Many times it seems that the people surrounding me may
very well be educated and intelligent, but unable to comprehend the meaning of
my words and utterly frustrated by them. At first, I thought I was to blame,
till I compared my experience with different circles of friends, finding that
certain people did understand me fully. These people could be from different
backgrounds, educated or not, men and woman, religious or atheist, they had a
capacity others lacked.
I believe this lack of philosophical capacity,
handicapping a slice of society, is the reason to seclusion of the philosophical
minority. Unable to understand philosophical conversation, the majority tries to
filter meaningful phrases out of a whole dialogue, with the result of being left
with absolute rubbish, therefore discarding the whole conversation, and getting
frustrated over their time wasted. The next unavoidable stage is secluding those
minority persons, although the negative effect on society as a whole.
Society loses from this discouraging process it's
brightest minds, those who see and think differently, those who one day could
have been able to upgrade the human condition valuably. Instead, these talented
individuals crawl sulking into their caves with lack of recognition, these
powers go to waste unharnessed.
It is rare indeed to find a place, an environment in
which the philosophical types can flourish. It can be a workplace, a family, a
neighborhood, any forum in which the individuals can flourish, bringing out
their talents and expressing their true selves. The internet has sprung many
such environments, unleashing springs of freshwater to revive the world.
Only through intercourse of thought and ideas, through
experiencing revolutionary styles of life and thinking, can a great philosopher
evolve. It takes more than a genius working by himself to truly accomplish
something great. It is the effort of a team, woven together, that can help the
final product come to life. I say final, but nothing in philosophy is truly so,
but after coming to life – the philosophical idea or concept has a life of its
own, growing and expanding in ways the originators could not have foreseen.
This sociological function at the micro-level works
also at higher and wider levels, in my experience.
A society that cannot, or won't, support the minority
that functions as its think-tank will not evolve and eventually get
exterminated. A society, as Orthodox Jewry, that has fought against and crushed
sprouts of contemporary and original thinking, will dwindle and die. There is no
other way, to live is to progress is to rethink old concepts and mold them anew.
We should fear stagnation more than we fear change, because refraining from
change will definitely kill us.
Society has a lot to lose from embracing progress,
valuable assets of tradition will be inevitably lost, but embrace it we must,
with due caution, if we truly value our tradition and cherish it continuous
struggle through the ages. It seems ironic, but I believe it is true, we must
change in order to stay ourselves. It is a game of survival, and those deemed
unfit are strangles by the iron grasp of natural cause. We have so much to lose,
let us embrace the new.
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