Capacity for Change
The world is composed of three things; man, nature, and that which is deliberately altered by man and beast. To be a well-rounded person one must understand man, understand nature, and understand how man and beast alter themselves and their environment. When one deliberately alters ones environment, if one does not have a grasp of humanity then they will not foresee the consequences of their actions, the impact it may have on others. The same is true of nature, that same action may cause other impacts on the ecology or geology of an area.
When I use the word deliberately, I mean with action or withholding of action. When one throws a lit cigarette out of a moving vehicle, that is a deliberate action even if the person doing so is not aware of the dry grass that may catch on fire or does not know the person who is going to come to clean up the area. If they looked out their car window or heard an article about the lack of rainfall then they may choose not to toss it out. If they themselves had cleaned up an area of road or knew someone who had and had sympathy for them or even was aware of how much it costs to clean up the roadside and how that money was taken from their paychecks, they may not toss it out. If, with complete understanding of either how nature or man is impacted by their behavior, they still choose to do so then their moral code differs significantly from what it necessary to contribute to a functioning, productive, and happy society.
To be a contributing member of a functional society one must understand man (including oneself), the moral and cultural makeup of a person and society. One must understand nature (including the biological processes of man) through; biology, chemistry, mathematics, and geology. One must also consciously understand how actions/lack of actions impact or alter humans (again, including oneself) and nature.
These three things are actually passive skills; knowledge without application is worthless. Having the knowledge of what constitutes a legitimate government, and the history of rebellion and how specific cultures rebel is important. Knowing the root causes of rebellion and refusing to attempt to mitigate the events or problems which lead up to rebellion against a legitimate government means you are not a good member of society. Knowledge of ones own limitations, be they cultural or biological, and how they may be altered to overcome those limitations (knowledge, training, resources) gives one the groundwork for becoming a fully integrated member of society. It is not just the acceptance that actions have consequences and consequences require action, but it is the application, the drive, and the will to embrace those actions to create deliberate change that is the absolute sticking point.
To cause change must have the knowledge, wisdom, and ability to persuade others. Knowledge encompasses history, science and philosophy, but the application through literature, art, engineering (biological/mechanical), and oration. The wisdom comes from the evaluation of history and the knowledge of how one affects the world (through understanding science/nature) around them, to decide if the results of an action, the consequences, have a primarily positive impact on humans and nature or negative impact. The ability to persuade others comes into play when the action needed to create a positive impact on humans and nature that is beyond the ability of one person to perform. The very root of culture, the strength of culture, is the ability of people to work together to overcome a particular liability engendered by the biology of humans.
There is actually nothing that cannot be changed. The knowledge of a thing, how it functions, how we impact or are impacted by it, and how to deliberately cause changes in a thing, these are the limiting factors. The individual capacity for change is limitless.
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Above the dotted line is the elegant hula dance of my banal chanting. Below is the moving legs under the skirt, the ungainly steps which influenced me in its creation.
P. P. Vergerius the Elder (1370-1444)
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/vergerius.html)
“But all alike must in those early years,
Dum faciles animi iuvenum, dum mobilis aetas
whilst the mind is supple, be inured to the toil and effort of learning. Not that education, in the broad sense, is exclusively the concern of youth. Did not Cato think it honorable to learn Greek in later life? Did not Socrates, greatest of philosophers, compel his aged fingers to the lute?”
“For we cannot deny that there is still a horde-as I must call them-of people who, like Licinius the Emperor [Roman Emperor, ruled 81-96 CE], denounce learning and the Arts as a danger to the State and hateful in themselves. In reality the very opposite is the truth. However, as we look back upon history we cannot deny that learning by no means expels wickedness, but may be indeed an additional instrument for evil in the hands of the corrupt. To a man of virtuous instincts knowledge is a help and an adornment; to a Claudius or a Nero it was a means of refinement in cruelty or in folly.”
Scipio: "Never am I less idle, less solitary, than when to outward seeming I am doing nothing or am alone" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus)
Liberal Studies - of history, moral philosophy, rhetoric, and literature
Moral Philosophy, - its purpose is to teach men the secret of true freedom, shows what men should do
History - gives us the concrete examples of the precepts inculcated by philosophy, shows what men have said and done in the past, and what practical lessons we may draw therefrom for the present day.
Eloquence - By philosophy we learn the essential truth of things, which by eloquence we so exhibit in orderly adornment as to bring conviction to differing minds. And history provides the light of experienced cumulative wisdom fit to supplement the force of reason and the persuasion of eloquence.
“For we allow that soundness of judgment, wisdom of speech, integrity of conduct are the marks of a truly liberal temper.”
Science - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium)
Arithmetic - which treats of the properties of numbers,
Geometry - which treats of the properties of dimensions, lines, surfaces, and solid bodies, are weighty studies because they possess a peculiar element of certainty. The
science of the Stars - their motions, magnitudes and distances, lifts us into the clear calm of the upper air. There we may contemplate the fixed stars, or the conjunctions of the planets, and predict the eclipses of the sun and the moon.
Nature - animate and inanimate-the laws and the properties of things in heaven and in earth, their causes, mutations and effects, especially the explanation of their wonders (as they are popularly supposed) by the unraveling of their causes-this is a most delightful, and at the same time most profitable, study for youth.
Disciplines or Professions
three great professional Disciplines: Medicine, Law, Theology
BUT Perhaps we do wisely to pursue that study which we find most suited to our intelligence and our tastes, though it is true that we cannot rightly understand one subject unless we can perceive its relation to the rest. The choice of studies will depend to some extent upon the character of individual minds.
seven mechanical arts - weaving, blacksmithing and navigation, war (“armatura”), agriculture, medicine and hunting, and the theatrical arts. (http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/archive/forum.2001.online.tri.shtml)
Greek Education - a course of training in four subjects:
Letters - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivium_%28education%29) a study adapted to all times and to all circumstances, to the investigation of fresh knowledge or to the re-casting and application of old. Hence the importance of must be recognized at the outset, as on which the whole study of
Literature must rest on the foundation of grammar and of the rules of composition: and closely associated with these rudiments, the art of
Disputation or Logical argument. The function of this is to enable us to discern fallacy from truth in discussion.
Logic - is the guide to the acquisition of knowledge in whatever subject.
Rhetoric - the formal study by which we attain the art of eloquence; which, as we have just stated, takes the third place amongst the studies specially important in public life.
gymnastic
music - the Greeks refused the title of "Educated" to anyone who could not sing or play. Socrates sets an example to the Athenian youth, by himself learning to play in his old age; urging the pursuit of music not as a sensuous indulgence, but as an aid to the inner harmony of the soul.
drawing - the Greeks, as an art-loving people, attached to it an exceptional value.
“For the man who has surrendered himself absolutely to the attractions of Letters or of speculative thought follows, perhaps, a self-regarding end and is useless as a citizen or as prince.” P. P. Vergerius the Elder (1370-1444)
George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University, and former president of Sigma Xi (http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/archive/forum.2001.online.tri.shtml)
“The purpose of humanities is the cultured man; that of science the knowledgeable man. The language of the humanities is ordinary language; that of most science and engineering is mathematics. Literature has room for emotions, but the strictures of the discipline of verifiable truth that governs science in its quest for knowledge cannot be influenced by them. Ultimately, however, one set of endeavors implies the other.”
“The purpose of the humanities is to understand and civilize man; that of science is to understand nature-a domain vaster than man, but that includes him. The arts complement the humanities by being the sensory inspirers of reflections and emotions. The goal of engineering is to extend through artifacts, that is, machines,2 the capabilities of our body and in order to do so to modify nature, e.g., the course of a river so that we can navigate it.”
“In their long existence on Earth, living organisms have had the benefit of the crucible of evolution, unlike the machines we humans are creating, as their emergence has been simply too rapid. Thus, if developed with inadequate social controls, machines could threaten our survival through their power and ubiquity, the very qualities that make them so useful to us. In this terribly complicated world we have created, we can remain in control only through the development of a moral sense based on three solid understandings: what science can tell us, what rules and instruments our society needs in order to guide wisely the modifications of nature and the creation of machines and what engineering can and cannot do. The sum of these three developments is exquisitely human and should be a cornerstone of a truly liberal education.”
When I use the word deliberately, I mean with action or withholding of action. When one throws a lit cigarette out of a moving vehicle, that is a deliberate action even if the person doing so is not aware of the dry grass that may catch on fire or does not know the person who is going to come to clean up the area. If they looked out their car window or heard an article about the lack of rainfall then they may choose not to toss it out. If they themselves had cleaned up an area of road or knew someone who had and had sympathy for them or even was aware of how much it costs to clean up the roadside and how that money was taken from their paychecks, they may not toss it out. If, with complete understanding of either how nature or man is impacted by their behavior, they still choose to do so then their moral code differs significantly from what it necessary to contribute to a functioning, productive, and happy society.
To be a contributing member of a functional society one must understand man (including oneself), the moral and cultural makeup of a person and society. One must understand nature (including the biological processes of man) through; biology, chemistry, mathematics, and geology. One must also consciously understand how actions/lack of actions impact or alter humans (again, including oneself) and nature.
These three things are actually passive skills; knowledge without application is worthless. Having the knowledge of what constitutes a legitimate government, and the history of rebellion and how specific cultures rebel is important. Knowing the root causes of rebellion and refusing to attempt to mitigate the events or problems which lead up to rebellion against a legitimate government means you are not a good member of society. Knowledge of ones own limitations, be they cultural or biological, and how they may be altered to overcome those limitations (knowledge, training, resources) gives one the groundwork for becoming a fully integrated member of society. It is not just the acceptance that actions have consequences and consequences require action, but it is the application, the drive, and the will to embrace those actions to create deliberate change that is the absolute sticking point.
To cause change must have the knowledge, wisdom, and ability to persuade others. Knowledge encompasses history, science and philosophy, but the application through literature, art, engineering (biological/mechanical), and oration. The wisdom comes from the evaluation of history and the knowledge of how one affects the world (through understanding science/nature) around them, to decide if the results of an action, the consequences, have a primarily positive impact on humans and nature or negative impact. The ability to persuade others comes into play when the action needed to create a positive impact on humans and nature that is beyond the ability of one person to perform. The very root of culture, the strength of culture, is the ability of people to work together to overcome a particular liability engendered by the biology of humans.
There is actually nothing that cannot be changed. The knowledge of a thing, how it functions, how we impact or are impacted by it, and how to deliberately cause changes in a thing, these are the limiting factors. The individual capacity for change is limitless.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above the dotted line is the elegant hula dance of my banal chanting. Below is the moving legs under the skirt, the ungainly steps which influenced me in its creation.
P. P. Vergerius the Elder (1370-1444)
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/vergerius.html)
“But all alike must in those early years,
Dum faciles animi iuvenum, dum mobilis aetas
whilst the mind is supple, be inured to the toil and effort of learning. Not that education, in the broad sense, is exclusively the concern of youth. Did not Cato think it honorable to learn Greek in later life? Did not Socrates, greatest of philosophers, compel his aged fingers to the lute?”
“For we cannot deny that there is still a horde-as I must call them-of people who, like Licinius the Emperor [Roman Emperor, ruled 81-96 CE], denounce learning and the Arts as a danger to the State and hateful in themselves. In reality the very opposite is the truth. However, as we look back upon history we cannot deny that learning by no means expels wickedness, but may be indeed an additional instrument for evil in the hands of the corrupt. To a man of virtuous instincts knowledge is a help and an adornment; to a Claudius or a Nero it was a means of refinement in cruelty or in folly.”
Scipio: "Never am I less idle, less solitary, than when to outward seeming I am doing nothing or am alone" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus)
Liberal Studies - of history, moral philosophy, rhetoric, and literature
Moral Philosophy, - its purpose is to teach men the secret of true freedom, shows what men should do
History - gives us the concrete examples of the precepts inculcated by philosophy, shows what men have said and done in the past, and what practical lessons we may draw therefrom for the present day.
Eloquence - By philosophy we learn the essential truth of things, which by eloquence we so exhibit in orderly adornment as to bring conviction to differing minds. And history provides the light of experienced cumulative wisdom fit to supplement the force of reason and the persuasion of eloquence.
“For we allow that soundness of judgment, wisdom of speech, integrity of conduct are the marks of a truly liberal temper.”
Science - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium)
Arithmetic - which treats of the properties of numbers,
Geometry - which treats of the properties of dimensions, lines, surfaces, and solid bodies, are weighty studies because they possess a peculiar element of certainty. The
science of the Stars - their motions, magnitudes and distances, lifts us into the clear calm of the upper air. There we may contemplate the fixed stars, or the conjunctions of the planets, and predict the eclipses of the sun and the moon.
Nature - animate and inanimate-the laws and the properties of things in heaven and in earth, their causes, mutations and effects, especially the explanation of their wonders (as they are popularly supposed) by the unraveling of their causes-this is a most delightful, and at the same time most profitable, study for youth.
Disciplines or Professions
three great professional Disciplines: Medicine, Law, Theology
BUT Perhaps we do wisely to pursue that study which we find most suited to our intelligence and our tastes, though it is true that we cannot rightly understand one subject unless we can perceive its relation to the rest. The choice of studies will depend to some extent upon the character of individual minds.
seven mechanical arts - weaving, blacksmithing and navigation, war (“armatura”), agriculture, medicine and hunting, and the theatrical arts. (http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/archive/forum.2001.online.tri.shtml)
Greek Education - a course of training in four subjects:
Letters - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivium_%28education%29) a study adapted to all times and to all circumstances, to the investigation of fresh knowledge or to the re-casting and application of old. Hence the importance of must be recognized at the outset, as on which the whole study of
Literature must rest on the foundation of grammar and of the rules of composition: and closely associated with these rudiments, the art of
Disputation or Logical argument. The function of this is to enable us to discern fallacy from truth in discussion.
Logic - is the guide to the acquisition of knowledge in whatever subject.
Rhetoric - the formal study by which we attain the art of eloquence; which, as we have just stated, takes the third place amongst the studies specially important in public life.
gymnastic
music - the Greeks refused the title of "Educated" to anyone who could not sing or play. Socrates sets an example to the Athenian youth, by himself learning to play in his old age; urging the pursuit of music not as a sensuous indulgence, but as an aid to the inner harmony of the soul.
drawing - the Greeks, as an art-loving people, attached to it an exceptional value.
“For the man who has surrendered himself absolutely to the attractions of Letters or of speculative thought follows, perhaps, a self-regarding end and is useless as a citizen or as prince.” P. P. Vergerius the Elder (1370-1444)
George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University, and former president of Sigma Xi (http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/archive/forum.2001.online.tri.shtml)
“The purpose of humanities is the cultured man; that of science the knowledgeable man. The language of the humanities is ordinary language; that of most science and engineering is mathematics. Literature has room for emotions, but the strictures of the discipline of verifiable truth that governs science in its quest for knowledge cannot be influenced by them. Ultimately, however, one set of endeavors implies the other.”
“The purpose of the humanities is to understand and civilize man; that of science is to understand nature-a domain vaster than man, but that includes him. The arts complement the humanities by being the sensory inspirers of reflections and emotions. The goal of engineering is to extend through artifacts, that is, machines,2 the capabilities of our body and in order to do so to modify nature, e.g., the course of a river so that we can navigate it.”
“In their long existence on Earth, living organisms have had the benefit of the crucible of evolution, unlike the machines we humans are creating, as their emergence has been simply too rapid. Thus, if developed with inadequate social controls, machines could threaten our survival through their power and ubiquity, the very qualities that make them so useful to us. In this terribly complicated world we have created, we can remain in control only through the development of a moral sense based on three solid understandings: what science can tell us, what rules and instruments our society needs in order to guide wisely the modifications of nature and the creation of machines and what engineering can and cannot do. The sum of these three developments is exquisitely human and should be a cornerstone of a truly liberal education.”