I'll build
an origami aeroplane
from these words:
safety and sour sugar
and I'll build
a pilot
from this word:
fly
I'll build
the crumple-crash
crash!
crumple!
until one day
accidentally
I build death
with this word:
die
I wrote this poem several months ago, but I've been thinking about post-modernism a lot lately, and about how the post-modern worldview has affected the "youth of today". I've come to a few partial-conclusions.
I have to admit that I am guilty of approaching thought-systems on an emotional level as well as an intellectual one, and post-modernism makes me want to cry. I'm depressed with the lack of ambition and enthusiasm I see in the under-30s around me. They seem to have no desire to learn, or to discover, or to revelate or to philosophize. But their condition doesn't surprise me, because I notice it in myself almost every day.
It seems to us that all the important books have been written, all the profound statements made, all the great discoveries published. It seems to us that everything there was to know about human nature was explored in the classics, and then refuted in modern psychology, and now we know everything there is to know about our emotions and motivations, and it turns out that they are nothing by chemical reactions and explainable synapses. It seems we might as well do what we want. It certainly doesn't seem worthwhile to attempt to say anything new about the human condition. And since what comes closest to modern truth is so discouraging, why should we want to learn about what has already been said anyway?
The same thing happens when we examine science and philosophy. The more we realize that the sum of human discovery seems to have led to the conclusion that reality and truth are fabrications of language, and that humans are not of any real significance compared to the random, huge, and impersonal schemata of the cosmos, the less we want to know, and the less we feel we have anything to say.
The result is a disinterest and a dislike for learning, and a general hopelessness with certainly must affect aspects of our lives other than the intellectual one. For me, it has driven to an apathy and agnosticism that frightens me. Has anyone else experienced this?
On a tangent, I like to call myself a writer, and sometimes I realize that I believe more in the words than in what they say.
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2 comments:
believe me, i can relate. i had this thought that its just so near impossible now to write a book that doesnt exist seeing as its all been written.
but when i step outside of myself..if we have learned everything, if we actually know everything about everything, then why are there still things going wrong in the world? there are still lessons to be learned and mistakes to be had, thats part of every beings life. it wouldnt be life without it. and though we do progess in discovering the universe it leads to a million more questions.
we are a long way away from finding a final answer to anything.
as for our generation, it is evident that we are the slack generation who wont amount to anything...but at least i can say im going to try and make a difference even if the person next to me wont.
"it's just so near impossible now to write a book that doesn't exist seeing as it's all been written."
i hadn't thought of books that way. fascinating.
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