So Sad We Almost Made It
(So), the versatility shown
in artful deceptions becoming more and more pernicious,
in ingenious discussions as to
what is hard
and what is white,
and in attempts to disperse the dust
and reconcile different views, is great,
but the common people are perplexed by all the sophistry.
Hence there is great disorder continually in the world,
and the guilt of it is due to that fondness for knowledge.
Thus it is that all men know to seek
for the knowledge that they have not attained to;
and do not know to seek for that which they already have (in themselves);
and that they know to condemn what they do not approve (in others),
and do not know to condemn what they have allowed in themselves;
– it is this which occasions the great confusion and disorder.
—Zhuangzi, Cutting Open Stachels trans. by James Legge
Recently several of us participated in an extended email exchange circling around our fondness for belief-rooted-belief, that is the hall-of-mirrors effect. No evidence — only “people have always believed in fairies,” or maybe “capitalism proves to improve the welfare of the majority, more efficiently than any other approach.” We attempted to discuss the contrast between reason and conviction suspended in thin air.
Our discussion reached a conclusion that failed to be satisfying.
I think the paragraph beginning with “Thus it is” suggests what happens when thought and communication degenerates into nit-picking, a pirouette of logic, going nowhere.
I think that learning should result in self reflection, self-critique of one’s own assumptions… Often it does not.
I suggest this tune as a lifeline for our journey today! Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears.
2 thoughts on “So Sad We Almost Made It”
“…… learning should result in self reflection, self-critique of one’s own assumptions… Often it does not.”
No doubt that, at least for me, this should be the main lesson taught to all humanity. You and I have discussed the notion of mindfulness, of self-analysis, of remaining open to being incorrect more times than I can count. In our various emails to others we have attempted to make this point, mostly running into dead ends. I know that I can come across as stubborn and arrogant, seemingly fixed in my thoughts about specific subjects and points of view. Indeed there is an adamancy to many of my claims, but I will remain open to critiques from others and from myself. Aside from my certainty about the tenuous nature of magical thinking, I know full well that I don’t have all of the answers and that many of my assumptions are incorrect. I practically beg people to set me straight, but only if they can do so with salient, rational arguments instead of just telling me I’m wrong. “Wrong” does nothing. It stops the conversation because there is nowhere to go from there. Now, the phrase, “does this make sense?” followed by a fact-filled civil discussion can turn me 180 degrees from where I was. When that happens, suddenly I have greater insight, pieces of the eternal puzzle slip into place, and everyone is the wiser. Why can’t the world work this way? To me, this dysfunctional proclivity is the greatest mystery of our species.
Why can’t the world work this way?
Perhaps this question prompted Socrates to opt for the hemlock… Did he believe that he had done everything that he was destined to do, and the time had come to make his exit? I think that he did implore his circle of friends, including Plato, to keep the dialog going. After all, if words are not our lifeline, what is?