Today's discussion question

[alice wellintown]

Mencken was, as is the average western philosopher, satirist, pundit,
blogger, spirit-hungry westerner...what have you, ignorant of the
traditions of Eastern philosophy, religion, literature, art. But given the
global problems we face, the urgency of many of these problems, climate
change and population growth and depletion of the planet are three that are
obvious, it seems foolish to ridicule those who would seriously turn to the
East, if not for solutions or wisdom, for insights into how East and West
may find common ground. This is not likely to succeed if the West continues
to insist that all that science and math can not take the measure of is
superstitious nonsense, Emersonian naked eyeball transparencies that once
viewed through the superior lens of science are stripped of the rose and
under the rose colorings of the observer and made black and white zeros and
ones. Mencken is a good tonic for the youthful longings of those who
read Herman Hesse, who fail to heed the wit of Voltaire, who live in what
most would call the best of all possible worlds, and who run fast from the
magic of their own traditions and into the trappings of ones they can never
begin to make meaningful. But his scientism is now endemic and allied with
a haughty exceptionalism. A little humility is called for. The planets can
not be charmed from the sky. We must observe them with our feet on the
ground, but what Galileo teaches us about what moves, and what moves, may
be better appreciated if we treat the ancient wisdoms with more respect
than the great man was given by the sages who grilled him (though not
literally). The East is hungry for Western ideas, culture, philosophy,
science, literature, art. The exchange is promising. But why march in with
the scientific method, our new cross?

On Monday, August 12, 2013, Mark Kohut wrote:

>  *HL Mencken @HLMenckenBot *2h<http://us-mg4.mail.yahoo.com/HLMenckenBot/status/366484217795846145>
> One of the strangest delusions of the Western mind is to the effect that a
> philosophy of profound wisdom is on tap in the East // @*laotzunit*<http://us-mg4.mail.yahoo.com/LaoTzunit>
>
> Anyone think TRP believes this?
>
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