I feel like that film is a good metaphor for people's behaviour on a global scale - or in any situation where the consequences of one's choices on other beings seem abstract and hard to grasp. When the scale is smaller and more local and people know each other, most human beings have a tendency to be relatively alright and altruistic, or at least considerably nicer than the logs in that film... I'm starting to think that most of the moral handicaps of our species are really cognitive handicaps; in other words, I think that the real problem (or challenge) is not a lack of morality per se, but the serious mismatch between the world's increasing complexity and people's hunter-gatherer brains. But tell me what you think.
One of the books I’m reading has that “public/private” or mass/individual morality as a central issue. I’m embarrassed to admit I’m too dumb to have thought about it until after it was mentioned. So, I think you’re right in the sense that it is how things are. What interests me is the why and whether the two can be reconciled, intellectually, if not actually or practically. I hope they can(or at least that’s my instinct) despite doubts they ever will.
I didn’t pass it along because of the metaphor you mention—I didn’t see it before you mentioned it(again, way too dumb), but rather because I thought you might see much more in something that made me want to be friends with a little stick.
When I was 7 years old, some of my friends were sticks. I had a human friend, with whom I collected sticks who became actors in our game called Tikku TV ("Stick TV"). It was a very dramatic show where a nation of sticks tried to stop another group of sticks from invading and destroying their sand kingdom.
I always took some of the sticks home with me. They had names and distinct styles and personalities. I wonder where they are now.
What's that book you're reading?
(Again, sorry that my replies are coming so slowly and randomly... A Proper Response is always brewing somewhere.)
https://youtu.be/mBZBPptSneM
ReplyDeleteI feel like that film is a good metaphor for people's behaviour on a global scale - or in any situation where the consequences of one's choices on other beings seem abstract and hard to grasp. When the scale is smaller and more local and people know each other, most human beings have a tendency to be relatively alright and altruistic, or at least considerably nicer than the logs in that film... I'm starting to think that most of the moral handicaps of our species are really cognitive handicaps; in other words, I think that the real problem (or challenge) is not a lack of morality per se, but the serious mismatch between the world's increasing complexity and people's hunter-gatherer brains. But tell me what you think.
DeleteOne of the books I’m reading has that “public/private” or mass/individual morality as a central issue. I’m embarrassed to admit I’m too dumb to have thought about it until after it was mentioned. So, I think you’re right in the sense that it is how things are. What interests me is the why and whether the two can be reconciled, intellectually, if not actually or practically. I hope they can(or at least that’s my instinct) despite doubts they ever will.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t pass it along because of the metaphor you mention—I didn’t see it before you mentioned it(again, way too dumb), but rather because I thought you might see much more in something that made me want to be friends with a little stick.
Oh! …and because I’ve been thinking about the good art quote since seeing it and any art that makes a person love a stick probably fits.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 7 years old, some of my friends were sticks. I had a human friend, with whom I collected sticks who became actors in our game called Tikku TV ("Stick TV"). It was a very dramatic show where a nation of sticks tried to stop another group of sticks from invading and destroying their sand kingdom.
DeleteI always took some of the sticks home with me. They had names and distinct styles and personalities. I wonder where they are now.
What's that book you're reading?
(Again, sorry that my replies are coming so slowly and randomly... A Proper Response is always brewing somewhere.)
Tikkutopia sounds a lot like a lot of other places I’ve heard about—everything is good until someone wants your sand…
ReplyDeleteAs to where they are now…I’m guessing they are huddled together in a sauna, trying to wash the sand off.
Manifest Destiny is the book. I got turned on to it several months ago.