December 24, 2003

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Thinking

Went to the theatre last night. A great little place tucked right up against the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Kirribilli, on the waterfront and opposite the Opera House. Mrs M and I used to often go to the theatre but with kids it became less frequent and since the move to HK non-existant. It's a shame because I find theatre the one medium these days that consistently entertains and provokes, rather than just fill in time (look under television, reality or supplements, newspapers for a couple of examples). The play last night was a one-man show. These are difficult to carry off at the best of times because one person speaking for a couple of hours is pretty boring. If the actor or actress is a good one they will go close to keep your attention; likewise if the material is good you'll be keen to see how the story flows. This play was an auto-biographical one; the actor in question is moderately famous in Australia. As my father-in-law pointed out, anyone coming out of Europe around World War 2 has an intersting childhood and sure enough this guy did too. But the play itself wasn't much chop. A mix of homilies and this actor's views on the world. Other than acting in some plays and TV shows I didn't notice anything on the programme that would explain why his views were so relevant to the world at large.

However one thing he mentioned got me thinking. Given there were still 20 minutes of the second act to endure I welcomed the distraction. The actor was whinging that Western civilisation is going through huge changes and there is no certainty anymore. His context was how difficult is now for parents to guide their children when everything we once "knew" no longer applies. All the relationships in society are being questioned: between races, sexes, religions, classes, countries; between children and parents, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, within communities and between communities. Nothing is certain.

And he's right. In times past decisions and thoughts were made for you. By your church, by your parents, by your society. Free will was not part of the equation and the system worked well enough for everyone to get by. However something has changed, especially since the end of the Second World War. Western society has graduated to a point where free will is a key tenet of being a citizen. There are boundaries that are set such as laws and modes of behaviour but the world is as tolerant and as free as it has ever been. Herein lies the problem. Mankind has for generations been able to be lazy. Decisions were made by the few for the many. They were not questioned.

Nowadays it is different. People need to think for themselves. People need to develop their own code of morals, of conduct, of ethics. It is part of the responsibility of free will. If it's too much there are still plenty of people willing to tell you what to think and decide. Every day our senses are assaulted by messages and information. Advertising, media, conversations, telephones, internet, blogs, skywriters. They exist to bombard our poor little brains with way too much of everything. It is why advertising needs to constantly change - because our brains try to block out anything it's seen before. We only ever absorb a tiny fraction of all of this. And from all of this we still need to find time to sit and think. To reflect and make decisions for ourselves. I was lucky in that the school I went to had classes on Philosophy and Thinking when I was in early high school (about 13-14 years old). Teaching how to think is the first step; most schools specialise in teaching what to think instead.

It's not easy. It's not meant to be. That's why so many people choose not to think for themselves. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just a waste of your brain power not to. But be careful: once you start thinking for yourself you will find you cannot stop.

posted by Simon on 12.24.03 at 07:58 AM in the




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Comments:

"tenant"?

posted by: Pixy Misa on 12.24.03 at 05:38 PM [permalink]

Merry Christmas, Simon!

posted by: Susie on 12.25.03 at 09:34 AM [permalink]

Thanks Pixy - fixed that one. That's what happens when brain is going faster than typing.

Merry Christmas to all.

posted by: Simon on 12.25.03 at 04:23 PM [permalink]

I like your blog. It's not preachy or pretentious. I think I will vote for it.

posted by: mcdill on 12.26.03 at 01:13 AM [permalink]




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