It’s about the triumph of Intellect and Romance over Brute Force and Cynicism
Craig Ferguson said that about the enduring popularity of Doctor Who in his musical tribute to the show. While Ferguson was talking about the themes within the show, I honestly can’t think of a better approach to life.
I’m a cynic by habit, which means that by nature I’m a romantic; a romantic who is frustrated by the continual failure of people and the world to live up to their true, highest potential. Honestly, who wouldn’t be frustrated by it, if they had even a shred of hope for the better nature of Humanity? So much pain and suffering is caused by ignorance (willful or not) of the effects one has on others, by refusal to see others as valuable in themselves, by denial of one’s responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions.
It can get pretty dark in here, at times. So, to remind myself that there are things to love and be inspired by in this messed-up world, I created a blog where I can think about them and try to share what I see with others.
The “intellect” part of Intellect & Romance refers not solely to reason and rationality. Reason and rationality are good tools, but they are means, not ends. More significant, to my thinking, is the ability of a person to build models of the world in their imagination, to explore reality by asking themselves, “what if?” and being open to the possibilities discovered thereby.
The “romance” part refers to my conviction that the world is alive and full of beauty, and that engaging that as fully as one can is the end to which all those mental tools should be put. Every person is more complex than the good guys and bad guys described in our increasingly polarized public dialogue. Diversity is valuable in itself, and creates much of the beauty of life. Romance is about hope, and joy, and believing that things will get better, if only we can figure out how to work together more often than we work against each other.
And the tagline? We’re storytellers, all of us, even if we aren’t writers or artists. We tell stories to connect the events of our lives into a Life. We tell people stories about ourselves to others, so they know who to think we are. For that matter, we tell ourselves stories about ourselves, so we know who think we are. We tell stories that aren’t real, so we know what’s true.
So let’s talk about imagination and romance and stories. Let’s talk about humanity.
