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There are perhaps three determining studies we pursue in our lives, politics, philosophy and science. (I am including religion as a philosophy).
Politicians, as a general rule look to control the populace, and in their efforts they must do what they can to maintain power. They are not as concerned with what may be true, but more how they can retain their vaulted position of power. There are, and have been, many who have had the interest of the people at heart, especially in this country, but throughout the world, it has been an occupation of self-interest.
Philosophers are more interested in what in life is real, but they tend to see things from their particular vantage point. That satisfies their proof. Their main proof is their own experience. Every one is a sort of philosopher in interpreting life as it has appeared to them. An eagle sees things from a different angle than a sparrow, or a bunny rabbit.
Scientists study the world to learn what is real. They interpret the material world according to what they can prove as true. They have made tremendous advances in the last 200 years, which has changed their conceptions of reality, and given the world unheard of advances in what can and cannot be accomplished. They have advanced our understanding to a point where we now, as never before must be careful, as we could blow up the entire world in prideful desolation.
The primary reaction of the opportunist has been a great loss in people's former dependency on their fear and worship of a supreme being, a God. Some seem that we can get along and have even more freedom without his getting in the way. Those looking for a quick fix don't get many quick fixes from him anyhow. There is an undercurrent of those who fear that if we don't get it right, God will finally lose his patients and destroy the world. They are trying to save themselves and whatever they can, through self-denial in a world of sin and corruption.
Through science we have also slowly come to realize that everything in creation is closely and intimately controlled by fixed laws that cannot be changed or modified. These natural laws control the responses of everything in a world of cause and effect. They actually control the world. Other creatures are governed by instincts they get in the womb. Thus a tiger is a tiger, and an apple tree cannot produce oranges. Mankind is the only creature in this world whose life is his to live. He is not controlled by all the instincts he was born with.
I believe that people in general are born with more equality in their potential than we realize. We have different talents just as we have different faces, but our development is too often stymied by the way we are taught during our formative years. We see so many examples of genius in so many different ways that one wonders what civilization would be if every child had the advantage of a truly effective education right from day one, free from biased propaganda and misconceptions.
I do not believe that genius is some kind of rare brain development that freakishly appears in some like Einstein or Beethoven. I think it is more likely a natural occurrence in all of us, which is all too often stymied by the conditions, and rivalries, of our introduction into this world. I am reminded of that recent motto we used to see on TV ads for encouraging better education in poor communities, which said, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." A wasted mentality is one of the most common and horrific tragedies of life in this world. We stand today in the doorway of a new enlightened beginning. I believe we'll make it. May God bless America.
Richard Westlund is a Collins resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com