Only the sage knows that the ten thousand ages are the same, that nothing is gained or lost.
Wang P'ang
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Salutations.
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"Hi buddy, what's new?"
"Nothing."
I sometimes have the fantasy that all the great thinkers of the past: the artists, philosophers, scientists, engineers and technicians, are sitting around in some vast invisible club house watching us earthlings make mistakes, grapple with and eventually solve problems. And every time a discovery is made one of them points down at us and says, "See? I told them so."
Back in the 17th Century a music critic was quoted as saying that all of the possible combinations of tones had been created and that there would be no new music. That was before Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky and jazz. I think that critic's name has been lost, justifiably.
Anyone who thinks that human wisdom, knowledge and understanding are complete, codified and summed up is no sage and lives in a hole. What the sage knows is that it is all there waiting patiently, like a faithful pet, to be discovered.
The law of aerodynamics has always been there. It wasn't invented. The cave men had it. What they didn't have were airplanes. I think it is fascinating that there is so much more to be discovered that is already there and has always been there. We emerge from the smallest point of understanding and grow into a greater world of knowledge toward an infinity. What could be more exciting?
We stand on the shoulders of the sages and as we learn what they knew we prepare to offer our shoulders to the children of today. That's the way it works.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
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May the day bring you unexpected delight.
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3 comments:
when I feel very frustrated with the limitations of my world I fnd comfort in imagining a circle of wiser people 'over there' somewhere and if I can listen in I can expand my world into infinity and stop feeling so bound and restricted. Life keeps on happening and that seems to be an aspect of infinity, too and people figure stuff out, perhaps inspired by beings they cannot see? Gerry
Not only do we still have a multitude of things to learn about what is to come, there is also much to learn about our past! :) B.
I ponder what the next 10-20 years will bring. Things change at a much faster rate now, but the large earth-changing discoveries are slower. It is more about information and access now than major inventions. Having said that, I expect that the way we travel, the way we produce electricity, the way we build towns and cities will change drastically sooner rather than later.
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