look what i found from my deleted blog

said marc, to the black queen:

"...the best way to go about getting old is to focus primarily on a healthy mind that is open to, and actively desires, learning everyday. One of the downfalls of human beings is their predilection for learning up to a point and then cementing their views; stagnation is always the precursor to decline, which is why I [must] always strive for perfection even if I [think I] am already perfect. You can see the flaws of the older generation as the future generation will be able to see yours, unless you live your life thinking ahead of your time, thus preempting them."

and she to the world:

"... the more knowledgeable one is, the more likely one is to realize that he or she does not know everything, and indeed knows very little. This is, of course, not an argument for the end of learning based on what a daunting task it would be to learn everthing, but rather a push FOR learning with a caution against any resulting heady sense of entitlement."

and what of this heady entitlement, this professor's pride? it seems natural that intellectual stasis would lie in the shadow of arrogance. such was the folly of the isolationist orient, regarding the outside world as devoid of worthy ideas. the chinese would eventually come to rue that era of inertia, as the barbarian hordes of europe emerged from their own darkness to project their will onto the world. but turn the earth always will, and, err the humans. for it now seems to me that the western world as derived from european concepts is at a point of inflection and the second dawn of the dragon, mindful of its past mistakes, and with vehement discipline, draws closer and closer. whether it stems from arrogance or self-righteousness*, always, stagnation is to our detriment. civilizations made the mistake of comparing themselves to each other. like i always say, if one aspires only to be a great man, one will never be a god. that is, relative concepts of greatness, as we humans foolishly live by, will always preclude attainment of perfection. to safeguard the integrity of human progress we must always aspire to improve simply for improving's sake, until we can no longer find ways to improve. what better way to achieve absolute perfection?

*i believe it was chomsky who said, "... self-righteousness comes naturally to those able to impose their will by force...". we saw it then in europe. we see it now in america, the empire of the moment.