As he laid there unmoving on his bed, staring at the white ceiling in his room and taking pleasure in the weather, the gentle wind made the curtain in his room blow up as it passed.. He looked outside the windows, the sky outside was starting to look dark and was covered with dark clouds. He let out a slight gasp and as he closed his eyes, using both of his hands to support his head despite the fact that he was already laying on a couple of pillows. There was no notion of him disrupting the comfort he was feeling, he laid, trying to banish every thought that came into his mind. Wanting to let go completely, until one random one came in and got his attention.
It happened some time ago when a beggar who was collecting his toll pausing briefly at each occupied table, and when he stood beside them and as they paid him. After saying thank you, he added these sentences as a gesture of thank you;
“The century we live in is connected with many issues but not with faith and ideology.” And with that the beggar muttered some other things and walked away.
He knew that he had heard or read the quote somewhere, so he went to the nearest library, the book shelves outside his room. He had two words in particular in mind, century and ideology. After a few minutes of eagerness and almost anxiously looking for it, he found the book he was looking for. It was an old book, its covers crumpled and the pages yellow. He went back into his room, shut the door and sat down with the book in his hands.
He randomly opened it and started to read what was printed on the page.
“Great thinkers of history with their limited sources could gain knowledge and come to a certain revelation, knowing and understanding what most people nowadays wouldn’t possibly come to think of. People, who managed to come up with beliefs and many other important discoveries, their main and most important tool being their culture and mind.
At first I came to think that there weren’t many things that are left to be discovered anymore. Everything that we think of, could think of, someone else has already thought of it. Nothing that we do or think can be considered the very first anymore. The notion of nothing is new and that nothing new can be created has somewhat polluted and de-motivated people from wanting to exceed their predecessors. But it also occurred to me that though it isn’t some new discovery to the world, it’ll still be an astonishing, important knowledge acquired by the learner.
And then there is the ever going sensitivity towards the people who does or tries something different than the already prescribed way. They’d either be looked at as people who don’t abide by rules or renegades that are a threat to the system and to the traditions.”
After finishing that particular page, he once again flipped a few pages and began to read what it had to say, “Of course the normal man, nowadays rather not talk about the creation of the sky or the self or his purpose in this universe, but consider these questions and subjects as a nuisance and not of importance. The worst part about them is that they don’t respect nor listen and to add up to that, to these shallow minds it evokes their ego whenever a sensitive subject is brought up.
It happened some time ago when a beggar who was collecting his toll pausing briefly at each occupied table, and when he stood beside them and as they paid him. After saying thank you, he added these sentences as a gesture of thank you;
“The century we live in is connected with many issues but not with faith and ideology.” And with that the beggar muttered some other things and walked away.
He knew that he had heard or read the quote somewhere, so he went to the nearest library, the book shelves outside his room. He had two words in particular in mind, century and ideology. After a few minutes of eagerness and almost anxiously looking for it, he found the book he was looking for. It was an old book, its covers crumpled and the pages yellow. He went back into his room, shut the door and sat down with the book in his hands.
He randomly opened it and started to read what was printed on the page.
“Great thinkers of history with their limited sources could gain knowledge and come to a certain revelation, knowing and understanding what most people nowadays wouldn’t possibly come to think of. People, who managed to come up with beliefs and many other important discoveries, their main and most important tool being their culture and mind.
At first I came to think that there weren’t many things that are left to be discovered anymore. Everything that we think of, could think of, someone else has already thought of it. Nothing that we do or think can be considered the very first anymore. The notion of nothing is new and that nothing new can be created has somewhat polluted and de-motivated people from wanting to exceed their predecessors. But it also occurred to me that though it isn’t some new discovery to the world, it’ll still be an astonishing, important knowledge acquired by the learner.
And then there is the ever going sensitivity towards the people who does or tries something different than the already prescribed way. They’d either be looked at as people who don’t abide by rules or renegades that are a threat to the system and to the traditions.”
After finishing that particular page, he once again flipped a few pages and began to read what it had to say, “Of course the normal man, nowadays rather not talk about the creation of the sky or the self or his purpose in this universe, but consider these questions and subjects as a nuisance and not of importance. The worst part about them is that they don’t respect nor listen and to add up to that, to these shallow minds it evokes their ego whenever a sensitive subject is brought up.
However, the normal man has a point here seeing that, to them it doesn’t really make a difference by knowing or not knowing the answers of questions such as that when the true goal here is material not knowledge.”
He closed the book for a while as if to digest what he just read, took a deep breath and opened it, again randomly. “Recently, I had the opportunity to meet thinkers who regard themselves as intellectuals. Although proved to be smart thinkers on specific subjects and people who read. They tend to dwell amongst themselves and have the air of arrogance around them perhaps as their shield from threats. They consider themselves to be on a superior level than the common lot and think of themselves as a group of elitist. Now what we have is the so called elitist looking down at the materialist and the materialist views this group of “elitist” as a group of rebellious outcasts, who can’t fit in society.
Of course knowing or understanding something that others don’t, can make one feel superior but I think that, that’s one of the challenges of how one deal with his knowledge and remain unaffected by what he knows. To me a person who is wise has to be in peace with oneself and not want to prove his superiority to others.
Note: Some of the points here might not be precisely accurate seeing that I translated it from a different language and so the translation might not be as perfect as the original. Points were taken from the book ‘Ideologi Kaum Intelektual’, Ali Syariati
He flipped a couple of pages and came upon the stages of development in Europe, at the back of his head he thought of how Averroes played a very crucial part in the rise of Europe.
“The 17th century came in as the intellectual class that was released by the influence of the churches. Intellects, free and conscious, able to think, find, analysis and evaluate everything critically, selectively and assertively. Different from the past traditionalists, these new intellects were attracted to methods and critical analysis.
Subsequently followed by the 18th century known as the rise of nationalism and the freedom of revolution. The 18th century also was a humanitarian century. The intellects of that time had analytical thinking and a way of thinking that is curious and leads to explorations. They carried democracy, freedom, humanism and the French revolution.
The 19th century was an ideological century. You’d be able to see how Europe systematically grows. Its evolution was with par with the mental ability of a single individual. Though at one time it was backward, step by step it became to know itself. Consequently Europe came to face fanaticism.
Its revolution helped itself gain the freedom of thinking; and became an expert in analyzing every little thing and coming up with many different theories. Towards the 19th century Europe was blessed with a special and clear confidence- a type of ideology.
During that period too Europe produced plenty of huge ideologies, to the extent that existentialism which dominated the 20th century was owned by the century. Many important figures were from this century. Fascism, Socialism, Marxism and Sentimentalism are also connected to the 19th century.
But the 20th century that we live in is a huge disappointment/draw back. This is the century, in which is the beginning of the power crazed class and wealth/material lovers. With power and money, they conquer the mind and the leading philosophers of this era.
They cleverly built up the learned minds of this century to make a general assumption that knowledge is neutral and doesn’t support a specific side, and also doesn’t have any relations in the development of man in a higher level.
Knowledge as they claim, is no longer interested in the relation of how something has to be; it only relates to the relation of ‘why’ and ‘what’. They say it depends on the ideology whether or not to include themselves or not include themselves with the question, ““how a certain thing or a concept should be.”” By degrading knowledge into a neutralist position, the group of thinkers and learned people of the century let themselves lose from the ideals and questions that are of a higher level than man, and so they prepare themselves to become students of power and wealth. Constrained in their labs, head of academics, corporations, capitalists, republics and etc. knowledge is no longer made available and is insufficient to provide and to benefit the meanings of the human ideal.
Hence, this century has been married to money. The belief that knowledge wasn’t meant to bring resolution, or to bring forward protests and is of importance to the future, is now the general mode that is followed by all modern universities. That is the knowledge of this century.
Nowadays knowledge is only related with external facts, with objective analysis and research per se. But if knowledge is separated from the divisions of problems, of mankind and society, if it can’t rise/ defend the opposed society, to govern and rule their ascend and their revolution, help and lead them towards the ways of advancement and development, to reach directions and their ideals and if knowledge is not hoped to tell man of what he has to do and who he really is, then is there a different alternative?”
After reading that he looked for the word ‘Ideology’ and he went through the book till he found it, it went like this, “members of sociology have defined each type of influences, but not realizing that there is an influence that is of most important and valuable. That influence is a specific influence which is not knowledge, technology, art, religious sect or social politics.
It is a special realization, I like to call it “human self consciousness” what does that human self consciousness means? As long as human civilization, thinkers who gave/ helped in shaping mankind have dug out that consciousness but no one was able to grasp it precisely. To the extent of popularizing it universally like the other branches of knowledge. This self consciousness shines like lightning, it glimmers, and lights up its surrounding and instantaneously vanishes. That is the type of consciousness in history.”
He looked at the book, starred harder, he realized that he was starting to feel drowsy and with that he closed his book and put it on the table, climbed on his bed and laid on it, and after a few moment laid there unmoving on his bed staring at the white ceiling in his room and taking pleasure in the weather that brought with it soft cool breezes. He looked outside the windows, the sky outside wasn’t too dark but were covered with dark clouds. He let out a slight gasp and as he closed his eyes…
He closed the book for a while as if to digest what he just read, took a deep breath and opened it, again randomly. “Recently, I had the opportunity to meet thinkers who regard themselves as intellectuals. Although proved to be smart thinkers on specific subjects and people who read. They tend to dwell amongst themselves and have the air of arrogance around them perhaps as their shield from threats. They consider themselves to be on a superior level than the common lot and think of themselves as a group of elitist. Now what we have is the so called elitist looking down at the materialist and the materialist views this group of “elitist” as a group of rebellious outcasts, who can’t fit in society.
Of course knowing or understanding something that others don’t, can make one feel superior but I think that, that’s one of the challenges of how one deal with his knowledge and remain unaffected by what he knows. To me a person who is wise has to be in peace with oneself and not want to prove his superiority to others.
Note: Some of the points here might not be precisely accurate seeing that I translated it from a different language and so the translation might not be as perfect as the original. Points were taken from the book ‘Ideologi Kaum Intelektual’, Ali Syariati
He flipped a couple of pages and came upon the stages of development in Europe, at the back of his head he thought of how Averroes played a very crucial part in the rise of Europe.
“The 17th century came in as the intellectual class that was released by the influence of the churches. Intellects, free and conscious, able to think, find, analysis and evaluate everything critically, selectively and assertively. Different from the past traditionalists, these new intellects were attracted to methods and critical analysis.
Subsequently followed by the 18th century known as the rise of nationalism and the freedom of revolution. The 18th century also was a humanitarian century. The intellects of that time had analytical thinking and a way of thinking that is curious and leads to explorations. They carried democracy, freedom, humanism and the French revolution.
The 19th century was an ideological century. You’d be able to see how Europe systematically grows. Its evolution was with par with the mental ability of a single individual. Though at one time it was backward, step by step it became to know itself. Consequently Europe came to face fanaticism.
Its revolution helped itself gain the freedom of thinking; and became an expert in analyzing every little thing and coming up with many different theories. Towards the 19th century Europe was blessed with a special and clear confidence- a type of ideology.
During that period too Europe produced plenty of huge ideologies, to the extent that existentialism which dominated the 20th century was owned by the century. Many important figures were from this century. Fascism, Socialism, Marxism and Sentimentalism are also connected to the 19th century.
But the 20th century that we live in is a huge disappointment/draw back. This is the century, in which is the beginning of the power crazed class and wealth/material lovers. With power and money, they conquer the mind and the leading philosophers of this era.
They cleverly built up the learned minds of this century to make a general assumption that knowledge is neutral and doesn’t support a specific side, and also doesn’t have any relations in the development of man in a higher level.
Knowledge as they claim, is no longer interested in the relation of how something has to be; it only relates to the relation of ‘why’ and ‘what’. They say it depends on the ideology whether or not to include themselves or not include themselves with the question, ““how a certain thing or a concept should be.”” By degrading knowledge into a neutralist position, the group of thinkers and learned people of the century let themselves lose from the ideals and questions that are of a higher level than man, and so they prepare themselves to become students of power and wealth. Constrained in their labs, head of academics, corporations, capitalists, republics and etc. knowledge is no longer made available and is insufficient to provide and to benefit the meanings of the human ideal.
Hence, this century has been married to money. The belief that knowledge wasn’t meant to bring resolution, or to bring forward protests and is of importance to the future, is now the general mode that is followed by all modern universities. That is the knowledge of this century.
Nowadays knowledge is only related with external facts, with objective analysis and research per se. But if knowledge is separated from the divisions of problems, of mankind and society, if it can’t rise/ defend the opposed society, to govern and rule their ascend and their revolution, help and lead them towards the ways of advancement and development, to reach directions and their ideals and if knowledge is not hoped to tell man of what he has to do and who he really is, then is there a different alternative?”
After reading that he looked for the word ‘Ideology’ and he went through the book till he found it, it went like this, “members of sociology have defined each type of influences, but not realizing that there is an influence that is of most important and valuable. That influence is a specific influence which is not knowledge, technology, art, religious sect or social politics.
It is a special realization, I like to call it “human self consciousness” what does that human self consciousness means? As long as human civilization, thinkers who gave/ helped in shaping mankind have dug out that consciousness but no one was able to grasp it precisely. To the extent of popularizing it universally like the other branches of knowledge. This self consciousness shines like lightning, it glimmers, and lights up its surrounding and instantaneously vanishes. That is the type of consciousness in history.”
He looked at the book, starred harder, he realized that he was starting to feel drowsy and with that he closed his book and put it on the table, climbed on his bed and laid on it, and after a few moment laid there unmoving on his bed staring at the white ceiling in his room and taking pleasure in the weather that brought with it soft cool breezes. He looked outside the windows, the sky outside wasn’t too dark but were covered with dark clouds. He let out a slight gasp and as he closed his eyes…
