No amount of study truly connects us to the vision of the ancients. Nor does study truly connect us to the past in any form. We can’t see as they saw. We can’t have the experiences of our ancestors. Something will always be missing because life is more complex than its interpretation.
If you walk into an old house, you’ll see windows that appear wavy. You might conclude that those who lived in the house originally had a blurred or wavy view of their external world, but the reality is they looked through clear glass. Glass is under the inexorable pull of gravity, so it “flows” downward; thus, the waves and distorted view. Varying thicknesses play on the light: Crests refract it in one direction; troughs, in another.
The view to the outside changed because of flowing glass, but something else changed, also. That treeless landscape outside the original house now has an aging, giant oak and tall pine that were just saplings 60 years ago, and the street out front has more passing vehicles. So, both the medium of your view and what you see is different from what Great Grandpa saw. You get some idea, but you don’t get the full idea.
When you believe you understand what previous generations saw, remember that gravity and time have changed the view by affecting the medium and the things seen. Know, also, that your windows are sagging, though from your point of view, imperceptibly. Your offspring two generations removed will never fully understand your point of view. They might get a general idea, but refraction and a changing landscape will forever hide the specifics.
It’s the gravity of time that separates generations by changing both the window and the external world. Great Grandpa didn’t, regardless of your opinion, have a distorted view of his external world. He saw clearly, but his landscape was different.
If you walk into an old house, you’ll see windows that appear wavy. You might conclude that those who lived in the house originally had a blurred or wavy view of their external world, but the reality is they looked through clear glass. Glass is under the inexorable pull of gravity, so it “flows” downward; thus, the waves and distorted view. Varying thicknesses play on the light: Crests refract it in one direction; troughs, in another.
The view to the outside changed because of flowing glass, but something else changed, also. That treeless landscape outside the original house now has an aging, giant oak and tall pine that were just saplings 60 years ago, and the street out front has more passing vehicles. So, both the medium of your view and what you see is different from what Great Grandpa saw. You get some idea, but you don’t get the full idea.
When you believe you understand what previous generations saw, remember that gravity and time have changed the view by affecting the medium and the things seen. Know, also, that your windows are sagging, though from your point of view, imperceptibly. Your offspring two generations removed will never fully understand your point of view. They might get a general idea, but refraction and a changing landscape will forever hide the specifics.
It’s the gravity of time that separates generations by changing both the window and the external world. Great Grandpa didn’t, regardless of your opinion, have a distorted view of his external world. He saw clearly, but his landscape was different.
RSS Feed