Natural Law
"What have you done to me?" he demanded. "I gave birth to you." p.228, Dune.
Al-Farabi, Ibn Rushd and Ibn al-Arabi were only partially correct when they said that there were two kinds of truths, one for the masses and one for the learned and that the truth of the learned should be witheld from the masses.
What they should have said was that there is no need to withold the truth from the masses because the masses will withold it from themselves.
However, perhaps if they had understood their Prophet more deeply they would have understood why when he was reported to have said;
"If the hour comes while one of you is holding a palm-seedling, if he can plant it before the hour overtakes him, he should plant it."
Truly, "only the ordinary man is great."
Sleiman
Al-Farabi, Ibn Rushd and Ibn al-Arabi were only partially correct when they said that there were two kinds of truths, one for the masses and one for the learned and that the truth of the learned should be witheld from the masses.
What they should have said was that there is no need to withold the truth from the masses because the masses will withold it from themselves.
However, perhaps if they had understood their Prophet more deeply they would have understood why when he was reported to have said;
"If the hour comes while one of you is holding a palm-seedling, if he can plant it before the hour overtakes him, he should plant it."
Truly, "only the ordinary man is great."
Sleiman
posted by sleiman @ 2:16 PM
12 Comments:
At 6:41 PM, February 19, 2006,
Anonymous said…
When did you get so damned smart?
At 7:15 PM, February 20, 2006,
KH said…
haha - is that anonymous being sarcastic or admiring your insight?
Anyway - at the moment I don't see the link between the masses living in a state of constant denial/ignorance, the carpe diem-esque quote and the "only the ordinary man is great" quote.
That doesn't mean there isn't a link, just that I don't get it at the moment.
I must be missing something...
At 11:49 PM, February 20, 2006,
Anonymous said…
The mind can be the mind's worst enemy. I'm just starting to see this now.
Reducing things to seemingly major points is useful but one can miss out on the stuff that exits between the points.
I was warned once against being 'Mr. Theory'. It seems to be an obvious weakness of mine, so I think I'll leave this post as is for now.
Just remember, you don't have to get it now.
At 9:38 PM, February 22, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Is it similar to saying that 'Life is everything and nothing all at once' - kind of like humans. So potential but so ignorant.
At 6:48 PM, February 26, 2006,
Anonymous said…
whats Dune got to do with it?
At 6:49 PM, February 26, 2006,
Anonymous said…
put it in context bro
At 7:58 PM, February 26, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Dune is the source of the quote, that's all. It's an excellent book. I can't recommend it highly enough.
If you want it put into context, consider this:
"I speak to the opening mind." Dune Messiah, p. 152.
Enough said.
At 11:47 PM, February 26, 2006,
Anonymous said…
and i respond with the open mind - referencing science fiction as a source of fact is pointless...
At 11:50 PM, February 26, 2006,
Anonymous said…
i agree - what next? quotes from Star Wars?
At 12:11 AM, February 27, 2006,
Anonymous said…
I'd suggest that there may be more benefit if the open mind sees potentialities rather than 'facts'.
I'd also suggest that potentiality is the source of fact, not a science fiction novel.
As a famous Wookie once said, "Raargh!"
Enough said.
At 10:07 AM, February 27, 2006,
Anonymous said…
" I'd suggest that there may be more benefit if the open mind sees potentialities rather than 'facts'.
I'd also suggest that potentiality is the source of fact, not a science fiction novel."
So, you agree with me. I'll write it again for emphasis..."referencing science fiction as a source of fact is pointless..."
And, what's more, why did it take you 11 posts before you put your original post in context. This type of quasi-philosophical chest beating makes me sad. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm saying that treating your reader with contempt, by refusing to contextualise your thoughts, serves nobody. Had you simply included your last post into your initial post I suggest this whole thread would have been far more interesting in terms of ideas that were developed (assuming you were interested in developing ideas and not just telling the world "how it is").
At 2:12 PM, March 01, 2006,
sleiman said…
Gotta hit those lunges some more....
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