|
Home
About
Contents
Guidelines
Glossary
Contacts
Discussion
Recent Discussion
Create New Topic
Membership
Join Now
Login
|
Current Circumstance
Table of Contents: Simple Wisdoms Overview
Degrees of Consciousness
Not everyone seems to be conscious to the same degree. The differences have been noted by many. H. L. Mencken quoted Neitzche concurring:
It is only a small minority of human beings who may be said, with any truth, to be capable of thought.1
Mencken himself concluded:
Here the general average of intelligence, of knowledge, of competence, of integrity, of self-respect, of honor is so low that any man who knows his trade, does not fear ghosts, has read fifty good books, and practices the common decencies stands out as brilliantly as a wart on a bald head, and is thrown willy-nilly into a meager and exclusive aristocracy. 2
It was not the lack of money or lack of education that, in themselves, made a man inferior. Rather, the inferior man was simply the one who knew nothing that was not common knowledge to every adult and could do nothing that had not already been done by someone else. He meanly admired mean things. His outstanding characteristic was his readiness to believe what was palpably not true.3
And before Mencken, Confucius observed:
The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.
The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property.. . .
The superior man is liberal towards others' opinions, but does not completely agree them; the inferior man completely agrees with others' opinions, but is not liberal toward them.
The superior man is firm, but does not fight; he mixes easily with others, but does not form cliques.. . .
The superior man is easy to serve, but difficult to please, for he can be pleased by what is right, and he uses men according to their abilities. The inferior man is difficult to serve, but easier to please, for you can please him (by catering to his weaknesses) without necessarily being right, and when he comes to using men, he demands perfection.4
Like the skill of riding a bicycle, consciousness may be an acquired trait. Just as some people take to riding a bicycle more easily than others, some people may be conscious to different degrees.
Confucius said, `Those who are born wise are the highest type of people; those who become wise through learning come next; those who learn by sheer diligence and industry, but with difficulty, come after that. Those who are slow to learn, but still won't learn, are the lowest type of people.5
Confucius said, `Those who are born with knowledge are the highest. Next come those who attain knowledge through study. Next again come those who study after having been vexed by difficulties. the common people, in so far as they make no effort to study even after having been vexed by difficulties, are the lowest.' 6
Confucius described three types of people:
- Those who intuitively know The Way. These saints intuitively know what to do and why.
- Those who can be taught The Way. Confucius modestly considered himself to belong to this group.
- Those who are incapable of discerning The Way for themselves, but who can learn ritual. They can understand what to do, but not why. For these people The Golden Rule, The Ten Commandments, and the parables exist.
Recognizing differences is important.
Thoughtful people need to be prepared to recognize less thoughtful actions in order to be prepared to protect themselves from such less thoughtful action.
The astonishing magnificence if the cities of Cuzco and Mexico. . .; all these things show they were no way inferior to us in industry either. But as to religious conduct, obedience to the law, goodness, liberality, loyalty, and honest dealing, it was greatly to our advantage that we had not as much as they. By excelling us in these virtues, they ruined, sold and betrayed themselves.7
. . .we have taken advantage of their ignorance and inexperience to bend them more easily to treachery, lust, covetousness, and to every kind of inhumanity and cruelty, on the model and after the example of our own manners.8
They need to recognize that their best future rests with expanding thoughtfulness where possible. Simple statements are all the proselytizing necessary. Besides, forced conversions never convert. Once a statement is presented, then those who are on the threshold will be able to grasp the way assuming it is presented in a comprehensible manner. They can recognize it might be in their own best interest to:
- See that their mental map of the way things are is consistent.
- See when and where decency has long-term personal advantage.
- In that process, to help other people see personal advantage to decency.
--------------------
1 Fecher, Charles A. Mencken: A Study of his Thought. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978. Pg. 135. Quoting Mencken's The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Boston, 1908.
2 Fecher, Charles A. Mencken: A Study of his Thought. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978. Pg. 217.
3 Fecher, Charles A. Mencken: A Study of his Thought. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978. Pg. 139.
4 Confucius. The Wisdom of Confucius. Lin Yutang, ed. New York: Random House, 1938, 1966. Pp. 189-190.
5 Confucius. The Wisdom of Confucius. Lin Yutang, ed. New York: Random House, 1938, 1966. Pg. 203.
6 Confucius. The Analects. Translation and introduction by D. C. Lau. Harmondsworth,. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1979. Pg. 140.
7 Montaigne, Michele de. Essays. Translation and introduction by j. M. Cohen. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1958. Pg. 277.
8 Montaigne, Michele de. Essays. Translation and introduction by j. M. Cohen. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1958. Pg. 279.
Table of Contents: Simple Wisdoms Overview
|
