"Learnin"

"All men, like all nations, are tested twice in the moral realm: first by what they do, then by what they make of what they do. The condition of guilt, a sense of one's own guilt, denotes a kind of second chance. Men are, as if by a kind of grace, given a chance to repay to the living that it is they find themselves owing the dead."
"Coming to Terms with Vietnam," by Peter Marin, Harpers, Dec. 1980.

I consider knowing to be analysis and understanding to be syntheses. Our schooling has prepared us to become good workers and voracious consumers. This preparation has produced a cornucopia of delights for some small percentage of the world's population. But our real problem is learning how to live together as a coherent group. We need individuals who understand so they can help others to understand.

In my opinion the world badly needs a cadre of individuals focused on helping the population understand where it now stands so that it can begin the arduous task of determining where it might wish to go.