The Stoic philosophers thought that it was the nature of the human animal to be rational. If that’s true, one has to ask how come rationality doesn’t seem to come naturally. At least in the mid- to long-term. We’re great at using rationality to solve problems and execute complex tasks in the here-and-now – often in the interest of whatever deluded notion of personal happiness we think we’re serving. But thinking in terms of the big picture and the larger community? Not so much. And here we are.
But we never stop talking, writing, thinking in language. It’s like animal scat: it has to be expressed, and it leaves a trail. Whether anybody else picks up the scent is another matter; but maybe that’s not the point. Just as listeners respond more to tone of voice than content of words, so speakers just want to be heard by someone who seems to be listening. The Stoics also thought it was one’s duty to follow the nature and destiny of a human being. While rationality may be a smaller part of that being than they thought, maybe writing (or singing or speaking) is in some way a fulfillment of our nature as humans. It will be in the fossil record (or storage vault) for the survivors or space aliens to find, if they’re interested (and exist), but that won’t do us any good. Fame means nothing to the dead, and neither does being read. But the act of writing means something to the writer, and the product might mean something to some reader somewhere. Is that a compelling reason to write, in the teeth of social dissolution? Or just a bunch of existential bullshit?
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June 2021
Kristin Prevallet Author/Editor
I'm a writer & teacher in Lawrence, Kansas who actually believes the scientists. I wrote a book of poems called Of Some Sky that seems to have something to do with all this. |