Written by Rado Gatchalian
March 21, 2020
Sydney, Australia
“There is something frightening about stupidity; more especially, about stupidity in its mass, organised form.” – Christopher Hitchens
It has been told that IGNORANCE IS BLISS. But if ignorance is a feeling of death – where man has to experience an immediate and endless silence: “Rest In Peace,” will humanity lose its sanity – and only a (very) few can differentiate right from wrong, true from false? Where shall bliss take us? To a wide road where a deadly cliff is awaiting a mass of blinded people…
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“Man is a rational animal.” – Aristotle
What differentiates man from lower animals?
As we study history – from ancient to modern times – we can learn what man can do to itself, to the world. Man is so much obsessed about who he is – that he no longer represents this solemn idea of “man.” The mortal species, the human race, have become mere molecules with no substance.
Man is capable of murdering his own species. Man is capable of following orders without questions.
History repeats itself. May we learn from it so that we will never repeat the same mistakes.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
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The saddest reality is that the fools will never accept that they are foolish.
This is the most dangerous thing on earth. When a man believes with full conviction that what he thinks is the most absolute truth: here is a sign that man is doomed to end.
When we see that signpost: it is time for us to question mankind.
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To err is human, to ERR MORE AND REPETITIVELY is profane.
Human beings are imperfect. It is a fact.
But to live with the same error over and over again – from ancient to now: one is to ask, “What Future can we expect for Humanity?”
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Perhaps with all the miseries in the world – man has become “isolated” where he only “lives” like Life is unitary – only and only for himself. Man has lost the sense of “compatibility” where each and everyone of us shall co-exist and live harmoniously.
Perhaps…
Perhaps humanity becomes so self-centered that the only important letter in the alphabet is the “I.”
When the “I” becomes the capital of the Universe – the world becomes so small that each “I” no longer matters. That is something to fear…
Because this “I” becomes so powerful that he is ready to extinguish every other “I.”
When the Ego becomes “SuperEgo” – that “Self” becomes a Monster, and not a Superman.
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For whatever “reason” it is so difficult to understand why man can be so stupid, careless?
It is the fundamental question of Who We Are.
When a man lives through his emotion – and not through reason – the world becomes a chaotic environment. Everyone dis/agrees not because he is “right” but only because he “feels that he is right.” When our weighing scale to determine what is true is based on what we feel – every evil becomes right…
This is another dangerous thing.
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Stupidity comes in various forms. Know little. Know nothing at all. Know everything. Do not know that you do not know. Knowing that what you know is not right but still wants to pretend that what you know is true.
If a man cannot overcome this limitation – stupid people will continue to “govern” the world.
Look at politics and economy – stupid geniuses flourish…
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Today and tomorrow: when man is confronted by its own mirror – what can we see?
Is it a reflection of a man who has lost its identity as rational beings?
Is it a “Self” who is so enormous that it won’t fit the existential and moral frame?
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“Only the educated are free.” – Epictetus
To break this madness of ignorance – man needs to release himself from this chain of arrogance and deceit.
Only man can save himself. Only through reason then a man becomes a man.
When a man chooses to become selfish and ignorant – he chooses his own death: the obliteration of humanity. “Rest in Peace.” Man will dissolve like a cloud of mere dust on earth… pointless and stupid.
BUT let us now:
“Stop philosophizing about what a good man is and be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
[Entry was also first published on the author’s blog on Facebook “Kapihan at Aklatan ni Pilosopo Tasyo – Philosophy Cafe” and “The FILOsopher”?]
