From Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations":
“To look back upon things of former ages, as upon the manifold changes and conversions of several monarchies and commonwealths. We may also foresee things future, for they shall all be of the same kind.”
We have many sayings in English that convey this premise of a symmetry between the past and future. For example: "Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it." But I wonder how true it is. In some ways, this idea is manifestly false. The computer, the satellite, the vaccine, and other technologies have changed life irreversibly.
On the other hand, as I have commented on this blog before, I always find it amazing how appropriate and fitting some of the things that these authors wrote thousands of years ago are to us today. To me, that hints at the possibility that there are aspects of the human condition which are immutable: friendship, love, family, etc. Some of these things, and all their associated joys and headaches, were part of life before recorded history, and they will always be part of life as long as humanity continues.
But even some observations related to power and money seem perennially true as well. Even though our governments, armies, and economies are considerably larger and more powerful than those of several thousand years ago, the same kinds of temptations of exploitation seem to be present. The same kinds of personalities of domination seem to prevail.
Under that lens, it seems strange that all of the changes of the 20th century haven't had that much impact on what is fundamental to us as humans after all.
Food for thought!
“To look back upon things of former ages, as upon the manifold changes and conversions of several monarchies and commonwealths. We may also foresee things future, for they shall all be of the same kind.”
We have many sayings in English that convey this premise of a symmetry between the past and future. For example: "Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it." But I wonder how true it is. In some ways, this idea is manifestly false. The computer, the satellite, the vaccine, and other technologies have changed life irreversibly.
On the other hand, as I have commented on this blog before, I always find it amazing how appropriate and fitting some of the things that these authors wrote thousands of years ago are to us today. To me, that hints at the possibility that there are aspects of the human condition which are immutable: friendship, love, family, etc. Some of these things, and all their associated joys and headaches, were part of life before recorded history, and they will always be part of life as long as humanity continues.
But even some observations related to power and money seem perennially true as well. Even though our governments, armies, and economies are considerably larger and more powerful than those of several thousand years ago, the same kinds of temptations of exploitation seem to be present. The same kinds of personalities of domination seem to prevail.
Under that lens, it seems strange that all of the changes of the 20th century haven't had that much impact on what is fundamental to us as humans after all.
Food for thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment