Maturity
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As a child, I regarded myself as the center of the universe. I thought
that everybody around me was plain stupid and nobody except me had
grasped the truth of everything. Children were the most intelligent
beings in this world and adults were too dumb to understand them.
This changed with time. I realized the limitations of human beings,
the species to which, as I gradually had to learn, I apparently also
belonged. Too similar were my looks and illnesses to those of other
people. And with time even my habits started to resemble those of
other men. When I doubted my intelligence for the first time, I had
obviously undergone a great boost in cognitive skills. And when I look
at myself nowadays, I realize that I am more intelligent than ever -
and yet I have not reached the maximum.
With increasing maturity, I have learned to respect the works of others, to realize that they are intelligent beings as well who may have knowledge and skills in certain areas I will never possess, as I will also be forced to focus on a special topic. I have realized that all the superficial knowledge I acquired and praised myself of as a small child is useless for creating something really new except essays and similarly simple things. You have to be an expert, you have to understand everything about a certain subject, you must force yourself to adhere to the ways of science. With increasing maturity, I have learned that I must focus and become a part of society. I cannot be a mere philosopher - a mere philosopher is hardly able to contribute to the advance of mankind at such a highly developed stage; the pure philosophers of nowadays have trouble understanding the world themselves, for which reason they assume pessimistic attitudes. It will be a long way until I will become a scientist with enough knowledge of things average people have no idea of yet that I will be able to evaluate the state of the world and make conclusions about the direction we are heading to. Possibly, I will never be able to fully grasp all aspects of life on our earth that are comprehensible for human beings - not to mention the puzzles of existence on a larger scale, the universe and every thing human beings are unable to see, hear or feel. Maturity means becoming aware of one's limits, becoming aware of the very nature of human beings. |