When I think about how things ought to be, I tend to become more philosophical. A work of fiction works in a similar way as the author tries to penetrate deeply into a reality that has not existed, although he very much thinks it's possible and civilization would be better for it.
The popular politician Robert Kennedy in one of his speeches, famously quoted George Bernard Shaw:
There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
Today we still hear this sort of sentiment all the time, it's constantly reinforced in pop culture and has become a subtle cliché. When you dream you're going after the pursuit of perfection, the striving toward an ideal or vision that you believe is necessary for whatever reason.
Aristotle's classic Poetics, as one of the earliest records of literary criticism, made a critical distinction between history and poetry. History accounts for things as they are, a plain representation of facts; while poetry or fiction is about portraying an imaginable idea that needs to be envisioned, so in essence it's more philosophical.
Basic psychology nowadays uses a similar rhetoric when they discuss the differences in brain hemispheres and their effects in our cognitive abilities—right brain versus left brain. One is based on analysis, the other intuition; or you can say feeling and interpretation versus logic and sequence.
Both have its deserved spot in the humane life; and it's key to understand how they work hand in hand, balancing each other out.
Seeing how things are requires a more keen observing eye. If you rely on philosophizing too much you'll get fairly deep in analysis, but you'll start compensating for the broader view. At the same time, if you just focus solely on the facts, you'll get caught up in the details and pedantry at the expense of obscuring the general fundamentals which good ol' common sense is always are of.
Those who have taken the study of history seriously are well aware that in the nature of things there is always a cause and effect and while not everything repeat themselves exactly the same, there's always a consistent relationship or pattern through time. Memorization of dates, titles, names, events, and other factoids definitely assist in this study, though it's a secondary concern compared to having an accurate overview from sustained reading.
Knowing history is to become experienced; and like Cicero, I believe if you lack any knowledge about what came before, you will always remain a child. Caring only about imaginary worlds and idealistic fantasies leads to naiveness and the vulnerabilities associated with an immature teenager.
Learning has no limit besides time; and seeing what has happened previously saves a lot of that time for the more active observer.
Nevertheless, for those wanting to cultivate a sound ability for common sense, it's important to consider the explanatory power of fiction. Narratives and stories can provide a lot of introspective material to digest and to put into thinking about how things actually are. Before the Prussian model took control over the administration of learning, reading the great tragedies and epics were considered essential for being educated.
To know if an ideal is healthy or objective is an extreme difficulty if you are not aware of any depictions others have made in their fictional works. Certain individuals may find it easy to have an internal understanding, though without with any examples we have few directions mapped out.
Curiosity, for it's own sake, has led much of the youth to get acquainted with the mind of Jules Verne and Heinlein among others, inspiring many of them to become scientists and engineers creating the new which hadn't yet been done.
Science fiction can be seen as a proper illustration of how ideas ought to be, eventually becoming realized in the digital world including crypto innovations from the radical works of the cypherpunks. Matthew Arnold described this whole processes very well when he said:
The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.
Interesting article, thank you for your time! As much as I would like to quote the Aristoteles thing since apparently he is so popular, I would like to suggest another interesting POV, the one of Parmenion (Παρμενίδης) and his philosophy... Not gonna write anything more, not because I am lazy but because well its always better to read something based on your own understanding ;)
Greetings from sunny Greece
Thanks for this interesting and thought-provoking essay Superfluousman!
Causes me to reflect on how a non-naive, reality-based view of fiction must consider the ways mass media and other information control agents amplify, squelch or co-opt certain themes, authors and projects for purposes of very strategic cultural steering and predictive programming.
Also the difference between objective, real events in the past and the various narratives presented as "history" which are often nothing more than agenda-driven fictions.
Thanks for reading glad you liked!
Definitely, propaganda is the strongest tool the controllers got. I think the best authors and thinkers are aware of such programming and try their best to either ignore it or transcend it. The crypto sphere is a relevant example where the originators took a non-naive, reality-based view of fiction.
I agree, thats why it's essential to not place too much importance on certain events or scenarios that we are told about in "history", and look at general trends.
Great job, keep the posts coming. Really enjoyed reading this, thank you for sharing :)
Thanks for reading!
It definitely saves a lot of time to look into the past to see how human nature works and the same patterns just being passed around. Although, some of the history textbooks being fed to kids in school are agenda driven as well. In our case.
Congrats being discovered by @curie !
Yeah most, if not all, the books fed to students in government schooling is agenda driven, it only makes sense from their point of view. Thats why I think it good to cover the classics; they only hold the test of time because individuals have regarded them as worthwhile information through societal transformations.
Thanks! I think he found me before as well.
Nice post, thanks!!!
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STOPThis is incredible! Love it. @superfluousman
Thankyou for sharing @superflousman