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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (140453)	7/15/2004 3:58:23 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Whenever you find you are lost, my grandfather used to say, look back at how you got where you are and you will find your way again.

To: Neocon who wrote (140453)	7/15/2004 6:43:57 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Neo, there is an infinite amount of knowledge available, already, let alone yet to be created. Plug a word into Google and see how much is available right there in an instant, let alone in megamillion books and other writings, and dying daily as the brains of millions of people show their mortality, evaporating the memory of a lifetime each time. It's not a choice between Heroin and Horatio Alger. ihot.com Hmm, that's odd. I hooked Horatio out of my head because it had an h and an o and I was trying to think of the opposite of heroinic mindless nodding. I thought I'd better ask Google who the heck Horatio was because I had no idea. Apparently I must have at some stage heard of the guy, but thought he was some Greek figure from a couple of thousand years ago. Anyway, with never having heard of Horatio, I seem to be doing okay in my life. I've never heard of nearly everything, but I'm doing okay. So as per Popper's falsifiability test, knowing about Horatio isn't necessary to do okay, so the theory that knowledge of history is essential, is wrong. I also don't know about nearly everyone and those I do know of, such as Abraham Washington, the first USA president, I know almost nothing of, and half of what I know is probably false [due to misrepresentation by historians and others who report about them]. It would be nice to know how we got here. But it would be nicer to know where we are going. We don't know where we're going, but we're on our way. The good thing about going somewhere is that we have a choice in where we go. We don't have a choice about where "we" were 100 years ago. "He who ignores history is doomed to repeat it", is a silly cliche. In fact, those who ignore history are unlikely to repeat it. They won't obsess over some imagined wrong from 200 years ago, which obviously had nothing to do with them since they weren't even alive, and neither are the evil-doers of the day. Those who cling to history, whether they be Fundamental Christians, fanatical racist patriots, hide-bound traditionalists, Islamic Jihad insurrectionists or simply your garden variety Luddite, are doomed to repeat it. Those who ignore it are free to create the future. What is at stake is their very survival. Those who cling to a way of life suited to the industrial revolution, or the stone age, or any other traditionalist's mantra, will remain mired in the past. Everything is moving. Everything. Granite monuments to a bygone era erode and pigeons poop on their heads. The Jefferson monument is very impressive, but fraying around the edges. Lenin and Mao are frozen in their mausoleums, bringing in good tourism revenue but little else. China and Russia have moved on. It's a false dichotomy to say it's either heroin or history. Just as it's false to say "either with us or against us". I may be indifferent. I prefer neither heroin nor history; though I dabble in a bit of history - but hey, I can handle it. It's just recreational fun. Mqurice PS: A side issue, but Google gave me this when I couldn't remember the 'ignore history, repeating history' cliche authenticmoney.com I like Google. It's like having an extra thinking department, which takes me to things associated to what I'm thinking, full of facts [and history ... hey, I can handle it.... lay off okay. I'm going to stop reading and get out of bed any time now] It's even a bit eerie, as though it knows what I'm thinking and gets me there before I know that's what I want to think about. Who is charge around here anyway? I am. But am I, or am I just a reflection of Google, smoothly segued by the beast into my next mental state? History teachers try to lay that one on pupils - filling their heads with what the teachers want!