Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.
Attributed to Mark Twain.
Chinese Wisdom Concerning Money
[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO
Comments
cavalock: we should always be doing, especially when we are in danger of having fallen into the trap of complacency.
MOI: agreed, but people, being what they are, tend to be lazy and prefer to do minimal thinking, instead preferring to ensure they are more or less like everyone else.
I know you are like that, Richard! You stick to your own thoughts and are not swayed in the least by the crowd...and your thoughts are well researched. I admire all that.
Of course, there is also the case of people who seemingly reject the mainstream and choose an alternative stream (say punk). However, from the way I see the picture, while they are associating with a different social class of people who do not reflect the majority, they are still adapting to the majority view within that class. This goes for any social organization or clustering - people have a tendency to congregate with like people. Again, there is nothing necessarily wrong with this.
This then brings me to the question of free will and whether or not we have any. Do I behave the way I do because I have no more choice in the matter than someone who conforms? I.e., am I just wired differently?
True majorities are rare things, people continually refine into narrower and narrower groups, based on finer distinctions (this is one reason I don't believe school uniforms work, to an outsider there is uniformity, but to an insider, there are distinctions). I think the following is illustrative:
A man was walking across a bridge one day, and saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. He ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.
"Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Are you religious?"
"Yes."
"Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."
"Jump you heretic."
(and, yeah, as usual, I am pulling together disparate topics because I think they are really all related)
To kep my blog from being inactive, I decided to post a quote. It was not directly inspired by your posts, but it may have been influenced.