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"In the same way I fancied that those nations which, starting from a semi-barbarous state and advancing to civilization by slow degrees, have had their laws suc

"In the same way I fancied that those nations which, starting from a semi-barbarous state and advancing to civilization by slow degrees, have had their laws successively determined, and, as it were, forced upon them simply by experience of the hurtfulness of particular crimes and disputes, would by this process come to be possessed of less perfect institutions" - Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method I think that Descartes' thrust here is that building anything up slowly will introduce artifacts that have nothing to do with the optimal solution. Sometimes the only way to truly succeed is to come up with a truly amazing starting point. If you try to build off a bad idea, you will often get nowhere. From the article: "It baffles me that people think making...worldshocking pieces of work is a particular challenge. It’s mainly a battle of endurance." I don't disagree with you here, but I think you are vastly underestimating the backbreaking effort in that single word: endurance. Try telling a marathoner that just hit the wall at mile 22 that all they need is a little more endurance. "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison

robotrout 18y ago
I was struck, on reading your post, the similarities between your premise and the premise of "Intelligent Design" advocates. To paraphrase both you and they, "How can something so perfect have occurred iteratively?" Not judging, just noting the similarity.
- harpastum 18y ago
  I admit there is some similarity there, and it might be because I didn't fully explain myself, but I would argue that it's neither a perfect conception nor iterative development that creates true greatness, but repetitive rebirth. When you simply build on the past, you aren't considering its true intentions. How many laws are there in the US that are simply reactions to British rule (i.e. safety from the quartering of troops)? Should those laws be held in as high esteem as those laws that are truly based on human rights? Descartes continues in Discourse on Method: As for the opinions which up to that time I had embraced, I thought that I could not do better than resolve at once to sweep them wholly away, that I might afterwards be in a position to admit either other more correct, or even perhaps the same when they had undergone the scrutiny of reason. I firmly believed that in this way I should much better succeed in the conduct of my life, than if I built only upon old foundations, and leaned upon principles which, in my youth, I had taken upon trust. The entirety of Discourse on Method is a very interesting read. You can read the whole document at project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/59 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/59). Wikipedia also has a decent write-up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_method).

robotrout 18y ago

I was struck, on reading your post, the similarities between your premise and the premise of "Intelligent Design" advocates. To paraphrase both you and they, "How can something so perfect have occurred iteratively?" Not judging, just noting the similarity.

harpastum 18y ago
I admit there is some similarity there, and it might be because I didn't fully explain myself, but I would argue that it's neither a perfect conception nor iterative development that creates true greatness, but repetitive rebirth. When you simply build on the past, you aren't considering its true intentions. How many laws are there in the US that are simply reactions to British rule (i.e. safety from the quartering of troops)? Should those laws be held in as high esteem as those laws that are truly based on human rights? Descartes continues in Discourse on Method: As for the opinions which up to that time I had embraced, I thought that I could not do better than resolve at once to sweep them wholly away, that I might afterwards be in a position to admit either other more correct, or even perhaps the same when they had undergone the scrutiny of reason. I firmly believed that in this way I should much better succeed in the conduct of my life, than if I built only upon old foundations, and leaned upon principles which, in my youth, I had taken upon trust. The entirety of Discourse on Method is a very interesting read. You can read the whole document at project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/59 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/59). Wikipedia also has a decent write-up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_method).