tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7037385.post8117594129014433156..comments2024-03-04T22:54:13.447+05:30Comments on Remains of the Day: Aphorisms on Intellect (continued)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7037385.post-72229286928523452222010-04-20T19:09:19.283+05:302010-04-20T19:09:19.283+05:30Harman,
It seems your arguments on the intellect ...Harman,<br /><br />It seems your arguments on the intellect revolve around the premise that the endgame of thought is meaninglessness. This is controversial among many who respond to your posts, but I agree with you here. This premise explains the human condition.<br /><br />From here, you then make a value judgment on the actual experience of meaninglessness. You rightly claim that it has the qualities of a tragedy, and that it can have detrimental emotional/intellectual effects for the individual. Arising from these effects are the ills of modern society, which appear to exacerbate the fundamental problem for those who reject religious faith, but are also not able, or refuse to keep up with modernity's high-speed progress, endless distraction, and rampant narcissism. It's a cycle of increasing alienation.<br /><br />This creates a problem for the alienated intellectual who is concerned with the problems of the modern age he is a part of. He realizes now that he can't attempt to tear down the beliefs of the masses because doing so will only lead to the horrible experience of meaninglessness mentioned above. You wrote: "An intellectual loves to demolish belief, and while this is a pleasant distraction for him, it is life-threatening to others." I'm not so sure that it's merely a "pleasant distraction" that he "loves" to take part in. It leaves no room for the tormented intellectual who is wondering why nobody else sees or understands the great tragedy we're all currently a part of. Perhaps one of the greatest moral goods an intellectual can aspire to is to keep his mouth shut.<br /><br />Of course, you know what kind of thinking that sounds like. :)<br /><br />Or, maybe we're defining "intellectual" differently.<br /><br />-MMS. Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07112749045283372233noreply@blogger.com