Beste lezers,
Ik mag het mij graag eventjes gemakkelijk maken en dit stukje brengen in het Engels, de taal waarin ik het schreef in de betreffende F-groep (Humor and History). NB. Onderaan de bedenking kreeg ik (mogelijk als blijk van waardering voor de betreffende historische achtergrondkennis, inzicht in het wezen van onze soort en het beetje verbeeldingskracht?) een reactie. Ik geef ze als slotakkoord mee. Veel leesgenoegen.
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“After reading the notice, backed left and right by the two charming Edwardian ladies reading, this is what came to my mind:
Yes… The noxious and time-consuming lust for Reading… That must have been what the elderly people thought indeed. We laugh about that viewpoint today, of course. And yet… I realize it takes a lot of imaginative power, but think about it: maybe there is truth in the apprehension shown in the eighteenth century public space.
It looks to me a bit like the famous case wherein farmers maybe had a point in the end, in the era of the first steam driven trains around 1830, they said with rural wisdom:
“Look at this locomotive and train! how fast it goes! It will surely disturb our cows..!”
“The poor animals will stop giving milk!”
Well… The speed of todays society has effectively become maddening, isn’t it?…
I read a lot myself. But I can imagine a better world where that would not be the custom and also just not neccesary. Where we would develop a few lovely, wonderful and more ‘natural’ attitudes, talents and qualities.
Like listening. Like the Art of the face to face meeting (why is it today dwindling and seldom recognized as the natural gold it is, the true “miracle of meeting”…?).
Activities and inclinations like looking back to those in need or struggeling with dire situations… We might be more active fysically too, when reading less. How about obesitas today?… And just remember: heart attack and brain attack are the major killers in western societies today! They are of course directly connected to a life style that is much too sedentary…
The reader is a sitter. But remember:
“The Chair is a Killer”.
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Reactie op F-groep:
E. W.: “What an extraordinary and inspired comment! How rare.”
Ter inspiratie, ter herinnering en ter vergelijking: dit perspectief over “The world we have lost” en het keigezonde leven van bepaalde indianengemeenschappen, dat ik dag op dag drie jaar en elf maanden geleden hier mocht ontwikkelen:
Tweede illustratie: een replica van de eerste locomotief van Stephenson, The Rocket, is op visite en in actie in Nederland, 1981. (Bart van ‘t Grunewold, Flickr).
