The first 30

In light of these arguments, my idealism has gained new, perhaps more realistic context as I begin the formal study of society in earnest.

Caught up in the Knowledge Project

Sept. 30: With mid-terms fast approaching, the workload is becoming overwhelming. With so much time and energy devoted to studying, active pursuit of my ideals has taken a back seat, along with pretty much everything else in life.

Continued logical challenges to my idealism don’t help either. In my global governance class, we’ve been discussing the idea of a single government that would legislate and enforce laws for the entire world, and would therefore be much better than we are now at dealing with global problems like climate change or terrorism. But, for many practical reasons, the idea is considered overly idealistic and unrealistic. It seems that logic alone is inadequate to justify idealism.

One of the premises of my Buddhism and cognitive science class (one of the great things about a big school like U of T is that you can study pretty much anything you want) is that while the Western world has developed a very successful “Knowledge Project”—institutionalizing the pursuit and preservation of knowledge in universities—we lack an equivalent “Wisdom Project.” “Knowledge,” my professor reminded us, “is good for overcoming ignorance, but wisdom is necessary for overcoming foolishness, and they’re not at all the same thing.”

It struck me that perhaps logical justification of idealism isn’t as important as my over-intellectualized mind would have me believe. Yes, there are many practical barriers in the way of a better world, but I don’t think this should stop us from trying. So for now, I think I’ll ignore the dissenting voices, justified (I’m still not totally off logic) with one last quote popularized by the ever-wise, if not always polite, Kanye West: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”