Are we old?

[Partinobodycula]

Many years ago someone gave me a book called “The Anthology of American Poetry”, and it struck me as somewhat odd, that so many of the greatest works of American poetry were written when their authors were quite young. Many in their teens and twenties. There are exceptions of course. Like Emily Dickinson. But for many, their most renowned works, came in their youth. It also struck me how many of them went on to become publishers and editors of poetry, but never really regained the poetic brilliance that they had in their youth.

Recently I came across a video on Youtube that expressed the same thing, but for physicists instead of poets. It described how many of the breakthrough ideas of physics were actually made while their proponents were relatively young. And that how in later years physicists tended to focus more on the details and the framework of ideas, rather than on profound breakthroughs. The video gave various theories as to why this might be so, but the basic phenomena seems to present itself across various disciplines. The young seem to have a gift for inspiration that the old lack. But the old tend to be good at the day to day drudgery of applying their knowledge to the real world.

So the thought struck me, is humanity following the same path? Have we passed the inspirational age of our youth, when religious and philisophical ideas could be exuberant, and provocative, and bold, and new. Are we as a species, as thinkers, becoming old, and staid, and fixed in our ways? Content with working out the details, and fiddling around the edges. Are we satisfied with what we think we know? Or is religion, and philosophy, and humanity still capable of transformational change? Of a whole new way of looking at reality, and our place in it. Will there ever be a new renascence, a new Plato, a new Christ?

Or perhaps it’s only religion and philosophy that are old. Perhaps the next transformational change will come through science. When what was believed to be true, turns out not to be. When what we thought we were, turns out not to be what we are. Perhaps the next inspiration comes in realizing that what you know, isn’t so. Because sometimes inspiration isn’t found in discovering what’s true, but in revealing what isn’t. Humanity may still be capable of youthful inspiration. The old may not yet hold sway. We may be capable of change.

But we may have to ask, what are we sure of? What do we know, that isn’t so?

 

[laircy]

Interesting thoughts. It seems that as there are more and more people, it either becomes difficult for everyone to see all the breakthroughs, or perhaps there is sort of a “bystander effect”, where more people don’t pursue something because they think someone else will do it. I remember there actually being a commercial on the radio for some television thing that made fun of this, saying, yeah go ahead and watch tv, let some other person cure cancer or whatever. At this point, I wonder if there is much else we can do. Standing on the shoulders of giants. And yet…
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
– Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. patent office, 1899

 

[Counterpoint]

Perhaps the next transformational change will come through science.

I would say that science is undergoing a transformational change (a paradigm shift) that started with the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

 

[Partinobodycula]

It seems that as there are more and more people, it either becomes difficult for everyone to see all the breakthroughs…

You may be on to something. I like to browse sciencey websites and oftentimes I’m amazed by the constant flow of new discoveries. No doubt driven somewhat by the need to get published or die. But still, the specialization involved in some of these fields means that they’re never going to get the mainstream recognition of black holes, or quantum physics, yet the effort and sheer genius involved are still incredibly impressive. So perhaps the awe-inspiring discoveries of the past are simply being masked by the speed of innovation, and the need for specialization.

Or maybe we’re undergoing a paradigm shift (per Counterpoint), and we don’t even realize it.

 

[AlTheCollegeGal]

I would also think that the spark in creativity (in regards to poetry and other forms of art) may be due to the increased energy of youth and other factors related to biology as well as psychology. I believe most individuals in their teens and twenties are “finding themselves,” an intense process of self-discovery which is interwoven with creativity. One’s mortality seems far away (for most), and it is possible that this period of experimentation is due to this heightened confidence in one’s own powers. Lastly, this may be due to the ten year rule postulated by scientists, in which it takes ten years of deliberate practice at something to become an expert. If an individual picks up a paintbrush at age six and purposefully practices for ten years, he or she will have reached expert status by age 16.

 

[JackVk]

I’m 22 and sometimes feel like an under-achiever because I’m not very creative. It seems to ring true with a lot of young people; Dr. Michio Kaku, a science popularizer, says that schools crush curiosity and creativity out of kids by making education all about memorizing and regurgitating.

We also sometimes feel discouraged to write stuff. We’re afraid of our creations being rehashings or plagiarism, and society is so litigious that we claim copyright infringement for having the word “the” on the same page number in otherwise unrelated books.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I feel that the young and uncorrupted are two and the same thing. People who have not been totally corrupted by money and power are open to God and all his manifestations. When people close off their minds and hearts to protect their possessions and lifestyles they are no longer manifesting God.

Yes, I fear this modern age is corrupted and old. When you look back a century or two, you can see that the average man was much more open to nature, God and the truth than we are in this age.

But never fear. The Roman empire became stagnant and old and corrupted, but a new age rose up. This will happen again and again in time and for ages and ages.