Gee, I guess I did miss the point. However, now that Trevor has illuminated it for me, I disagree.Scott, I can't see how he'd miss it: namely, that a person hardly needs an excuse to feel special. Calling yourself awake and everyone else asleep is a huge temptation.
I dispute this. If you see yourself as awake and others as asleep, you're not yet truly awake. You're just brainwashed and a narcissist.If one is awake one can see that most people are asleep. Who disputes this?
Wisdom makes no one different or special. If a "wise person" thinks that, they're only playing a stupid mind game with themselves, and they should never be called wise. They are shitting all over the very teachings they share.And temptation and excuses aside, does this not make a person somewhat different, if not special?
It is true that if a person thinks he is more inherently special than anyone else, then he is deluded. But that doesn't mean we cannot make judgments about who is more rational and truthful than others.Wisdom makes no one different or special. If a "wise person" thinks that, they're only playing a stupid mind game with themselves, and they should never be called wise.
Nietzsche, Weininger and Buddha have dropped down a notch because their flaws are too noticeable to ignore and clearly undermined their wisdom to a degree.If we were to set up a scale which has total unconsciousness at one end and supreme consciousness at the other, then even the best artist would fall considerably below any philosopher worth his salt. Here is a rough sketch on how I rate various people in terms of consciousness and wisdom:
10 - Buddhahood (the ideal)
9
8
7
6 - Kierkegaard, Lao Tzu, Huang Po, Hakuin, Jesus
5 - Nietzsche, Weininger, Buddha
4
3
2 - Oscar Wilde, Marquis de Sade, Spinoza
1.5 - Kant, Dostoyevski, Shakespeare
1 - Einstein, Darwin, Newton
0.75 - Dali, Escher, Da Vinci, Bach
0.5 - Mozart, Beethoven, Van Gogh
0.1 - Tiger Woods, Michael Jorden, Dalai Lama, the pope, Hitler.
0.05 - The average person
I was at the bookstore the other day, and I leafed through a book called "The Quotable Einstein". I don't see why anyone bothered quoting him. He's not particularly wise. I've read just as interesting things off of inspirational posters.Why is Marquis de Sade higher up than Newton and Einstein?
Sounds like a pretty stupid game to play. A game that only a narcissist would care to play.It is true that if a person thinks he is more inherently special than anyone else, then he is deluded. But that doesn't mean we cannot make judgments about who is more rational and truthful than others.
I never said everyone is just as close as everyone else to comprehending reality, and being truthful. My argument simply states that creating hierarchies of wise people is an absolute waste of time. That anyone who does it is obviously not wise.As an analogy, there is no one tree which is more inherently special than all the other trees, yet we can still make judgments about its height or its health. The tallest tree in the world is no more inherently special than any other tree, and yet it still remains the tallest tree in the world.
Your argument basically states that since no one tree is more inherently special than any other tree, all trees are the same height. Which is silly.
What a load of horseshit. It's easy to see people as stupid when you don't know them, and when you don't understand the motivating factors behind their actions. Perhaps someone is a greater thinker than you, and when they do something and you consider it unconscious, perhaps they were simply thinking deeper about all of the potential consequences than you. I have no problem with judging others, but when the judge claims to be above the others and obviously isn't, then I have a problem.10 - Buddhahood (the ideal)
9
8
7
6 - Kierkegaard, Lao Tzu, Huang Po, Hakuin, Jesus
5 - Nietzsche, Weininger, Buddha
4
3
2 - Oscar Wilde, Marquis de Sade, Spinoza
1.5 - Kant, Dostoyevski, Shakespeare
1 - Einstein, Darwin, Newton
0.75 - Dali, Escher, Da Vinci, Bach
0.5 - Mozart, Beethoven, Van Gogh
0.1 - Tiger Woods, Michael Jorden, Dalai Lama, the pope, Hitler.
0.05 - The average person
Really? How about this one:Creating these hierarchies has value because it can be stimulating to the mind, and also confronting to the ego.
He was more philosophical, and more psychological. Newton and Einstein were brilliant in a narrow field of endeavour, while remaining ordinary in everything else. Their philosophical consciousness, in particular, was poorly developed.Why is Marquis de Sade higher up than Newton and Einstein?
He would if he cares about the human race. Guiding people to wisdom is all about providing signposts.When a Buddha ascends into Nirvana and looks down upon the world, is he going to waste his time picking people out of the crowd and putting them on a wisdom scale?
This contradicts your own wisdom scale, such that it is.I never said everyone is just as close as everyone else to comprehending reality, and being truthful.
All these types have greater mental qualities than the average person. Their minds are often clearer and more insightful, and their determination to succeed in what they do is very strong. There is some raw potential there. So for that, I bump them up the scale a bit.I also don't see how being an artist or scientist or...GOLFER!...makes you wise at all.
What makes you think that Newton was not rational?
Precisely...he doesn't care.He would if he cares about the human race. Guiding people to wisdom is all about providing signposts.
True. I suppose I did say it, then.Quote:
I never said everyone is just as close as everyone else to comprehending reality, and being truthful.
This contradicts your own wisdom scale, such that it is.
Morrison above Hendrix...Cory Duchesne wrote:And I'd place morrison above Hendrix. Morrison perhaps had brief sparks of philosohical genius, although he was just a battery plugged into the charger of Nietzche. Hendrixes genius I think was just aesthetic brilliance, not much philosophical capacity.
