Worth defending ...

[Twilight Bark]

From "The Economist":

IN 1969 Robert Wilson, the first director of Fermilab, a big American particle-physics facility, was asked by Congress what his new laboratory would contribute to America's defence. He replied: “This new knowledge has all to do with honour and country, but it has nothing to do directly with defending our country, except to help make it worth defending.”

 

A harmless enough statement, you would think. Scientifically oriented among us may find it uplifting. But it immediately made me think "So if a society does not ponder such questions in the mentally disciplined way that high-energy particle physics or modern cosmology employs, they may be regarded as less worthy of defending?". Or for that matter, less worthy of caring about after they are decimated and gone.

 

Next time you encounter "why should I care about your tragedies?" attitude from otherwise "enlightened" members of the Western civilization, think of how the Armenians and the other Near Easterners seem to them, and the above statement might shed some light on the situation.

[gamavor]

Twilight Bark,

 

We are in general agreement. But when speaking about Armenians as Near Easterners I think one should speak about himself.

This, by the way is very interesting as a topic but I would like to share with the audience here the results of a pole conducted by GALUP International. The question was "Do you perceive yourself as an European". Interestingly 60% of Yerevantzis answered "yes". What is more interesting is that, the same pole was conducted elsewhere in Eastern Europe and people who are geographically closer to the heart of Europe were less enthusiastic about their "Europeaness".

[bellthecat]

Hmmmm... you really have not a clue what he is talking about! - but maybe you are at the dawn rather than the twilight of your understanding.

 

He is saying that a country (ANY country) that has the foresight to consider the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake to be worthwhile is for THAT REASON a country and culture which is worth defending (by its own population). And he used the word DEFENDING, not the word DEFENDED.

 

Given that many Armenians on this board have abandoned their homeland for the pursuit of short term, individual, material gain it is inadvisable to be attacking those that have the wisdom to think of higher things.

 

Steve

[Twilight Bark]

Hmmm... Maybe you should think and reflect a little bit more. Your presumption of ignorance of higher concepts on my part is unbecoming of you.

 

Thanks for the hand-holding. See, I was not capable of understanding such sophisticated concepts on my own. Much appreciated.

 

Dear trigger-happy friend, of course that is what he is talking about. He is reflecting a widespread value system in which the "sophisticated" individuals are worth more than "unsophisticated" ones. And whether we like to acknowledge it or not, each one us subscribes to a version of such a system of valuation. I was not implying that he was talking about defending other countries in the past or present. But I am implying that his statement implicitly reflects a world view that sorts people's value by their intellectual sophistication.

I, for one, have done no such thing. And what other Armenians do or do not for whatever reason has no bearing on my analysis of the statement in question. And if you read and think more carefully, you will realize that I am not attacking the person that uttered the quote.

 

As for your belittling the poor, hopeless people throwing themselves out of Armenia. While it is partly a result of Armenian "hyper-realism", it is unfair to characterize their emigration as simply motivated by "short term, individual, material gain". While staying in their wretched country for the abstract notion of nationalistic sentiments may seem "noble" to some, caring about their children's future seems more noble to many Armenians. I think I wouldn't be terribly wrong when I state that in the traditional Armenian value system, caring for your family and loving your children are what makes your existence worthwhile, and not how sophisticated a thinker you are.

 

Anyway, we can take this discussion into many intersting directions. And it would be even pleasurable to do so if you stop assuming that your counterpart is a simpleton.

 

Twilight Bark

 

[ May 10, 2002, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: Twilight Bark ]