Monday, May 30, 2011

Fact: Reason is a Bad Thing

I've been battling this line of thought lately. It's kind of crazy, but I think it might help to spew it out so that all of my facebook friends (and whoever stumbles across) can read it.

What do nuclear bombs, anthropogenic global warming, and guillotines all have in common? Two things that I can think of off hand: They're all bad, and they're all the direct the result of someone using reason. If mankind had used a little less critical thinking, we'd probably still be hunter-gatherer/agrarian types of people, and we'd probably have a longer longevity (as a species) because of it. Our beloved idol, the human mind, will eventually destroy us. And there are so many ways technological advancement could kill us!

If we'd only used reason for the most basic kinds of self-preservation/community organization, we'd probably be ok. But, with nukes... it's just too late to embrace irrationalism. It'd be great if we were running around with sticks and spears, but irrational folks deciding when nukes are launched sounds like a pretty awful idea. So, I guess we're stuck playing this dangerous game of technological development.

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