Unreasonableness (704 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 1.33 on 13 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by toddska <> (View user info) at 2004-09-22 06:56:31 EDT
George Bernard Shaw once said something along the lines of
"Reasonable men search for compromises thereby maintaining the status quo while the unreasonable man pushes boundaries"
He then surmised that progress is only made by unreasonable men (and women although back then women didn't seem to count)
He was probably not the first person to understand this concept of human progress coming from unreasonableness, although the way he actually wrote it was quite unique.
Was he right though? Well you could say that who the fuck cares. The point is though that he hit on the concept of social revolution as an evolutionary process. Humanity has progressed because there are always assholes pushing attitudes to the limit.
Take the present situation and analogy that may piss a lot of people off. Pre-September 11 the world was in slumber. We were merrily fucking, drinking, working, ignoring things basically and along come a group of unreasonable assholes with attitude and some measure of fundamentalist belief (the basis of the belief was irrelevant as it was just a motivational tool) then they strike at the heart of Western capitalist "culture" ( I think "system" is possibly more apt here).
The result was expected. We always do this and always have. We got pissed off. Collectively. Before anyone starts bashing Americans again you have to realize that we have always done the "knee-jerk" reaction thing. It isn't something that the Americans invented. We all have this in our collective history.
So what is the result after all this mayhem in Afghanistan and Iraq? Well nothing really. A bit of chaos and shit-loads of debate. The best thing coming out of it is that less people are in slumber.
I personally have done more reading on world politics and history since these events than I did before. It has made me evolve. It has made me unreasonable in some areas and I see it in others as well. But at the very least, despite the oil and Islam and all of the things that we think are central to the issues, the bottom line is that we are in fact evolving our ideas and beliefs possibly without realizing it.
These are just thoughts I had this morning while others around me thought I was in fact working.
User Reviews
Submitted by the_lone_stranger (user info) at 2004-09-22 16:53:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree.
Submitted by VirtuosoDilettante (user info) at 2004-09-22 16:34:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
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Submitted by toddska <> at 2004-09-22 06:56:31
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(1)"Pre-September 11 the world was in slumber. "
(2)"So what is the result after all this mayhem in Afghanistan and Iraq?" ... "The best thing coming out of it is that less people are in slumber."
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(1) I would not have used the word "world". This sentence appears far too absolute and inclusive.
(2) It would seem that at least some people have awoken from their ignorant slumber. However, the effects of this one event are lost unless those that have "awoken" pass the message on.
Now that you have this knowledge\insight, what are you going to do with it?
Submitted by Badlands (user info) at 2004-09-22 14:00:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting.
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2004-09-22 12:48:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I often think of this when recalling the American Revolution. It took the right group of "unreasonable" men at the right time in history to do an "unreasonable" act and declare independence from England. Thank goodness for those men, and all of their unreasonableness.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2004-09-22 09:41:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Let's hear it for lack of reading comprehension!
This is a great and well thought-out post. Too bad people see the words "9/11" or "war" and go off with their knee-jerk reactions. Its almost as if they didn't even read the post. If they did, they might begin to notice that they are, in fact, proving one of your points.
Cripples.
Submitted by toddska (user info) at 2004-09-22 09:05:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
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Submitted by garyhal (user info) at 2004-09-22 08:48:48 (#)
Ranking: 1
I think you're all missing the jest of this post. I think it's got a deeper meaning. Perhaps I'm wrong. +1 not for a smile, but for some good lateral thinking.
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Thanks for the comment. Im searching for a style here in my writing and to see what is comfortable and what works. I was trying a little satire here but i dont think it quite worked. I am naturally gravitating towards political and social satire although its real difficult to pull off.
Cheers though
Submitted by garyhal (user info) at 2004-09-22 08:48:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I think you're all missing the jest of this post. I think it's got a deeper meaning. Perhaps I'm wrong. +1 not for a smile, but for some good lateral thinking.
Submitted by toddska (user info) at 2004-09-22 08:45:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
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Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-09-22 07:56:07 (#)
Ranking: -2
So what is the result after all this mayhem in Afghanistan and Iraq? Well nothing really. A bit of chaos and shit-loads of debate. The best thing coming out of it is that less people are in slumber.
I personally have done more reading on world politics and history since these events than I did before. It has made me evolve
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You justify war and killing by the fact that it motivated you to learn? Wow. Sounds like, "Well it sucks for all those people whose lives were ruined, BUT at least I had some entertaining television to watch."
Hey, some of us are capable of self-motivated learning.
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Interesting interpretation of what I actually wrote....all i was inferring was that conflict and the basis of it eg human unreasonableness was a part of our evolution.
I dont remember actually making a case for the justification of conflict.
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-09-22 07:56:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
So what is the result after all this mayhem in Afghanistan and Iraq? Well nothing really. A bit of chaos and shit-loads of debate. The best thing coming out of it is that less people are in slumber.
I personally have done more reading on world politics and history since these events than I did before. It has made me evolve
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You justify war and killing by the fact that it motivated you to learn? Wow. Sounds like, "Well it sucks for all those people whose lives were ruined, BUT at least I had some entertaining television to watch."
Hey, some of us are capable of self-motivated learning.
Submitted by toddska (user info) at 2004-09-22 07:35:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
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Submitted by DyingBreed (user info) at 2004-09-22 07:26:24 (#)
Ranking: 0
im not sure the title of this exists
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yeah i thought so too until i found it in the Microsoft Bookshelf dictionary/thesaurus
Microsoft surely cant be wrong...can it??
Submitted by DyingBreed (user info) at 2004-09-22 07:26:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
im not sure the title of this exists
Submitted by funk_boy (user info) at 2004-09-22 07:11:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've had 2 coffee's this morning.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2004-09-22 07:11:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
what a horrible word.
unreasonableness, horrible.