Replying to LO29230 --
Dear reader, At, Alfred,
Cycles. In Northern Europe the elephants have become extinct a few
thousand years ago. Due to the climate change? Because of inbreeding?
Thanks to men? The rules of Nature lead to an anarchy: no purpose, no
leaders, no respect, survival of the fittest - and the fittest didn't have
to do anything but to inherit the "right" genes, no justice. Anarchy is
the "natural" state and (or however) it can only be contemplated by using
rules and principles. Anarchy is not without its own structure. Perhaps
the very name "anarchy" hints at the core of the paradox. Anarchy has its
own set of rules, not unlike the state we're in.
Human beings are - or were, depending on your point of view - a part of
nature. I assume we're not a kind of extranatural beings. So we must have
developed his sense for natural anarchy, long before we were able to
contemplate a state of anarchy using rules and principles. Over the ages
we've bootstrapped (or have been endowed) ourselves into consious
contemplating the rules and principles of anarchy. And some of the rules
we do not like. We instinctively fear the dark, the empty, the loss of
control, death. Sometimes, when we look at ourselves, we do not like what
we see. So why not resist these feelings, suppress them, drives them back
to the unconsiousness?In the long run, that doesn't solve anything, but
for now it will do. Then we build system after system to control, to
manage, to deal with anarchy, emptiness, the void. Only - after sometime -
to conclude that things have returned to the state they were in, - status
quo pro ante. Freedom of thought is stiffled for the sake of maintaining
freedom. Justice is brushed aside to do justice. War is engaged to defend
peace. I once heard the saying: "it is like fucking for virginity". If
people were not so serious, i would say that it is all a joke.
(note: the situation is the same but the appearance is different. We only
see the outside and the outside situations look different. But the
processes behind the set is the same. In my opinion, every war, from the
Trojan Wars to the Second Gulf War is the same setting: men fighting their
own shadow - repressed and yet unaccepted feelings projected on others.)
So what can we learn from this? When people learn, the elephants suffer.
The situation is desperate, but not serious. Only when the pupil is ready,
the lesson can be learned. We've still not learned how to deal with our
selves, our own internal anarchy. There are some positive signs however.
Thanks to my genes, i'm an optimist by default. Due to circumstance beyond
my control, i've remained an optimist. So in the long run - when we, you
and i, - are all dead, we'll have learned to walk - not leading, not
following, just walking - with elephants. Or swimming with dolphins. Or
flying with eagles. Or, at least, crawling with worms.
Take care, kind regards,
Jan Lelie
AM de Lange wrote:
snip
>Dear Alfred and other fellow learners, can you imagine what goes on in the
>brain of elephants when humans do not respect their social dynamics? Who
>leads an anarchy among elephants? Elephants? No, humans who do not respect
>the rules of elephant behaviour. Who leads an anarchy among humans?
>Elephants? No, humans who do not respect the rules of human behaviour.
>What exactly do elephants and humans want to accomplish with their
>respective rules?
>
snip
>
>William Shakespeare once observed wisely (if I remember him
>correctly):-
>"The elephants have joints, but not for courtesy,
>His legs are for necessity, but not for flexure."
>Elephants breath oxygen, but not for the purpose of living. They
>uproot trees, but not for becoming rich. They travel to many regions,
>but not for the purpose of establishing empires. So why do they
>need to roam their continent? In their big skulls there seems to be
>brains which answer this question. Why cannot we do it too?
--Jan Lelie <janlelie@wxs.nl>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.