Friday, November 18, 2005
World-trotters
Monday, June 20, 2005
It is interesting to observe how people talk about their trips. They can spend hours talking about the different places they have visited, the things they have seen. They even talk in terms of the smell that those places have, the colors, and the experience of “being abroad.”
It seems that for most people, the “world-trotter” is seen as more cultured and interesting than those who never left their homeland. It makes me think about the nomadic origins of our civilization. What is so attractive about knowing? What is so attractive about filling our eyes with the greatest possible number of things, about crossing borders, expanding, conquering, appropriating a place, apprehending it and making it our own?
This appropriation can be esthetic (tourism), political (empire), economic (globalization to create a virtual empire) or emotional (free interpretation), but it seems that the main issue is about appropriation.
At this very moment I am on a plane from Chile to Argentina, and I can see all that our beloved smog does not let us see. (I live in Santiago, Chile, which ranks first for air pollution.) Of course it is beautiful. It is always sunny above the clouds, and there is so much to see, so much to explore. I think that this is the reason why we are fascinated with the idea of an infinite Universe—believing that our passion for knowledge will never be completely satisfied.
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It is interesting to observe how people talk about their trips. They can spend hours talking about the different places they have visited, the things they have seen. They even talk in terms of the smell that those places have, the colors, and the experience of “being abroad.”
It seems that for most people, the “world-trotter” is seen as more cultured and interesting than those who never left their homeland. It makes me think about the nomadic origins of our civilization. What is so attractive about knowing? What is so attractive about filling our eyes with the greatest possible number of things, about crossing borders, expanding, conquering, appropriating a place, apprehending it and making it our own?
This appropriation can be esthetic (tourism), political (empire), economic (globalization to create a virtual empire) or emotional (free interpretation), but it seems that the main issue is about appropriation.
At this very moment I am on a plane from Chile to Argentina, and I can see all that our beloved smog does not let us see. (I live in Santiago, Chile, which ranks first for air pollution.) Of course it is beautiful. It is always sunny above the clouds, and there is so much to see, so much to explore. I think that this is the reason why we are fascinated with the idea of an infinite Universe—believing that our passion for knowledge will never be completely satisfied.
Post a Comment