Honestly, there are so many truths that people simply cannot face for the sake of their own sanity.
Look up the case of Genie, the girl who resonates within my thoughts every so often. She and I aren't so different ... I mean, of course we are different people, but it's worth highlighting the occasional metaphorical parallels I seem to notice.
God, I feel sick even thinking to compare my life to hers. It's honestly laughable how much our privilege shows in thoughts like those.
The first truth: that people can be so depraved as to let this happen. But the Holocaust, Armenian genocide, Trail of Tears, Rwandan genocide, Unit 731, the Fritzl case, comfort women - and innumerable other examples - more than suffice to demonstrate what our lizard-brains are capable of ignoring and/or rationalizing.
But that's not it ... it's not exactly it, is it?
No, she was effectively raised in a box, and it hurts to say that, in a metaphorical sense, so was I. Not the literal box she was raised in, no. And certainly not with the malicious intent that was evident in her case.
But intent really matter (answer: it does, if barely) when the results are so crushing?
A box is a set of limitations.
They exist whether self-imposed or externally begotten. And it's an interesting thought experiment: who is the true explorer - 1) one who ventures but does not realize that the box exists, or 2) one who is aware of the box's existence and yet ventures anyway?
I lie, of course, in that hard to accept third category: I neither explored my limitations, nor did I realize there was a box to explore and test the limitations of.
Did Genie ever truly learn that the physical world outside was real? I don't know. And we will surely never know, ourselves. But whatever her perception, could you judge her for it, in good faith?
No, I don't know, I'm rambling. But the reason her case is brought up is something so vital, so fundamental to our development that we overlook it completely: the curvature of our learning ability. No, there no such thing as "it's never too late" ... because in order to learn new things, one must first learn how to learn. Much, much more than the innate learning ability of a baby - the ability to discriminate and correlate the otherwise overwhelming vastness of our environments.
The fact that I have the presence of mind to try to analyze my situation and draw conclusions (however misinformed) is so humbling and depressing - would Genie have been able to do the same at all?
Look - I really don't know what I'm trying to say here. Perhaps I've lost the ability to maintain a coherent train of thought?
No, scratch that ... I remember now. The fact that there are certain things that MUST be learned during a critical period in a person's development, or else these are skills that will be unattainable within a reasonable framework.
I missed out on social development in a relatively small way in relation to Genie, but in a relatively big way in relation to my peers. I'm working to fix myself but I hate myself enough that my progress will forever be crippled.
Yes, it's never too late to start.
But there is a point at which it will be too late to finish.
And I am not so strong of a person that I could keep fighting on my own.
Look up the case of Genie, the girl who resonates within my thoughts every so often. She and I aren't so different ... I mean, of course we are different people, but it's worth highlighting the occasional metaphorical parallels I seem to notice.
God, I feel sick even thinking to compare my life to hers. It's honestly laughable how much our privilege shows in thoughts like those.
The first truth: that people can be so depraved as to let this happen. But the Holocaust, Armenian genocide, Trail of Tears, Rwandan genocide, Unit 731, the Fritzl case, comfort women - and innumerable other examples - more than suffice to demonstrate what our lizard-brains are capable of ignoring and/or rationalizing.
But that's not it ... it's not exactly it, is it?
No, she was effectively raised in a box, and it hurts to say that, in a metaphorical sense, so was I. Not the literal box she was raised in, no. And certainly not with the malicious intent that was evident in her case.
But intent really matter (answer: it does, if barely) when the results are so crushing?
A box is a set of limitations.
They exist whether self-imposed or externally begotten. And it's an interesting thought experiment: who is the true explorer - 1) one who ventures but does not realize that the box exists, or 2) one who is aware of the box's existence and yet ventures anyway?
I lie, of course, in that hard to accept third category: I neither explored my limitations, nor did I realize there was a box to explore and test the limitations of.
Did Genie ever truly learn that the physical world outside was real? I don't know. And we will surely never know, ourselves. But whatever her perception, could you judge her for it, in good faith?
No, I don't know, I'm rambling. But the reason her case is brought up is something so vital, so fundamental to our development that we overlook it completely: the curvature of our learning ability. No, there no such thing as "it's never too late" ... because in order to learn new things, one must first learn how to learn. Much, much more than the innate learning ability of a baby - the ability to discriminate and correlate the otherwise overwhelming vastness of our environments.
The fact that I have the presence of mind to try to analyze my situation and draw conclusions (however misinformed) is so humbling and depressing - would Genie have been able to do the same at all?
Look - I really don't know what I'm trying to say here. Perhaps I've lost the ability to maintain a coherent train of thought?
No, scratch that ... I remember now. The fact that there are certain things that MUST be learned during a critical period in a person's development, or else these are skills that will be unattainable within a reasonable framework.
I missed out on social development in a relatively small way in relation to Genie, but in a relatively big way in relation to my peers. I'm working to fix myself but I hate myself enough that my progress will forever be crippled.
Yes, it's never too late to start.
But there is a point at which it will be too late to finish.
And I am not so strong of a person that I could keep fighting on my own.
