In the Presence of Greatness

"The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I'd figured out, I have to learn again"
- 'The Heart of the Matter', Don Henley

Listening to Amartya Sen, on "What Theory of Justice?", at OU's Sheldonian Theatre, was an enlightening and a humbling experience. I am not ashamed to say, there was a whole lot I couldn't quite grasp. I have never been a reader of economic theory and have always been intimidated by numbers (I can see you shaking your head, going "whoever said economics has to do with numbers?!"), but I did listen and learn at the lecture, and I feel a tiny bit more informed and therefore, I daresay, enlightened. And yes, I paid for the enlightenment with a very numb bum! I know I risk public damnation, but I wasn't very impressed with the Sheldonian Theatre. I do see and value it's place in history though, and I know it is almost hallowed with all the great minds it has housed.

This makes for an interesting argument (for those interested). How can you objectively evaluate something that is known to be 'great' without running the risk of giving it too much or too little credit? What if it really is mediocre and lives in the bubble of global media hype? What if it really is brilliant, but you just don't know enough to see the brilliance?

Dot and I (yes, we have a collective philosophy, for some issues, that is usually hotly debated and then agreed upon) believe that history and dominant public opinion count for something. They cannot, simply, tell you though - yes, this is good, or, no, this is bad - but can give you something to start with.

If you still haven't got my drift, these conversations might illustrate the point I'm trying to make:

Conversation 1
Us (Dot and I): You have to hear the Christ Church Cathedral Choir perform; they're brilliant! Some say, one of the best in the world!
BoyCousin (after hearing the choir perform): They were okay. My choir at St. Paul's sounds much better than them!

Conversation 2
UndergradIndianBoy (outside the Sheldonian, after the Amartya Sen lecture): This lecture was f***a***! He didn't give any solution - only mentioned the problem! That even I could do. I knew the answer to who should get the flute. It's very simple. I was not impressed at all!
UndergradIndianGirl (same place, same context, not listening to the boy, while she is busy unlocking her bicycle): Yaa, I agree with you ya!
Us: Sigh!
Dot: I've heard this somewhere: if you're not communist at 18, shame on you; if you're still communist at 30, shame on you.