If all the non-ignorant people never took the time to attempt to enlighten ignorant people, the world would soon become black and white, and things would stagnate. This actually does happen a lot I think. Some examples of this can be seen with the misconceptions about drug addicts and alcoholics as well as misconceptions about criminals. There's no saying that a "ignorant" person doesn't have some valuable insight into something that you are unaware of, making you the ignorant person in this other circumstance.
Anyways I really valued you's guy's conversations, because you guys debate things with me and make me feel challenged to question my own motives and ideas. Which hopefully will help me grow.
Ta Ta for now,
-Leon
P.S the picture is on top of a mountain in Maine in Acadia Park. Me and some camp counselor friends went there on a weekend off. We should all hike it this summer.
The duality of ignorance/non-ignorance is something that I am personally trying to come to grips with. For quite some time now, I have upheld the ignorant, childish, romantic aspect of my personality, while deferring the more responsible, rational approach. I think a significant reason why I so often choose to step into ignorance and embrace it is just plain laziness. It is much easier to think of life as a giant mystery, and to act irrationally in accordance with what appears to be an irrational world.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, the world is mysterious in so many ways, but I think what is so truly exciting about mystery is not that it is mysterious, but rather that the mystery could be explained somehow someday; that truths can be uncovered. I think the feeling of mystery itself is simply the first step in a long line of inquiry and exploration, and not simply something that should be exclusively sought after. But this does take work.
However, I have simply sought good times without having bad times, reward without sacrifice, enlightenment without thought. But the meaning of good times, reward, and enlightenment are never realized without their opposites--there is no reference, and therefore no true pleasure. And thinking this way has really caused me to hurt other people. I forget shit all the time, which from what I can tell comes from "live in the moment" mentality. I don't think things through very often, many times acting on emotion (my gut), rather than with reason. But we are human beings, and to act on emotion exclusively is to act a fool. We have the capacity to be reasonable and fair, and these are supremely human traits. To become a fully developed (or at least, a still developing) human, it seems we really have to keep learning and thinking, and in so doing, allow for times to fall in love and laugh and smile.
It's all a balance. I am realizing that a good life is about riding the ripple between ecstasy and disaster, never getting addicted to the awe, never getting bogged down by sorrow. The inner child must succumb to the adult if we are to even value the perspective of the child. When you were a child, you didn't think you were special--you didn't embrace your inner child, or even value it--you just were. And adulthood seemed like such a mystery. It is only when you become an adult, and allow yourself to explore the wonders and mysteries of being an adult that you can examine your inner child, and actually value it.