Powerful conceit…
There is a passage in Moby Dick that we discussed in class tonight that I found quite interesting, Queequeg (the magnificent cannibal) was dying, they had built his coffin, he had even tried it on for size, so to speak, but then he "had changed his mind about dying: he could not die yet, he averred. They asked him, then, whether to live or die was a matter of his own sovereign will and pleasure. He answered, certainly" (366). Emerson wrote in his essay "Self-Reliance" that society never really advances because for everything that it gains, it looses something:
Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is christianized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration. For every thing that is given, something is taken. Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts.
I do think that society has lost as much as it has gained in becoming a more modern and scientific world. We have gained physical medical breakthroughs, but lost those inner, spiritual senses. We have gained powerful ways of connection, but lost the ability to really be connected. We have gained entertainment tools (radio, televison, computers) and lost the ability to be silent and still and introspective. As much as I have to be thankful for medical breakthroughs, and as much as I enjoy my iPod and my Tivo…I’m not sure that we have really gained in the long run. If we can never see ourselves for all the noise–have we lost the point of the journey?
So they look at Queequeg with his "hieroglyphic" tatoos and his complete comfortability in his skin and with his being complete as his own society–neither heathen nor Christian–how he has come to an understanding that neither is a complete picture and see that "Queequeg in his own proper person was a riddle to unfold: a wondrous work in one volume" (366). And they miss the point that we are each riddles to unfold, that each human being is a wondrous work in one volume that we have lost the ability to read.
We talked about this in a pscyh class I had last semester, the price we’ve paid for quantifying and measuring and dissecting everything - the loss of the mysteries, the wonderment, the paganish spirituality which sees holiness in everywhere.
Two things:1-I love when the power goes out. When I lived at my parent’s house, this happened much more often than now. The reason I loved/love it, is that I feel much more in tune with my senses. The other day I was sitting, with no television or radio, but there were still electrical, mechanical noises all around. It is almost never truly quiet. Living in the city, there is no escape from artificial noise. My point is that we are constantly externally stimulated and never really forced to exist on our own, within ourselves which would increase our chances of being at home within our own skin.2-Scientific gains actually have the effect of making me aware of mystery and complexity. Though we know so much, I am amazed at just how little is understood. I work to understand things on the molecular level and though we have ammassed incredible amounts of knowledge, there is always more to know, more to figure out, and more to attempt to unravel. For all that we believe we understand there is a world of mystery. For me learning inspires me to want to know ever more. I am never impressed by people who think themselves experts on a topic. It seems to me that there there is always more to know.Your posts are always thought provoking and I appreciate that you share your thoughts in this forum.Peace.Michelle