/lit/ - Literature

>>12012313
>The interesting thing about technology is that it extends our capabilities in certain ways but atrophies us in others. I am always fascinated by the Greeks and their emphasis on physicality. It took a large amount of work to recreate a working Trireme on water. The Greeks were jacked. I can't imagine the psychological hardiness of the people of the past. Humans will never be happy because our level of suffering is relative.

agreed on this 100%. the Greeks were ultra-jacked. and not only the Greeks, mind. my very smart CompSci buddy, who i have been subjecting to conversations about these things on a weekly basis for some time now, has mad love for the Hornblower novels, pretty much for similar reasons. there is an *awesome* amount of problem-solving and other Humanity Fuck Yeah brainpower going on in putting a frigate at sea. and this is when they *weren't* disembarking afterwards, and getting off on foot, to go and fuck up the Trojans with spears also. it's hard to hate the meatbags when we are capable of things like this.

>We have a society of learned idiots who emphasize pedigree over substance and are so narrow and specialized yet so dependent. Someone may have a lot of intelligence and skill at some niche domain but they lack a holistic refinement that causes them to have an inflated prestige and competency in other domains due to a lack of initiation and existential suffering that exposes them for what they are, nothing.

yessir. and in the long run it makes us into a shitty race of Gollums too. *no empathy,* because *no understanding.* cynicism is understandable if you're Voltaire or Machiavelli; it's not if you're some asshole working a 9-5 making Porno-Chicken Nuggies.
>tfw you love porno-chicken nuggies girardfag, stfu
>ok but they're not *healthy* inner self and i know this. i hate that i love them
>you love the porno-nuggies girardfag. you will always love the porno-nuggies

>People often conflate the abstraction of theoretical understanding versus the reality of doing. Someone who is mathematically capable in theory may be able to build a house, but in actually are probably incapable and shouldn't ever be trusted to do so in practice. A physicist may understand gravitation, but they make for poor archers.

this also. there's a name for this fallacy, i don't remember which. it's not Dunning-Kruger (and i fucking hate this too, btw, i only ever hear it used in tactical ways and it makes me nuts). anyways, you nailed it. specialization is probably necessary for a technical civilization, but it fucks with our heads too, and all of these fucked heads lead to fucked-up societies.