Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Cold Moon<\/p>\n
OK.\u00a0 To finish up the thought that got strangled as Morpheus took over my body last night.<\/p>\n
Salvation through technology has infected our thinking, a direct consequence of the relentless application of reason to larger and larger spheres of knowledge.\u00a0 Astronomy, physics and chemistry, geology, later biology all have had their mystery peeled away to reveal orderly, predictable processes.\u00a0 As mystery drained away from the natural world–though note that mystery is not gone.\u00a0 It lurks still behind quantum mechanics, life, consciousness, unified field theory–a slow build of an irrational hubris grew in inverse relation.\u00a0 Because we knew some, we believed we knew enough.<\/p>\n
Salvation through economics has infected our thinking, a direct consequence of the relentless application of reason to the idea of value and its diverse manifestations.\u00a0 The ancien regime has been replaced by capitalism in many flavors, Marxism, socialism and even state socialism.\u00a0 Again, as mystery drained away from the field of economics–though note that mystery is not gone.\u00a0 It lurks still behind market crashes, the failure of planned states and the strange amalgam called socialism with Chinese elements–an irrational hubris grew in inverse relation.\u00a0 Because we knew some, we believe we knew enough.<\/p>\n
Salvation through religious dogma has infected our thinking, a direct consequence of an aversion to the application of reason to matters of faith.\u00a0 The axial age faiths continue and have split, many claiming exclusive paths to human redemption.\u00a0 They have not been replaced and\u00a0 the mystery is why?\u00a0 The strong brew of metaphysics, gods and goddesses and an answer to the perennial question of death keeps reason at bay when it comes to matters of faith and belief.\u00a0 Because we believe we know enough, we believe.<\/p>\n
The only way to examine these outsized claims lies in the disciplines that fall under the broad rubric of the humanities.\u00a0 Only by going deep into the ways humans have lived their lives and responded to it through the arts and through historical reflection can we critique those splinters of our humanness that clamor for our attention.\u00a0 Technology, economics and religion seem to offer hope for the future if only we can subjugate ourselves to their demands.\u00a0 The unexamined aspect(s) of our lives poses the greatest threat to control us.<\/p>\n
It is to this project that I have donated my life, the project of never taking anything for granted, of trying to see as many sides as possible of a claim, of using unexpected tools.\u00a0 Poetry as a defense against the outsized claims of economics.\u00a0 Music as a foil to the reach of technology.\u00a0 History as a way to place religious systems within their proper context.<\/p>\n
In that sense, then, yes, knowledge is the fuel and I do know where I’m going.\u00a0 I also know I will never find the end of this ancientrail.\u00a0 Its end lies beyond all of us, perhaps beyond the gates of death itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Cold Moon OK.\u00a0 To finish up the thought that got strangled as Morpheus took over my body last night. Salvation through technology has infected our thinking, a direct consequence of the relentless application of reason to larger and larger spheres of knowledge.\u00a0 Astronomy, physics and chemistry, geology, later biology all have had their … Continue reading Critiquing Salvation<\/span>