| Qin: Little Cloud
"Yes, but it seems we can go astray more easily and more consistently than can, say, a cactus or a squirrel." "Your concern implies that you think we are more important than cactuses or squirrels. Please show me, anywhere in the 10,000 things, any hint (others than those we contrive in religion, philosophy, art, and science) that we are more important? I’m ready for your silence." "…. This fellow's feeling run-down, so he goes to the doctor, and he tells the doctor about how he has sex with six or more women three times every day. The doctor assures him that is the cause of his problem. The fellow looks relieved and says, 'I'm sure glad to hear that, Doc. I was afraid it might be the masturbation.'""No hint. Not one." What do we see when we look at the 10,000 things? They come, they go. Some thrive, develop. Some don’t. And no hint that we are any different. Which means we are as much an ‘experiment’ as the dinosaurs were, as the coelocanth was, as the cockroach is." "So it’s OK if I kill myself. Or kill you." "Just a moment before you do. Please think. What kind of experiment are we? Among other far more complex things, we are an experiment in caring. The 10,000 things have thrown us, a new pot on this rather larger potter’s wheel. Here we are, caring. Or trying to care and trying to figure out what to do with the pain that results when we care. If you kill me, or yourself, you’re nudging the experiment in the direction of failure. That’s the least you may be doing, though I suspect there’s more involved. But we at least can see that pretty clearly." "The good detective, faced with murder, always asks, ‘Cui bono?’ Who benefits? Who benefits from this experiment?" "Sure enough. And that’s precisely the question we can’t answer, can we? If you kill yourself, or me, who benefits?" "And if I don’t?" "The experiment continues. You get to be curious and occasionally creative a while longer." "And suffer a while longer." "There’s that." Back to Qin
Contents
|
