OK: /I'm ;ooking for help here: Anyone who has a copy of their old philosophy book; Who was the author/philosopher who wrote about the greater virtues/pleasures vs the beastial pleasures. He's the one who talked about pearls before swine. Anyway, Once you have a taste for the finer knowledge, you cannot go back to the baser, beastial pleasures. I am grateful that I'm a (former) Mensa member, but knowledge and philosophy have not brought me joy. I'm currently entertaining the notion that knowledge/wisdom and happiness are mutually exclusive. I entertain suicidal fantasies daily. I am compelled to read & know more. Knowledge satisfies my thirst, but it does not make me happy... Thor >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. _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com