when new becomes old
i've been thinking lately about how changes in the world and society become traditions and truths we live by. i went to church with my mum tonight and they had a movie about martin luther. it was really good. well, there was some cheesy narration at times but the power of the story definitely shone through. he was excommunicated from his church and considered a heretic for things we take for granted in our belief systems today. he pretty much single handedly started the reformation. and all of that that started 500 years ago led to the separation of church and state and so many other complete social changes. and things like this get me to thinking about how people are afraid of the internet and how it's changing society and how cars and phones and electricity and television and all sorts of new technology and new ideas change the world but we get used to these things so easily and can't even begin to imagine living without them.
When we consider what, to use the words of a catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessities and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields. What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.
-pg. 8 Walden by Henry David Thoreau
another thing that fascinates me about new technology is when those things start to break down, when they're used for cheap and perverse things or to trick/scam unsuspecting people who are still wrapped up in the romance of this new 'thing' that will make their life better and the world a better place. when experts start popping up, setting up businesses or call centers or repair shops for these things that we still don't understand fully. the darker side of progression.
When we consider what, to use the words of a catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessities and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields. What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.
-pg. 8 Walden by Henry David Thoreau
another thing that fascinates me about new technology is when those things start to break down, when they're used for cheap and perverse things or to trick/scam unsuspecting people who are still wrapped up in the romance of this new 'thing' that will make their life better and the world a better place. when experts start popping up, setting up businesses or call centers or repair shops for these things that we still don't understand fully. the darker side of progression.