Thanks, I appreciate that. Yes, there is not an adequate appreciation of the range of human experience or opinion. I do not believe that the gap is always unbridgeable, and I think that human beings can progress in understanding, but it is necessary to acknowledge the limitations and problems to make any headway, and sometimes it is hopeless. There is almost no common ground between myself and a Hottentot. I am in the superior position, insofar as I can more readily inform myself on how he lives, but to understand what it is like to live that way is a practical impossibility. Even when there is more in common, will we ever understand why the French adore Jerry Lewis? One of the things I got out of my trip to France (the first time I was out of the country) was that despite a fair reading knowledge of French, and a love of French culture (food, movies, music), I had not imagined what it would be like, nor how purely foreign it would be.
I think I am more comfortable with variances, although I may be wrong. After all, I used to go from lighting the Menorah to Christmas parties with my mother's relatives, and experienced being brought up as a Jew for some number of years, then being brought up as a Catholic as a teen. I went from liberal Democrat (following my family), to radical sympathizer (I used to know a big chunk of the Port Huron statement, and aspired to be in SDS when I got to college), to moderate liberal, to conservative. I grew up in an integrated neighborhood, and have a black sister- in- law. At the same time, the mother of one of my best friends was a supporter of George Wallace, and sometimes got on a soapbox in front of me. In general, I have seen a lot at close quarters....... |
