Post by En on Feb 24, 2004 11:51:47 GMT -5
Actually, yes, that does make sense. Quite a bit of it. As Sphi was just saying, she sees a lot of people who want to be happy and think they know one thing that would make them more happy; but they don't really know, or the one thing wouldn't really help. In fact, I doubt that very many people would get useful information out of the mirror, because it reflects them -- that doesn't give them any new truth, just tells them more about themselves, and while some people would have the wisdom to know what to do with that information, not everyone would grasp that one should do something with it.
...It's like palm reading. I used to go to parties and read people's palms. I don't believe in it; I don't think our fates are dictated by the shapes of our hands (though I do find that there's some accuracy in some of it, if only because the way people use their hands affects the lines on their palms). But I do believe that things that get people to look at something from another perspective are useful, if the person uses it well.
Mind you, if I saw someone concluding that s/he should do something self-destructive on the basis of my palm reading, I could revise or argue; the mirror can't talk, and we don't even know whether it has a will or mind of its own. All it can do is show what it was made to show, and that in itself is a scary thing, because so much of being human involves desire, and so many humans don't know what to do with the desires they have, and so many (like me, and you too it seems) don't even know what they want in the first palce.
It's a tool, and only a tool, and like any tool, it can be dangerous if the person using it doesn't know how to handle it.
But it sounds like you do. In fact, I was thinking about this last night, and (you know the way your head jumps around when you're falling asleep?) I remembered the inscription in the ancient oracular temple at Delphi:
Gnothi se auton.
Know Thyself.
The oracle, like palm reading, like the Mirror, was a potentially dangerous tool; people would ask the wrong questions or take the answer wrong. The inscription was both a warning and an instruction: know what you want to ask, and use the information to gain perspective on your situation. Don't expect the Oracle to tell you what to do, because you, ultimately, must make the choices.
And so (drumroll! En is actually getting to the point! ) it seems to me that your desire to see what it is you most desire, so that you can choose how you will act on that desire, is a very good use of the tool. Potentially recursive, but good
...It's like palm reading. I used to go to parties and read people's palms. I don't believe in it; I don't think our fates are dictated by the shapes of our hands (though I do find that there's some accuracy in some of it, if only because the way people use their hands affects the lines on their palms). But I do believe that things that get people to look at something from another perspective are useful, if the person uses it well.
Mind you, if I saw someone concluding that s/he should do something self-destructive on the basis of my palm reading, I could revise or argue; the mirror can't talk, and we don't even know whether it has a will or mind of its own. All it can do is show what it was made to show, and that in itself is a scary thing, because so much of being human involves desire, and so many humans don't know what to do with the desires they have, and so many (like me, and you too it seems) don't even know what they want in the first palce.
It's a tool, and only a tool, and like any tool, it can be dangerous if the person using it doesn't know how to handle it.
But it sounds like you do. In fact, I was thinking about this last night, and (you know the way your head jumps around when you're falling asleep?) I remembered the inscription in the ancient oracular temple at Delphi:
Gnothi se auton.
Know Thyself.
The oracle, like palm reading, like the Mirror, was a potentially dangerous tool; people would ask the wrong questions or take the answer wrong. The inscription was both a warning and an instruction: know what you want to ask, and use the information to gain perspective on your situation. Don't expect the Oracle to tell you what to do, because you, ultimately, must make the choices.
And so (drumroll! En is actually getting to the point! ) it seems to me that your desire to see what it is you most desire, so that you can choose how you will act on that desire, is a very good use of the tool. Potentially recursive, but good