THE SHAME OF IT ALL
We need to go back to the beginning ... of this series of diaries, at least, but time-wise, even a bit further. St. Augustine raised the fundamental issue in his Confessions (~397 AD) where he indicated how easy it is to erroneously worship the thing created (that is, something of the world, something, for example, we ourselves made) and not give proper credit to the Creator, in this case, God. Were we to worship the maker of the thing, e.g. ourselves, then we would be guilty of what Anders calls Promethean Pride, giving credit only to ourselves, even for ourselves (the "self-made man", for example, to whom I'll return later). Should we believe we owe nothing to anyone, not even to ourselves, we would be exhibiting Promethean Defiance. While all related to one another, it is Anders' contention that we experience shame in the presence of our products, and this he calls Promethean Shame. I know most of you are saying right now, "Not me ... I don't know what the hell he's talking about," so let me see if I can perhaps make it clear.
Have you ever
- stood in front of a machine (maybe a car, a boat, a plane, an industrial robot, it doesn't matter) and were so impressed you didn't know what to say?
- marveled at the capabilities of a prosthetic device (such as a hearing aid, new-type contact lenses, and artificial limb, etc.) and found yourself muttering to yourself, "just how cool is that" or something similar?
- found yourself in a movie theater watching the latest high-tech production and wondering how it is that they can make that stuff practically more realistic than real life?
- realized that your own physical limitations have prevented you from doing something really exciting, like experiencing 4G turns in a fighter jet or Formula I race car, or even just the newest roller coaster at amusement park?
- wondered what it would be like to be a space tourist or to be able to dive to the depths of the deepest ocean, and at least secretly wished you'd have enough money some day to find out?
