A reminder of our extraordinary fortune to stand on the shoulders of scientific and philosophical giants; to bask in luxuries with such security that we consider them ordinary. And yet there...
A reminder of our extraordinary fortune to stand on the shoulders of scientific and philosophical giants; to bask in luxuries with such security that we consider them ordinary. And yet there remains more to accomplish. Living with such material wealth, one wonders how best to share it with many in the world who lack most/all of these providences. One tries their best to support good causes at home and throughout the world, but not much is in our control, even in a life devoted to social welfare.
My takeaway for several years has been that it is better to live simply, and appreciate the history of what we have, so that we don’t become too distant from the Center of human experience. I enjoy my luxuries, but I like them more when I build them, or work with them, or understand them; I think this might help us emulate the feeling of awe that many of these quotations offer.
What is more joyful than rapt enjoyment of a simple pleasure? The cat playing with a piece of metal and cork, the child and a spout of water, myself and my crossword puzzle? I’m not sure that modern luxuries—heated leather car seats, second living rooms, infinitely exotic dinners—are really so elegant if they accustom us to lifestyles that enforce a negative view on anything fundamental. Or if they separate us from the people we would otherwise be communing with.
So well put. One aspect of modern life that im doing my best to quell is travel for travel's sake. I love going to new places, enjoying new food and meeting people from other cultures, but each...
So well put. One aspect of modern life that im doing my best to quell is travel for travel's sake. I love going to new places, enjoying new food and meeting people from other cultures, but each time I get home, in reminded that the lack of time spent immersed in a place, my ignorance of language and cultural customs and the environmental and cost footprint of it all makes the experience feel hollow.
Really, travel (as in vacations) is mostly an exercise in fatigue, logistics and discomfort.
Personally, the best traveling I ever did was living abroad in New Zealand for a year after college. I worked, I made friends, I traveled to parts of the country Kiwis likely wouldn't go and it changed my life.
The gap year is a wonderful gift and I'd encourage young people to rely on that for their major travel experience, not annual resort trips and cruise excursions
It is amazing to think of how things were before some world-changing invention. However: I think if we've proved anything in modern society, it's that our capacity to become accustomed to change...
It is amazing to think of how things were before some world-changing invention. However:
Of all the marvellous achievements of modern science, the Electric Telegraph is transcendently the greatest and most serviceable to mankind. It is a perpetual miracle, which no familiarity can render commonplace.
Briggs & Maverick, 1858
(Emphasis added)
I think if we've proved anything in modern society, it's that our capacity to become accustomed to change is at most a generation or two. These days, we are so awash in novelty and innovation, I think we've become numb to wonder.
A reminder of our extraordinary fortune to stand on the shoulders of scientific and philosophical giants; to bask in luxuries with such security that we consider them ordinary. And yet there remains more to accomplish. Living with such material wealth, one wonders how best to share it with many in the world who lack most/all of these providences. One tries their best to support good causes at home and throughout the world, but not much is in our control, even in a life devoted to social welfare.
My takeaway for several years has been that it is better to live simply, and appreciate the history of what we have, so that we don’t become too distant from the Center of human experience. I enjoy my luxuries, but I like them more when I build them, or work with them, or understand them; I think this might help us emulate the feeling of awe that many of these quotations offer.
What is more joyful than rapt enjoyment of a simple pleasure? The cat playing with a piece of metal and cork, the child and a spout of water, myself and my crossword puzzle? I’m not sure that modern luxuries—heated leather car seats, second living rooms, infinitely exotic dinners—are really so elegant if they accustom us to lifestyles that enforce a negative view on anything fundamental. Or if they separate us from the people we would otherwise be communing with.
So well put. One aspect of modern life that im doing my best to quell is travel for travel's sake. I love going to new places, enjoying new food and meeting people from other cultures, but each time I get home, in reminded that the lack of time spent immersed in a place, my ignorance of language and cultural customs and the environmental and cost footprint of it all makes the experience feel hollow.
Really, travel (as in vacations) is mostly an exercise in fatigue, logistics and discomfort.
Personally, the best traveling I ever did was living abroad in New Zealand for a year after college. I worked, I made friends, I traveled to parts of the country Kiwis likely wouldn't go and it changed my life.
The gap year is a wonderful gift and I'd encourage young people to rely on that for their major travel experience, not annual resort trips and cruise excursions
It is amazing to think of how things were before some world-changing invention. However:
I think if we've proved anything in modern society, it's that our capacity to become accustomed to change is at most a generation or two. These days, we are so awash in novelty and innovation, I think we've become numb to wonder.