Thursday, March 31, 2005
Response to Eric Bentley
I think that Eric Bentley hit the nail on the head with his statement, “Ours is the age of substitutes: Instead of language we have jargon; instead of principles, slogans; and instead of genuine ideas, bright suggestions. ” I think that all of these things that he mentioned result because our society is built around ease and cost-effectiveness rather than quality and meaning. To really communicate with language well, time for studying is required. To hold real principles, commitment and effort is required to live by them. To come up with genuine ideas one must spend time truly thinking about and developing their ideas. The problem is that no one has enough time, and no one wants to commit to anything or put forth effort for anything besides personal gain. This is a serious problem—one that needs to be solved before any genuine progress can be made.
If progress is defined purely as technological advance or acquisition of wealth, we have progressed greatly. I think that is a very narrow definition of progress though; one that should not be considered the most important. We need to ask ourselves if technological advances and acquisition of wealth have made our lives better in a meaningful sense, and if the lives of people around the globe have been made better in a meaningful sense. What good are super computers to those suffering from AIDS in Africa? What good is the wealth in the United States to the poor people of Haiti when they see not one positive thing from it? Our definition of progress has becoming far too narrow and selfish.
It has become that way because we have become shallow. Bentley says it well in his quote, and it is obvious to any discerning eye that our culture is shallow. This shallowness is, ironically, a difficult pit to climb out of. We have become to shallow that are discerning eyes are blinded. We don’t realize we are shallow. Those not immersed in this “age of substitutes” easily can see it though. The poor around the world can see it and feel it too. It is imperetive that we get rid of our jargon, slogans and suggestions, and move toward real, meaningful progress. It will only take a few to get the rest to see their blunder.