Uncanny Black Box - June 3 2023

 

Uncanny Black Box

May 24 2023

He must still be in me

somewhere,

the young idealist

who believed the world

could be perfected.

Weren't we all?

Strong, bright-eyed

freshly scrubbed.

And coolly rational,

as if the human mind

was a calculating machine

operating with binary precision;

infallibly

true or false

right or wrong.

And not at all

an uncanny black box,

ruled by passion

contradiction

denial.

While the older man

who has gained some wisdom

and learned his limits

but grown sadly wearier

is too cynical for this;

his only wish

that things don’t get worse.

Still, hope is eternal,

and after all, we've made it this far.

So while I may be disillusioned

demoralized

full of despair,

the young

  —  who assume people like me

were born this old

and wouldn't listen anyway  —

are entitled to hope.

Even if it’s false.

Because when hope goes

you're dead.

Not that perfection

was ever possible.

But when survival is in question

one can only have faith

there are young people out there

as mindful as we once were.

The coming generation

who will help us muddle through,

who won't fail their successors

as we did them.

If not idealists, then clear thinkers.

Full

of the right kind of passion;

not for purity

and certainly not for perfection,

but at least for better than this.

A take on human irrationality.

Trump supporters come to mind.

Also this article: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/vegetarian-vegan-eating-meat-consumption-animal-welfare/674150/