"It was said later that he came under bad influences at this stage. But the secret of the history of Edward d'Eath was that he came under no outside influences at all, unless you count all those dead kings. He just came under the influence of himself. That's where people get it wrong. Individuals aren't naturally paid-up members of the human race, except biologically. They need to be bounced around by the Brownian motion of society, which is a mechanism by which human beings constantly remind one another that they are . . . well . . . human beings."
It kind of makes sense. Being an outsider in a close-knit community where you can see how close everyone else is just drives the point home. At least in a large city you're an anonymous face among all the other anonymous faces.
And yet sometimes I crave it so. I expect that comes from the enforced closeness at work; we're even expected to call everyone by their first name all the way up the ladder. This grates on me.
It's a fair cop; my concern, however, is that Our Betters will decide that solving the social isolation problem as well as the "climate chaos" problem with the New Urbanism will double the win-ness.
Nothing alleviates social isolation, after all, like the Bauhaus...
...'scuse me, I just rolled my eyes clean out of my head and across the room.
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"It was said later that he came under bad influences at this stage. But the secret of the history of
ReplyDeleteEdward d'Eath was that he came under no outside influences at all, unless you count all those
dead kings. He just came under the influence of himself.
That's where people get it wrong. Individuals aren't naturally paid-up members of the human race,
except biologically. They need to be bounced around by the Brownian motion of society, which is
a mechanism by which human beings constantly remind one another that they are . . . well . . .
human beings."
Pratchett; Men At Arms
It kind of makes sense. Being an outsider in a close-knit community where you can see how close everyone else is just drives the point home. At least in a large city you're an anonymous face among all the other anonymous faces.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we will ever 'actually' know the truth...
ReplyDeleteHumans are a social species. Isolation for us can just as easily be cause for madness, or a sign of madness...
ReplyDeleteAnd yet sometimes I crave it so. I expect that comes from the enforced closeness at work; we're even expected to call everyone by their first name all the way up the ladder. This grates on me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fair cop; my concern, however, is that Our Betters will decide that solving the social isolation problem as well as the "climate chaos" problem with the New Urbanism will double the win-ness.
ReplyDeleteNothing alleviates social isolation, after all, like the Bauhaus...
...'scuse me, I just rolled my eyes clean out of my head and across the room.