2008 Woodie Awards
Original Thought
Rebelations
Jeremiah Magan
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Opinion
Enough time has passed and enough people have come and gone from the face of the planet that it is entirely possible that no one can have a completely original thought. Every idea, every notion and every theory has passed through at least one of the many minds that have existed.
This is a sad realization that we as a species have reached the pinnacle of human thought. While we may still be able to create inventions that we have not yet been able to, all of them have been theorized and utilized in books, television shows and movies (i.e. time machine or flying car).
We have come up with every possible theory as to how the universe works, while we cannot confirm our theories, we have reached every possible conclusion that is available to the limits of our minds. You can sit there and create a theory of time travel that no one has ever heard of, but whatever you come up with will be derivative of something else that has already been theorized. The specifics may be different, but the generality is the same.
This may be hard to believe, but it is even harder to believe that you have in fact come up with an original thought. It is actually a statement of arrogance to believe that you are capable of theorizing something that no one before you has. It is ridiculous to believe that you are the only person to ever come up with the theory that god is actually a gigantic monkey with a banana made of pure energy or that our existence is some higher being's dream.
This is history repeating itself, if how we think is determined by our experiences, and if similar events take place in different times, then it is reasonable to think that the people who have generally experienced those events have come to similar conclusions.
Though I do believe that at this point in time we have reached the limits of our minds, there are a certain group of people, who I believe, have the ability to have a completely original thought. The legally insane, their thought process being so far out of the box, they actually have the capability to have a truly original idea. Albeit so far out that it is not a lucid thought, it is possible that no one else has come up with that idea (aside from another crazy person of course, in which case it is not original).
Some people so deeply believe that they have come up with an original thought that they feel the need to parade that thought around for the entire world to see. This usually relates to politics. Every person that comes up with a theory about who really runs our country preaches their idea to the world. They believe that if they
convince enough people of their theory, they will be rewarded for opening its eyes to the truth. But again, the theories they come up with are not original, other, more rational people have more than likely come up with and dismissed those ideas.
It may be a little depressing to realize that all possible thought has taken place, and this is by no means a reason for people to stop thinking, but you can at least take solace in the fact that the world will not be completely surprised by anything that happens, just pleasantly or horribly correct.
This is a sad realization that we as a species have reached the pinnacle of human thought. While we may still be able to create inventions that we have not yet been able to, all of them have been theorized and utilized in books, television shows and movies (i.e. time machine or flying car).
We have come up with every possible theory as to how the universe works, while we cannot confirm our theories, we have reached every possible conclusion that is available to the limits of our minds. You can sit there and create a theory of time travel that no one has ever heard of, but whatever you come up with will be derivative of something else that has already been theorized. The specifics may be different, but the generality is the same.
This may be hard to believe, but it is even harder to believe that you have in fact come up with an original thought. It is actually a statement of arrogance to believe that you are capable of theorizing something that no one before you has. It is ridiculous to believe that you are the only person to ever come up with the theory that god is actually a gigantic monkey with a banana made of pure energy or that our existence is some higher being's dream.
This is history repeating itself, if how we think is determined by our experiences, and if similar events take place in different times, then it is reasonable to think that the people who have generally experienced those events have come to similar conclusions.
Though I do believe that at this point in time we have reached the limits of our minds, there are a certain group of people, who I believe, have the ability to have a completely original thought. The legally insane, their thought process being so far out of the box, they actually have the capability to have a truly original idea. Albeit so far out that it is not a lucid thought, it is possible that no one else has come up with that idea (aside from another crazy person of course, in which case it is not original).
Some people so deeply believe that they have come up with an original thought that they feel the need to parade that thought around for the entire world to see. This usually relates to politics. Every person that comes up with a theory about who really runs our country preaches their idea to the world. They believe that if they
convince enough people of their theory, they will be rewarded for opening its eyes to the truth. But again, the theories they come up with are not original, other, more rational people have more than likely come up with and dismissed those ideas.
It may be a little depressing to realize that all possible thought has taken place, and this is by no means a reason for people to stop thinking, but you can at least take solace in the fact that the world will not be completely surprised by anything that happens, just pleasantly or horribly correct.
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