Replying to LO26667 --
Leo Minnigh writes:
> Well, now I think over my own words and yours, I begin to hesitate. Was it
> wise of me to suggest the Divina Comedia as part of the reading list for
> managers? I am not sure, because I think that precious works of art or
> nature in the wrong hands will destroy these works. Should we start
> creating a reserve for precious things on this planet and place a strong
> watcher at the entrence of this reserve? This watcher allows only those
> who have passed an examination of good behaviour and who have showed their
> ability to enjoy the precious works.
This of course brings to mind Juvenal's line "Who watches the watchers?".
On another list, I sae the following from one Alex Martelli:
>> And now, for a bit of heresy, I wonder if there isn't something to
>> be said, in addition to the ease of Python, against Python too?
{Python is a programming language -- DD}
> Sure -- I'll start. The same argument as was made by many in
> the Church when the novel and troublesome idea of teaching higher
> culture to laymen first surfaced (a bit less than 1,000 years
> ago, in Bologna -- accidentally my hometown). "If we let just
> EVERYBODY have this [knowledge/programming-power], they'll just
> do WHATEVER they want without our wise guidance for their good!".
> This is clearly unacceptable and MUST be squelched.
> The Churchmen were right, btw. From the Alma Mater Studiorum
> (official name of Bologna's teaching organization from the 11th
> century -- "Universitas" is a rather newer word, also coined here
> in Bologna) came the thinkers who told the Emperor his power's
> legitimacy did NOT descend from the Pope, sparking centuries of
> clashes and wars between Emperors and Popes, ending the relative
> quiet of the Middle Ages and fostering the emergence of such
> blights as city-states, capitalism, the Renaissance, eventually
> the Reformation.
Leo again:
> Should we concentrate the good and beautiful in a earthly paradise or
> should we hide these things in between the bad and ugly all over and
> around the world? Who is the Solomon between us who could give the answer?
I'm hardly Solomon, but I'll hazard an observation: I think the Law of
Requisite Complexity would lead us to be very careful when trying to draw
lines between the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.
--Don Dwiggins "May those who free themselves from the conquest by others SEI Information Technology not fall into the predicament of the conquerers." d.l.dwiggins@computer.org -- At de Lange
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