For Better Or For Worse

                                                                                                                                                                              

According to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,ⁱ “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Say “it isn't so.” It isn't so. There, I said it. But I don't believe it. Or, at least, it's not the whole story.

There are really two different kinds of realities that are in question here: one is a perception of the state of society at a given time in relation to the past and the future, and the second is the actual state of society as viewed from a historical perspective.ⁱⁱ

When I was young,ⁱⁱⁱ I was bored by history and fascinated by change – anticipating a better world in the future. I lived in the modern world.^iv Change was good, almost irrespective of what it was. That is the view of the young and represents a rebellion against authority – whether parental or governmental. It's an optimistic attitude which remains in vogue now, not just among the young but one that is shared by large segments of the population. It demonstrates both hope and a great deal of faith in human nature.

Back in the old days (and I really mean old), long before there was printing – when there wasn't even much in terms of manuscripts – there was memory. Then scribes began copying the ideas that existed, and even though they made errors they provided a kind of hard-copy which – as opposed to the individual who passed on what he memorized – didn't die when the scribe did. Originally manuscripts were on scrolls, but eventually with the introduction of the codex,^v the advantages of the more manageable new format were realized. Then came printing^vi and now there are more books than we know what to do with.^vii

I guess it's all for the better.

But then came the electronic media and now anyone can publish whatever tripe he wants.^viii Books have also been digitized and now you can read on screen anything that interests you. Libraries are becoming outmoded along with all of their books.

However I like books. I like to held them in my hands and turn the pages, not push buttons. And I like libraries – especially if there are comfortable leather chairs and carved wood shelves, trimmings and embellishments. I love frippery. I live in the past. The past that left me so cold when I was young is now my sanctuary and, if they still existed, I would retreat to its institutions and they would be my hermitage.^ix I think that's because I'm a hermit.^x

That, however, is beside the point. At issue is the question of whether things change, and there is no question that they do. At least from the perspective of the particular “thing.” It's not always for the better,^xi and there are times when the rate of change is wrong – indeed, bewildering. Before you've left the store with your new electronic device, it's obsolete, and most of its software has been replaced with new versions.

When I was young, everything was great. (Everything is perfect in our youth – at least in retrospect. It's said that retrospect is 20-20. If so, nostalgia sees with rose-colored glasses.) But though some may dismiss it as self-serving and beautified, not all of what we remember of our past is wrong. In our youth, we want to be “modern.” We see change as invariably desirable.^xii As we^xiii age^xiv, the “traditional” perspective, with what seems to be a greater reverence for at least selected parts of the past, gains ground. Some may carry this philosophy too far,^xv but the concept itself should not be judged on the basis of those who pervert it.

There was a time when history moved slowly. Things remained the same from decade to decade, and even from century to century. Whether it was medicine, religion, prices, farming techniques, or communications, things were likely to be little different on the day you died in comparison to the one on which you were born. But over time there were changes – slow changes. And many of them were good. Indoor plumbing, penicillin, the Big Mac.^xvi

As time continued to moved forward, however, so did the changes – explosively. And that's the problem. We cannot keep up with them. Not just the technological ones,^xvii but all of them.^xviii Unmarried parenthood in the US reached an all-time high in 2013, with an estimated two out of every five births being to unwed mothers;^xix new words and phrases have expanded language faster than we can learn them; our legal system cannot keep up with new concepts of ethics; the weather and climate are changing faster than we can – or will – take any action;^xx prices are rising faster than we can deal with them. There's no time to breathe. Things are moving too fast.

But in one respect, Karr was right. We're the same. Whatever changes may occur in our perception, or in the perspective of history, people are the same as they've always been. Human nature – and that's the third reality^xxi – remains the same. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Not better, not worse – the same. Unfortunately we can't slow down the world around us to a rate that we humans can deal with. Our reach exceeds our grasp – or, as my^xxii mother put it, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. That will never change.

Next episode: “The Greater Of One Elvis” – Whether or not it's true is beside the point.

 

 

I      1849. In Les Guêpes. See Wikipedia.

ii      Actually there is a third, but I'll deal with that presently.

iii    Bear with me. I know that nothing bores you more than someone else's maudlin nostalgia, but it won't last long.

iv    At least it was modern then.

v     Around the first century CE. Or maybe a little earlier.

vi    1455. But you know as much about Gutenberg and Fust as you care to already.

vii    “... of making books there is no end ...” Ecclesiastes, 12:12

viii   As evidenced by what you're reading.

ix     Figuratively, of course. I think I live in the past. But I guess that's what all people do as they age.

x      And, if I could arrange it, the past would be my heritage as well. But the problem with heritages is that they're always part of the past and they're usually dismissed as such.

xi    For example, antibiotics are good, but the resistant organisms for which we're responsible, by irresponsible use of those antibiotics, are not.

xii   We ignore the possibility of unintended consequences in our zeal to make the world better. And if what we do doesn't work, it's simply because we didn't change enough. So we up the ante and try again. The principle of change, after all, is right irrespective of the outcome.

xiii   Actually, I speak only for myself, but I suspect that this view is shared by others.

xiv   As we grow up and, perhaps, mature.

xv    All change is harmful, according to them. Things should be as they've always been.

xvi    Not everyone agrees on the last of these.

xvii   For example, the ones involving electronic devices and software that I mentioned earlier.

xviii  I'll list a few, but the “advances” are uncountable.

xix    WiseGeek. (http://www.wisegeek.com/how-common-is-unmarried-parenthood.htm) June 19, 2013

xx     “Everyone talks about the weather ...”

xxi    And, ultimately, the most important.

xxii   Everyone's.