05-11-2018, 05:23 AM
cultural significance.
Yes, I can appreciate how history and tradition can continue to connect and unify people and their culture. I have also read a fair number of stories which describe cultural practices leading to the extinction of a species, or two, or more, and in some cases even the people of that culture themselves, because it was difficult to see how their actions affected the bigger world around them over an expanse of time longer than their own lifetime.
Then there is the other perspective, that of the turtle as told by Chuang Tzu a few thousand years ago, speaking to someone who had come to ask a simple question, but received some advice on politics, religion, and culture at no extra charge:
Chuang Tzu held his bamboo pole still. Watching the Pu river, he said: “I am told there is a sacred tortoise offered and canonized three thousand years ago,venerated by the prince, wrapped in silk,in a precious shrine on an altar in the temple.
What do you think? Is it better to give up one’s life and leave a sacred shell as an object of cult in a cloud of incense for three thousand years,or to live as a plain turtle dragging its tail in the mud?”
Edited to add:
It's not that ancient wisdom or modern society is capable of offering effective solutions to the world's problems, better than anyone else. Every tribe or nation-state throughout time has been led by wise men and occasionally wise women, as well as short sighted buffoons. The best we can do is learn to recognize the difference.
Yes, I can appreciate how history and tradition can continue to connect and unify people and their culture. I have also read a fair number of stories which describe cultural practices leading to the extinction of a species, or two, or more, and in some cases even the people of that culture themselves, because it was difficult to see how their actions affected the bigger world around them over an expanse of time longer than their own lifetime.
Then there is the other perspective, that of the turtle as told by Chuang Tzu a few thousand years ago, speaking to someone who had come to ask a simple question, but received some advice on politics, religion, and culture at no extra charge:
Chuang Tzu held his bamboo pole still. Watching the Pu river, he said: “I am told there is a sacred tortoise offered and canonized three thousand years ago,venerated by the prince, wrapped in silk,in a precious shrine on an altar in the temple.
What do you think? Is it better to give up one’s life and leave a sacred shell as an object of cult in a cloud of incense for three thousand years,or to live as a plain turtle dragging its tail in the mud?”
Edited to add:
It's not that ancient wisdom or modern society is capable of offering effective solutions to the world's problems, better than anyone else. Every tribe or nation-state throughout time has been led by wise men and occasionally wise women, as well as short sighted buffoons. The best we can do is learn to recognize the difference.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves