09-23-2011, 03:07 PM
Thanks for the kind words and thoughts Leanne
Over time we have become more liberated, or at least those countries which can afford to have, which would imply our intelligence has grown, though we certainly seem stupider with each generation I agree.
We seem to revel in stupidity more than our ancestors, what with television broadcasting crotch shots of Britney Spears and contrived reality shows like The Littlest Groom into millions of homes across the world. Maybe that's the problem; great inventions like TV have allowed us more access and thus ability to exploit stupid people for our own amusement. There was a time when we glorified great artists and intellectuals - peasants would stand for hours in the baking sun to watch Hamlet, or so I was told by a tour guide at The Globe - but now rather than work at improving ourselves we'd rather stay as we are and make ourselves feel better by laughing at the funny thickies on TV. I know I would
Over time we have become more liberated, or at least those countries which can afford to have, which would imply our intelligence has grown, though we certainly seem stupider with each generation I agree.
We seem to revel in stupidity more than our ancestors, what with television broadcasting crotch shots of Britney Spears and contrived reality shows like The Littlest Groom into millions of homes across the world. Maybe that's the problem; great inventions like TV have allowed us more access and thus ability to exploit stupid people for our own amusement. There was a time when we glorified great artists and intellectuals - peasants would stand for hours in the baking sun to watch Hamlet, or so I was told by a tour guide at The Globe - but now rather than work at improving ourselves we'd rather stay as we are and make ourselves feel better by laughing at the funny thickies on TV. I know I would
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe