http://www.davidbrin.com/parting.html
My Parting Thoughts (D. Brin)
I believe it's good that we have a rambunctious society, filled with
individualistic and opinionated people. Serenity is nice -- we all need
some -- but to hold it up above all other values has become a cheap
cliché. Serenity alone never brought progress. Hermits on hilltops
never solved a problem.
The adversarial process -- the tug and push of contrary views -- helps
us to improve, both as individuals and as a culture. Criticism is the
only known antidote to error -- elites shunned it, and their evasion
spread ruin across history. We do each other a great favor (though it's
not always appreciated) when we help find each others' mistakes.
And yet...
And yet, it also seems to me that we'd all be a lot happier, and better
off, and more capable of dealing with criticism if each of us were to
remember, now and then, to say the following phrase:
"I am a member of a civilization."
This is more true now than ever, as we enter an edgy century of
transition.
Our society has many flaws, but if you ponder history and cantankerous
human nature, it's astonishing how far we've come. (Wouldn't our
ancestors have wanted us to be better?)
We don't say IAAMOAC often enough.
(sorta like the society on brin-l?~} jlm
____________________________________________________________________________________Looking
for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.
http://farechase.yahoo.com/
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
