I can't agree with Thoreau although I know what he means. Or at least I think I know what he means. If we all throw away our laptops and go and live in the woods and chop down trees and get plenty of fresh air and so on we'll get in touch with our inner selves, or with raw nature; we'll somehow be in touch with the "simpler" universal laws, as he calls them. But the universe is not simple. It is more complicated than we can begin to imagine. Some quantum physicist once postulated about 46 dimensions. And now it appears to be the case that 96% of the universe consits of dark matter. The Thoreau statement is a contradiction. On the one hand he says go after your dreams (ok I want to be an astronaut) and on the other hand he says simplify your life. This is woolly thinking by Thoreau. If the rest of his stuff is so naif, as this example is, I'm surprised people still read him. Cheers :)
I can't agree with Thoreau although I know what he means. Or at least I think I know what he means. If we all throw away our laptops and go and live in the woods and chop down trees and get plenty of fresh air and so on we'll get in touch with our inner selves, or with raw nature; we'll somehow be in touch with the "simpler" universal laws, as he calls them.
ReplyDeleteBut the universe is not simple. It is more complicated than we can begin to imagine. Some quantum physicist once postulated about 46 dimensions. And now it appears to be the case that 96% of the universe consits of dark matter.
The Thoreau statement is a contradiction. On the one hand he says go after your dreams (ok I want to be an astronaut) and on the other hand he says simplify your life. This is woolly thinking by Thoreau. If the rest of his stuff is so naif, as this example is, I'm surprised people still read him.
Cheers :)
Don't take too much notice of Thoreau until you have read biographies of him! Much of what he came out with is psychobabble . . .
ReplyDeleteBest wishes.
ADORE THIS QUOTE! Stands true in MANY MANY MANY WAYS.
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