Ok jh, I read the rest of Teilhard de Chardin's essay. I was surprised at where he went--ending up on such a potentially hopeful note. I also found interesting his conclusion that "mankind is bored." I think he clearly argued his point that humankind is fundamentally different as a result of the first atomic bomb test, and that we have a choice before us now that we never had before. How will we use the collective powers of our minds? How will we address our fundamental boredom? What will we decide constitutes worthwhile action? Will we move into the future in a spirit of power or a spirit of love? I find it refreshing and challenging that he presents the hopeful choice as a real possibility and does not immediately grant the victory to cynicism, as seems so often the case today.
Thanks for sharing this. Sorry it took me so long to read it!
i was struck by the judgement on boredom too what is pierre saying
it would appear to me that today people are distracted not even aware of something like boredom given to the screen the screen everything is seen on the screen and it is all empty devoid of meaning but somehow expressive of the need to be connected and independent at the same time
i'm an advocate for boredom i am calling for a return to boredom especially for young people the sort of boredom young people felt in the forlorn towns of east montana the harsh tedium of being stuck in a place from which escape seems more perilous than the the reality of staying
hopefully with recourse to books
my judgement on our culture is that the imagination has been forcibly assaulted and we are glutted with images that are not of our own nurturing hollywood telling people what to think and imagine and this is the shared depravity
perhaps de chardin is referring to the seeming indifference of most people in response to the huge power of man that this ability to destroy in an instant is relegated to the hohum what's next on the screen sort of boredom and there is little by way of intelligent discussion
the reactions and images of the 60s seem to suggest that many people were ill at ease with the new ability of man
i'm amazed when i hear the military spokespeople say that iran cannot have nuclear weapons only we should have nuclear weapons this is our monster not theirs we get to monitor the cage
at another level i think he is saying that this should and must provoke some serious thought about a new level of responsibility and to ignore that responsibility is to allow the decisions to rest solely in the hands and minds of people who might not have the best interests
in regards to the effort to manage life my feeling is that it is a mess dressed up to look pretty nice it's like my sister who is by all accounts a nutcase dressing up in her 'scrubs" everyday and saying i'm a medical person i know medicine
i can only roll my eyes in disbelief
but long ago i said we live now
in the theatre of the macabre
i wish there were more scientists who had the sense that this is all just serious play in the playroom of god and that play has some limits
few scientists have had to withstand the sort of censure experienced by tielhard de chardin but as a good jesuit he understood that his work was not about himself the images of him in the latter part of his life were that of a man deeply involved in prayer
I'm in the process of reading this. He is an elegant writer/thinker.
ReplyDeleteOk jh, I read the rest of Teilhard de Chardin's essay. I was surprised at where he went--ending up on such a potentially hopeful note. I also found interesting his conclusion that "mankind is bored." I think he clearly argued his point that humankind is fundamentally different as a result of the first atomic bomb test, and that we have a choice before us now that we never had before. How will we use the collective powers of our minds? How will we address our fundamental boredom? What will we decide constitutes worthwhile action? Will we move into the future in a spirit of power or a spirit of love? I find it refreshing and challenging that he presents the hopeful choice as a real possibility and does not immediately grant the victory to cynicism, as seems so often the case today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. Sorry it took me so long to read it!
sally
i was struck by the judgement on boredom too
ReplyDeletewhat is pierre saying
it would appear to me that today people are
distracted not even aware of something like boredom
given to the screen the screen everything is seen on the screen and it is all empty devoid of meaning
but somehow expressive of the need to be connected and independent at the same time
i'm an advocate for boredom
i am calling for a return to boredom
especially for young people
the sort of boredom young people felt
in the forlorn towns of east montana
the harsh tedium of being stuck in a place
from which escape seems more perilous than the
the reality of staying
hopefully with recourse to books
my judgement on our culture is
that the imagination has been forcibly assaulted
and we are glutted with images
that are not of our own nurturing
hollywood telling people what to think and imagine
and this is the shared depravity
perhaps de chardin is referring to the
seeming indifference of most people
in response to the huge power of man
that this ability to destroy in an instant
is relegated to the hohum what's next on the screen sort of boredom
and there is little by way of intelligent discussion
the reactions and images of the 60s
seem to suggest that many people were ill at ease
with the new ability of man
i'm amazed when i hear the military spokespeople say that iran
cannot have nuclear weapons
only we should have nuclear weapons
this is our monster not theirs
we get to monitor the cage
at another level i think he is saying that this should and must provoke some serious thought about a new level of responsibility
and to ignore that responsibility is to allow the decisions to rest solely in the hands and minds of people who might not have the best interests
in regards to the effort to manage life
my feeling is that it is a mess
dressed up to look pretty nice
it's like my sister who is
by all accounts a nutcase
dressing up in her 'scrubs"
everyday and saying
i'm a medical person
i know medicine
i can only roll my eyes in disbelief
but long ago i said
we live now
in the theatre of the macabre
i wish there were more scientists who had
the sense that this is all just serious play
in the playroom of god
and that play has some limits
few scientists have had to withstand the sort of
censure experienced by tielhard de chardin
but as a good jesuit he understood
that his work was not about himself
the images of him in the latter part of his life
were that of a man deeply involved in prayer
thanks
jh