The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post

alatar · 06-30-2005, 12:01 PM

Been thinking about this more and think that it all comes down to change.

Whether it is the fate of the world, art, architecture, etc, it's about change. As humans we not only detect patterns, we also detect 'change' in that some event has risen above some noise threshold to be consciously noticed by us. The caveat is that we have limited and biased viewpoints.

You may think that the world is spiralling down into moral muck, yet it may be that the world is changing (like it always does) and you are now aware that something is happening. On the other side it could be you that has changed, and so now the world now looks different. I know that my POV changed after leaving childhood and after having children. When I was leaving childhood I learned that the world wasn't just like my limited experience could have imagined, but actually a large and wonderful place with all kinds of new crazy people to meet and from whom to learn. When I had my first child, I started looking at the outside world differently yet again. The culture in which I live did not just get ugly, yet suddenly I was concerned about the future and more specifically the future in which my children will live.

We may think that we are living in the worst or best of times, but could it be, like the stock market, we are just experiencing a short-term peak or valley? Averaged over hundreds or thousands of years, our current peak/valley may not even be significant. Hate to say it, but as a species, we may not even be significant in the bigger scheme (did someone say mice?).

Sure, our technology is better - we have better stone tools - but how much have we changed emotionally/spiritually/physically over the past few thousands of years? It's still the same wants of a full stomach, a warm and safe place to sleep and a mate with which to create the next generation. With our advances we now have time to navel-gaze a lot more, yet on the other hand while we're not out gathering food we have to kill the time doing something, like even posting to forums and such. One thing that I've noticed is that many people have an almost instinctual fear of snakes, yet except for the zoo and excluding the two-legged species, just when was the last time most people have had an encounter let alone an adverse encounter with a snake?

We're still cave dwellers.

And though I won't debate global warming here, there was a time in the 70's when the big scare was global cooling. As a youngster I was sure that my house was going to be run down by a glacier and so me and my friends devised several strategies for pushing the ice back (it's always lasers).

Art changes. Note that my exposure to 'art' is limited, yet I've seen that in one era it's beautiful lifelike paintings of divine beings and then suddenly it's crazy-headed 2-D people then it's large soup cans. Each era's art has some temporal meaning (counterculture? etc), and then may have a different meaning to the next generation ("Those large soup cans sure would make nice planters...").

In 'Merica I'm sure that we have some 'old' architecture somewhere, but the issue with our culture is that we are always looking for the new (and note, fellow countrypersons, that I speak in generalities here in). The old is cool because it is different, but then again, we have the need to build a mega-mart every three miles or so, and the parking lots must be big enough for our SUVs (I believe that my British cousins would call these vehicles 'buses'

), and so sometimes those 25 year old buildings have to be torn down to make way. Again my experience is limited but I would say that my culture is generally focused on the future.

I live in a neighborhood with some old beautiful houses, yet these are falling into ruin as many people have left the city (Did I say city? That might not be the best word...please insert the word that means "a place that should be torn down and be replaced with a slum as an improvement") due to high taxes, poor government and the loss of the steel industry, and so the houses are vacant, ill-kept or ill-used. It's a shame as my parents tell of a completely different place. And they surely thought that steel was going to live forever, and yet here we are.

And to get back on topic (or off my tangent), looking over the ages of Arda, one would see a downward slope if the measure were 'perfection,' yet other variables may have positive slopes (non-embalmage, humanity, diversity).

06-30-2005, 12:01 PM	#56
alatar Doubting Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Heaven's basement Posts: 2,466	Been thinking about this more and think that it all comes down to change. Whether it is the fate of the world, art, architecture, etc, it's about change. As humans we not only detect patterns, we also detect 'change' in that some event has risen above some noise threshold to be consciously noticed by us. The caveat is that we have limited and biased viewpoints. You may think that the world is spiralling down into moral muck, yet it may be that the world is changing (like it always does) and you are now aware that something is happening. On the other side it could be you that has changed, and so now the world now looks different. I know that my POV changed after leaving childhood and after having children. When I was leaving childhood I learned that the world wasn't just like my limited experience could have imagined, but actually a large and wonderful place with all kinds of new crazy people to meet and from whom to learn. When I had my first child, I started looking at the outside world differently yet again. The culture in which I live did not just get ugly, yet suddenly I was concerned about the future and more specifically the future in which my children will live. We may think that we are living in the worst or best of times, but could it be, like the stock market, we are just experiencing a short-term peak or valley? Averaged over hundreds or thousands of years, our current peak/valley may not even be significant. Hate to say it, but as a species, we may not even be significant in the bigger scheme (did someone say mice?). Sure, our technology is better - we have better stone tools - but how much have we changed emotionally/spiritually/physically over the past few thousands of years? It's still the same wants of a full stomach, a warm and safe place to sleep and a mate with which to create the next generation. With our advances we now have time to navel-gaze a lot more, yet on the other hand while we're not out gathering food we have to kill the time doing something, like even posting to forums and such. One thing that I've noticed is that many people have an almost instinctual fear of snakes, yet except for the zoo and excluding the two-legged species, just when was the last time most people have had an encounter let alone an adverse encounter with a snake? We're still cave dwellers. And though I won't debate global warming here, there was a time in the 70's when the big scare was global cooling. As a youngster I was sure that my house was going to be run down by a glacier and so me and my friends devised several strategies for pushing the ice back (it's always lasers). Art changes. Note that my exposure to 'art' is limited, yet I've seen that in one era it's beautiful lifelike paintings of divine beings and then suddenly it's crazy-headed 2-D people then it's large soup cans. Each era's art has some temporal meaning (counterculture? etc), and then may have a different meaning to the next generation ("Those large soup cans sure would make nice planters..."). In 'Merica I'm sure that we have some 'old' architecture somewhere, but the issue with our culture is that we are always looking for the new (and note, fellow countrypersons, that I speak in generalities here in). The old is cool because it is different, but then again, we have the need to build a mega-mart every three miles or so, and the parking lots must be big enough for our SUVs (I believe that my British cousins would call these vehicles 'buses' ), and so sometimes those 25 year old buildings have to be torn down to make way. Again my experience is limited but I would say that my culture is generally focused on the future. I live in a neighborhood with some old beautiful houses, yet these are falling into ruin as many people have left the city (Did I say city? That might not be the best word...please insert the word that means "a place that should be torn down and be replaced with a slum as an improvement") due to high taxes, poor government and the loss of the steel industry, and so the houses are vacant, ill-kept or ill-used. It's a shame as my parents tell of a completely different place. And they surely thought that steel was going to live forever, and yet here we are. And to get back on topic (or off my tangent), looking over the ages of Arda, one would see a downward slope if the measure were 'perfection,' yet other variables may have positive slopes (non-embalmage, humanity, diversity). __________________ There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.