I am impressed by the individual’s interest—and I do not know if I should say attrition—in that which is totally outside his field of action. The guy reads the newspaper and wants to tell the world his opinions. He argues with his neighbor, rebels at disagreement, clashes with whoever contests him. Then he buys more newspapers, tries to become more informed so that, on the next occasion, he can annihilate his opponents in a debate that will never lead anywhere. He spends time and nerves on the useless. For every page of the newspaper, he reads one less page of Shakespeare. He does not understand his insignificance, he ignores the harmful character of his posture. But he goes on, of course, in the name of his greatest virtue: vanity.
Tag: behavior
The Modern Trend of Producing “Experts”
There is, worldwide, a blatant tendency to produce “experts”. In principle, it is natural that all areas should be deepened and that more and more detailed studies should be made available to the average student. However, the question remains: What about the whole? What about the connection between different areas of knowledge? I say and think about two things. First, in Carpeaux’s monumental História da literatura ocidental, a work that the more I analyze it, the more I find it valuable: in it, which could never be classified as “superficial,” more than twenty centuries of culture are magnificently concatenated. The student sees the impossible link shining before him and conquers, in relatively few pages, a vision that allows him to move through the most diverse currents of thought. A work of this kind is the opposite of the current intellectual trend. Secondly, I think about the students. Multiple interests, diversified study does not usually make careers: he who becomes an “expert” grows. By becoming an “expert”, the student flirts with the possibility of knowing one area and ignoring all the others, ignoring, as well, the real applicability of the knowledge itself. Well done! Which is worth more, or what is the point of studying? It seems to me that the main distinction between modern intellectuals lies in the answers.
The Modern Monster
Mário Ferreira dos Santos, about Nietzsche, in free translation:
He was the adversary of the State, the modern monster, the Moloch of our days, the devourer of men and consciences, the most brutal creation of human weakness and who will end up totally tiring it, to the point of one day abhorring all forms of oppression, and destroying them with an impetus that will make the pages of history tremble. It will not be easy to understand this for the man of today, this captive who licks his shackles, this “Haustier,” this domesticated animal who has grown accustomed to worshipping the monster of which he speaks.
The note is dated 1957. What to say? A little over half a century, and we can verify the accuracy of Mario’s brilliant observation. The collapse of the modern state is inevitable, however… the “captive who licks the shackles” continues, passive, to lick them, in a state of admirable unconsciousness in which he does not show the slightest sign of exhaustion. The situation has only worsened: the monster has grown, its dominion has expanded, and it no longer has any shame. The question, however, remains unanswered: until when? On the one hand, the reaction is inevitable; on the other, awakening seems distant. What is clear is that, as Mário predicted, the day will come when the “devourer of men and consciences” will be faced with a violent and extraordinary explosion, coming from an apparently perpetual lethargy.
It Is Not Possible to Detach From Surroundings
It is true: it is not possible to detach from surroundings, to be a ghost, completely alien to time. The environment, like it or not, is an important component. However, there is a daily and useful exercise that consists of distancing oneself, or in other words, to be silent. To turn eyes inward and, as far as possible, ignore surroundings. Choose isolation, deny active participation, accept and adapt. Seek, if possible, to close ears, blocking out external influence. And thus, allow that only the inextinguishable part, or, let’s make a concession, the essential part, remains of the environment.