It is curious to note how most of the modern “discoveries” have nothing to do with discoveries. In the field of psychology, it is hard to find anything relevant that is not already outlined—and often better outlined—in the works of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, not to mention the oriental texts. But Dostoevsky’s “polar bear challenge,” or Nietzsche’s observation that “the best ideas come by walking,” rather than being immediately grasped by intuition, had to wait a century for them to be properly validated by idle experimentation. The misery of this time is that it demands that everything bear its distinctive stamp; otherwise it is worthless. So it seems that efforts are directed more at stroking a collective vanity than at widening the extent of what can be called man’s knowledge.
Most Modern “Discoveries” Have Nothing to Do With Discoveries
