The Guiding Ideas of the Ages

"Part of what [Tolkien] does in The Lord of the Rings is offer the fantasy that, in a time of tanks and machine guns, ancient languages and arcane history still matter, that without them, there is no hope for the final victory of the good. "

Joe Kraus

These words by Joe Kraus are a statement of where I would like to go, and of what seems to be out of sync in my life. I have studied engineering, and gone into industry, but it was the wrong path. By nature, I am much more inclined to the humanities, to philosophy and poetry and literature.

It surprises me. after all this time, to realize how deeply I have been affected by The Lord of the Rings. For years, I have down-played this, because there is something a little silly about taking a fantasy story about elves and wizards seriously. But there is much in this fiction (and the learning behind it) that is profound and valuable and useful. I`m still interested in Latin and (although I haven`t studied it) Greek. I`m fascinated by the old techniques of passing on lore through poems and stories. Even my interest in the old pre-metric ways of measurement seem to have arisen from Tolkien`s work.

It`s time now to admit this. I am not a captain of industry, forging a new world order or driving change through technology. I am a traditionalist and a philosopher, and I believe in the guiding ideas of the ages. The path in front of me is now a complete reversal of what it was: virtue ethics, philosophy, literature, religion, history, geography. It is time to return to the traditional path of wisdom.