26 June 2008

On Growing Up: Random Thoughts

You become an adult when you realize you DON'T know everything. Perhaps you become wise when you realize you don't know ANYTHING.

You can do anything, but you can't do EVERYTHING.

The acquisition of infinite knowledge requires infinite time.

Since you can't do everything, you must have others DO for you. Since you can't KNOW everything, you must rely on the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the race.

This is called COMMUNITY, and CULTURE, and COMMERCE, and THE RULE OF LAW.

Only an adult who knows he doesn't know everything can begin to learn enough to know when a culture's entire accumulation of knowledge and wisdom is WRONG.

Many people NEVER become adults. You must be an adult to join the community, to participate in the culture, to profit from the commerce.

Since the child doesn't have the tools to delve deep enough into the bedrock laid beneath the culture, they do not have the ability to challenge the rule of law. Only an adult CAN do that, and they will have to face the judgment of the culture.

Adulthood is not a matter of age, directly. Being 18 or 21 doesn't make an adult, but it helps because you MAY have accumulated enough experience to THINK about your experiences.

The next step is to put the good of others before self. This builds community. Community IS self-sacrifice.

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