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Ein guter Koch wechselt das Messer einmal im Jahr, weil er *schneidet.* Ein stümperhafter Koch muss das Messer alle Monate wechseln, weil er *hackt.* Ich habe mein Messer nun schon neunzehn Jahre lang und habe schon mehrere tausend Rinder zerlegt, und doch ist seine Schneide wie frisch geschliffen. Die Gelenke haben Zwischenräume; des Messers Schneide hat keine Dicke. Was aber keine Dicke hat, dringt in Zwischenräume ein – ungehindert, wie spielend, so dass die Klinge Platz genug hat. Darum habe ich das Messer nun schon neunzehn Jahre, und die Klinge ist wie frisch geschliffen.
Das Wahre Buch Vom Südlichen Blütenland
Zhuang Zi
To break down some of the beliefs that almost everyone else in history had, except us, and took to be completely obvious, which are taboo to question today.
The first is that there are inherent biological differences between men and women. Next, there is some inherent biological reality behind class, race, and ethnicity, that progress is not some natural law of the universe, but something that only occurs under certain incentive structures, which are rare throughout history. Family, community, and nation are the bedrock of social life, and war is a nasty part of the human condition that we have to accept. Equality doesn’t really exist, and some things are innately better than others. The highest levels of beauty, achievement, and greatness are pulled from the divine, while the lowest levels are pulled from demonic forces. These do not exist physically in the way we describe, but are underlying archetypal principles or forms that operate over physical matter.
Human nature is inherently corruptible and requires social traditions to keep us in check. There is a spirit world and God, and the human soul and consciousness is a force in its own right. Human life and happiness are predicated less upon material wealth and more upon social relations or values. The universe is a self-reflective emergent phenomenon that adapts to different situations.
To frame this: literally everyone else in history besides us believed all of that. Even the most educated people in the West at the start of World War I believed most of the things I mentioned above. Literally every other era in history besides that believed in them.
The Greatest Lie Ever Told
Whatifalthist
Why is there in us so great an urge to be conditioned, the urge to learn, to imitate, to conform, and to follow the pattern of family and group?
The Rape of the Mind
Dr. Joost A. M. Meerloo
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