| THE COURSE OF WRITING: magnificent last words |
Jul. 31st, 2011|03:42 pm |
burtmeistars Gerits Nōrdzejs raksta tā:
Science is supposed to seek the truth on the slippery path of trial and error. The faithful scientist nourishes the illusion that this journey will bring him a little nearer to the truth. I prefer a different and yet equally moving story of science. My upside-down story of science begins with profound dissatisfaction about truth, not truth as it is preached and has to believed, but undeniable truth as it surrounds us in self-evident truisms. Truism is always trivial, but often it comes clad in dignity and prestige. An impressive example is the famous expression coined by Herbert Spencer (not the designer, of course) about the survival of the fittest. The prestige of the saying depends entirely on the magnificent last word. When put bluntly (and more precisely, at that) it shrinks to plain nonsense: the survival of the survivor. Absolute truth is absolute nonsense, the profound knowledge by which I know ‘that things are as they are.’ A great poet might transform such truth into verse. An inventor would exchange the truth for something more risky, as far away from truths as possible and yet tenable: he devises a theory. |
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