisms, that we have the right to abuse the land for our own needs; we know it! We acknowledge superior thought, we have an inimitable penchant for communication, and most of all we have the individual will to succeed. These factors of our development push us to keep thinking, to keep writing and keep finding ways to distinguish ourselves as one among many of the most successful, self-destructive mammals on earth. Ambition! Ambition! Ambition! What use is dissecting the human mind in an attempt to reduce ourselves to a common denominator with the rest of the inferior world? We are the master race, and must continue to protect that sanctioned designation by exercising and training the unlimited potential of the human mind.
It is too bad that most success happens at the expense of another of our species, but this is just what the world is asking of us: social Darwinism. While we are not cogs in the same machine as the “world”, we do respond to environmental changes upon our planet because we are still essentially animals. So, the response to overpopulation and abuse of resources will be a race of survival of the fittest for modern day people; and our greatest asset is no longer in strength but in thought, so we must never attempt to curtail progress with a return to simplicity. One will never know as much about stars by looking at them as they would listening to an in-depth lecture by a learned astronomer. The way of the human being is science and reason; with those we can conquer all.
This assignment made me think of the state our youngest generations are in. While I am temperately offended by the blatant stereotyping of my age group that this project was a front for, I must of course recognize the almost horrifying dependency on gadgets, of the American youth. When one grows up glued to the screen of an iPad and “tweeting” to strangers, one of the fundamental assets of humanity fades away: communication. Technology is forcing the population into radio silence but for the tapping of fingers on touch screens. However, I might also boldly put forth the possibility of the increased detachment from one's fellow humans constructing a new value system based on the merits of face-to-face honesty and character. The growth of the Interwebs promotes not ignorant globalization of community, but a universal distrust for all but the rare human figure engaging in dialogue. While daily conversations of meaningful value are things of the past, maybe sometime soon they will be so valued that only the really classy rich people get to do it without getting odd looks. Already the importance of character is seen in the workplace, in hospitals and banks, but that is more in the interest of making money. The fact that people prefer to talk to a sincere, polite individual rather than the recorded voice on the phone or some bratty stranger on the Internet is already a testament to the growing rift (or bridge?)
between social and technological communications.
The scroll on my wall bears the character for Victory, and I will get there alone.