The more classics you read, whether Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, the more you realize humans learn almost nothing--other than in cumulative fields like science and technology--and that most of history is tiresome repetition.
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For sure. I struggle with this—the "I don't know" was meant genuinely. Before books we had...taboos? Oral tradition? None of it works well. It's a cliche, but I wonder if having to relearn is just part of the collective human condition, as it is of individual humans.
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Thought experiment: Imagine that, via some sci-fi technology, a moribund but wise 90-yo could impart their lived experience--in all its direct, visceral impact--to an 18-yo just coming of age. Would it make the youngster more effective as a human, or depress them utterly?
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Perhaps a certain amount of naive cluelessness is essential for the species to survive.
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Not sure I agree, Antonio. I've been reading voraciously since I was ten years old, and I've learned how to be in the world through reading. I have autism, and novels help me understand other humans and myself. Empathy is at the heart of the novel, according to Azar Nafisi.
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Respectfully disagree. The three volume Feynman Lectures in Physics imparted very efficiently lots of cosmic and life wisdom laying the foundations for a lucrative career in pure and applied physics. The good old Bard did the same.
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General Mattis has a lot to say about books imparting usable wisdom: http://www.strifeblog.org/2013/05/07/with-rifle-and-bibliography-general-mattis-on-professional-reading/ …
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You have to read books for them to work. Who reads books these days?
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