Men were told to accept, to till the field and lay bricks and be satisfied with their lot in life. But men rebelled. Just look at the French Revolution - peasants weren't happy with being peasants, and were quite a lot happier thinking up schemes to cut people's heads off.
Thinking, as it turns out, is dangerous.
Society is once again realizing that it isn't safe to have a thinking population. In American society, we are quietly, subtly, chided for thought and loudly praised for the ability to properly fill in bubbles on a standardized exam or asking "Do you want fries with that?" with the proper amount of enthusiasm.
I, as it turns out, like things that are dangerous.
Standardized tests are safe, fast food is safe. iPods and Windows Media and MySpace and blogspot are safe. Saturn station wagons and Priuses and HDTVs are safe. Toasters and blenders and Starbucks and ordering just the right half-caff sugarfree latte are safe.
I like fire and straight espresso. I like vinyl and notebooks full of shaky writing and dangerous ideas. I like twenty year old Jeeps that sound like they're grinding puppies into a paste. I like radio stations that you can only pick up at night. I like open flames and raw meat.
And I really like thinking.
It's too bad, though, that so many people now don't agree with me. Look at the people around you. Look at the people in your classes or on your jobsite. On the bus or in the mall. When was the last time you saw one of them do something original? Are they running on autopilot, not shaking the boat? If you haven't seen someone do something unique, chances are that they don't have the ability to. They're lost in unthought, giggling and cringing - incapable of growth.
Telling someone that they're boring is a nice way of saying that they're too stupid to hold your interest. Or a good way of showing them that you're too stupid to understand.
It's a good thing that I don't talk to people much, I don't have the stomach for them, nor do they have the stomach for me. When I talk to most people, I can't stop thinking about why 90% of conversations are just a way to pass the time instead of actually being something worth talking about. When people talk to me, I usually assume that they can't start thinking about anything other than their time wasters.
This is why I like islands far away from here. On my island, someday, the only intellectual crime will be to not have an intellect.
3 comments:
Think is dangerous, or at least this is what the the poticians think, or try to think. Good site
Don't worry about your spanish. I'm sorry you can't read my blog. Well, I have a poem in english "Hank always knew it". I understand. And you don't write too bad in spanish. Cheers. I'll keep visit you.
This was beautiful. It's a damn shame there aren't more people like you in the world.
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