THE WORLD IS A HAPPY PLACE
I know, because Einstein told us how to tell ….
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019
The world, as we know it, is a beautiful place.
The world, as we know it, is a horrible place.
Could both be true?
Could neither be true?
Is there some mysterious middle ground between extremes of good and bad, of sweet and evil?
Seemingly contradictory statements about our human condition could not both be correct at the same time; now, it looks more and more they are both right at the same time in the same places.
Dickens wrote or ‘the best of times, the worst of times’ as no doubt a preview for the evening news or morning newspaper just about anywhere on earth.
I was watching an interview, recorded in 1958 – it was Mike Wallace interviewing Aldous Huxley ; the scary world and risks he saw, from that vantage point, have proven profoundly prophetic. He didn’t imagine the computer and data age in which we live, had no idea of the impact of media, social media, and our state of politics. Huxley’s comments on the power and methods employed by despots and leader-hype types are stunning – to say nothing of his view of the future of overpopulation and hunger, which we see playing out on immigration and border pressures all over the world.
Einstein asked a convention of physics scholars convened to honor him to workshop together to determine whether the world was a happy place. Those scientists could not agree. Einstein’s take was both immediate and brilliant (hope I captured this quote correctly), “If you believe the world is a happy place, it is, and you will see it that way. If you believe the world is not a happy place, then it is not, and you will see it that way.”
Reader feedback:
Great teaser, Mark. You have my attention, RH, Calgary, AB
We probably had more of these moments as a child because we were always learning and, hopefully, marveling at what we were learning. LH, Lethbridge, AB
Loved this one. Thanks Mark, awesome Read, MJ, Calgary, AB
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