Author Topic: On Greeks & Pygmies  (Read 391 times)

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Holden

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On Greeks & Pygmies
« on: June 17, 2018, 12:50:24 am »
   In thinking so highly of work we are aberrant. Few other cultures have ever done so. For nearly all of history and all prehistory, work was an indignity.
   Among Christians, only Protestants have ever believed that work smacks of salvation; the work and prayer of medieval Christendom were interspersed with festivals. The ancient Greeks sought salvation in philosophy, the Indians in meditation, the Chinese in poetry and the love of nature. The pygmies of the African rainforests – now nearly extinct – work only to meet the needs of the day, and spend most of their lives idling.

      For the ancients, unending labour was the mark of a slave. The labours of Sisyphus are a punishment. In working for progress we submit to a labour no less servile.
-Gray
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

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Nation of One

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Re: On Greeks & Pygmies
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2018, 08:55:57 am »
What could be more ironic than for one's sole motivation in studying anything, especially mathematics, to be to secure "gainful employment" ?

What could be more absurd?

What one will require is a great many days, even years, of leisure.  Better still, decades of leisure.

The last thing you will want is an employer or a supervisor.  In fact, if you really want to focus, once and for all, on learning the essentials in a manner in which you might gain some real confidence, then you will certainly not want some pretentious math professor filling your head with doubt and despair!

What is it that Schopenhauer and Cioran have in common besides their pessimism?

They were able to elude the "work force".

It is secular blasphemy to suggest one will want to find a way to elude employment or anything which will enslave you (including jail and the army) in order to develop a mental life and devote oneself to learning for the sake of learning, as an end in itself.

My god, they will want to keep you away from the youth, for sure.

How corrupt of me to value learning as an end in itself and to show outright disrespect for the shameless ambition touted by mainstream society as somehow admirable.

Of course, one has to live with a bit of guilt and shame, for living as a kind of parasite ...

Once and for all someone ought to speak clearly and honestly about the dignity of "not being cut out for obedience and servility".


How has society managed to make obedience something admirable?

There are some truths which are rarely spoken.

I do not worship athletes or soldiers.  These are not my heroes.  Do the Hollywood producers think we all idolize gladiators?   It would be better to be the kind of man no slave-driver would ever want to deal with.  It is best to appear useless to the captains of industry.

Some will point out that I personally benefit from the labor of what amounts to modern-day slavery, and I am afraid I have no honorable way to respond to such criticism.  In other words, I suppose I am guilty as charged.  I do not claim to be a saint.   

Once in a blue moon, about every 50 days or so, I even indulge in dining at McDonald's Hamburgers.   For over 40 years I have consistently ate the same exact meal:  A Quarter-Pounder without cheese (even though they still charge you for the cheese - you are required to order a, get this, "Quarter-Pounder WITH Cheese WITH NO CHEESE please"), a medium French Fries, and a small chocolate milk shake.

Yes, I'm afraid that today, in order not to pass out while collecting fruit from the fruit stand, I may succumb to imbibing the Sacred Cow on a sesame seed bun, and on bended knee, be fed by 666 *** Ronald McDonald *** 666 and Its humble and understandably disgruntled employees who appear surprisingly cheerful.   

One woman who is a manager is missing an entire hand.  I always feel ashamed to be served by her.  Maybe I ought to just stock up on pitted prunes and load up a baggy to go ... to keep from passing out at the fruit stand.

Oh, and someone must plant the fruit trees and tend to the orchards, no?

How can I live with myself?   I just suppress the guilt and shame that is part and parcel of being a useless eater.  At least I am not flying around in an airplane dropping bombs or indoctrinating the youth to love Big Brother.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 11:20:21 am by Kaspar Hauser »
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

~ Tabak und Kaffee Süchtigen ~