Hey, I like Alex's thoughts, and I like the obsevations and comments made by the girl with the genius brother :). The point is that natural intelligence does little good apart from other qualities as well. I don't consider Seymour or Zooey to have attained enlightenment because of their inability to cope. True spiritual adepts not only have a great deal of intelligence, but also the wisdom to cope with the banality of the world around them, and are marked by a serenity (that Seymour and Zooey lacked) originating from detachment (in Eastern Lit). You may even dare to call this happiness :) Jim On Tue, 25 May 1999 10:44:57 -0400 (EDT) jason varsoke <jjv@caesun.msd.ray.com> writes: >On Tue, 25 May 1999, Alex Rumford wrote: > >> what's the point in knowledge/ wisdom/ genius etc. if youre not >happy >> or, as a result of them, cant face up to the reality of life outside > >> book and theory? isnt there a little suggestion that ignorance is >> bliss in the stories since few of those blessed with brains are >> socially able, or their wisdom leads them to disillusionment? (a >kind >> of perverted ideal of the end product of wisdom) sure, franny >> realises through her brother that we have to accept imperfections, >> and do goodwill for the sake of goodwill etc. but >> 1. seymour didnt seem to ever reconcile wisdom and happiness (and he > >> was allegedly the smartest) >> 2. zooey (who realised that everyone is the fat lady) is still a bit > >> of a patronising arse despite what he says. he says he cant hold >> conversations etc with people, and bessie accuses him of cruelty to >> those who aspire to knowledge. >> so are these people freaks or depressives because of their >wisdom, >> as opposed to the overwhelmingly happy people we might expect to see > >> victims, or is it the case that the fact of their wisdom has made >> them celebrities and outsiders which, in turn, makes them freaks? as > >> a result of their intelligence they have been singled out (see >> carpenters when seymour is vehemently defended by his brother) and >> thus are societal misfits of a kind. pah! im happy being thick and >> sitting in the pub rather than analysing everything and being >> regarded as a freaky prodigy. > > Hmmm, I kind of expected this sort of thing out of an American >mouth. >;) > > Maybe it was with JS Mills, or Bentham, who started this >obsession with Happiness, but I don't really see why happiness is the >goal >of life. I don't think that's what Salinger is looking for either. >Enlighenment is not happiness. Enlightenment is not bliss. > >-j > ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]