The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge

The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge – Abraham Flexner (1939)

            One of the most disheartening developments in education in my lifetime has been the emphasis placed on teaching students only the knowledge and subjects that have practical, or “useful,” content.  Every year more and more people want their kids to study only the fields in which a great salary is guaranteed.  Learning for learning’s sake is frowned upon by helicopter parents who push their kids to fit a predetermined mold.  This is a huge disservice to the students.  One of the greatest advantages of a University education used to be that you learned how to educate yourself for the rest of your life.  This was what a well-rounded education was to provide.  Critical thinking skills, deep curiosity about the world, a variety of experience and wisdom from a wide field of human intellectual endeavors, and the ability to be a well-rounded adult were all worthy goals in and of themselves, without regard to future employ-ability or salary.  It is quite eye-opening to read Abraham Flexner’s essay from a 1939 issue of Harpers Magazine.  He was confronted by the same problem 80 years ago. 

            I have never read a better argument for letting students, artists, researchers, and scientists explore anything and everything that may cross their minds, regardless of whether it applies to their respective titles or fields of study.  Mr. Flexner explores the many fields deemed “useless” and finds that in each and every case, these useless ideas or curiosities either contribute greatly to the well-being of humanity as a whole (as in the case of the arts, music, and literature) or they end up adding another piece of knowledge to the vast amount collectively gathered by humanity, to be filed away until some other curious person finds it and uses that knowledge to create a new mechanism, or technology, or even just a new use for something already existing.  There is no way to determine what field of study will lead to something “useful,” which is the whole reason that nothing a human is curious about is actually “useless.”

            Mr. Flexner provides examples from various fields, each a seemingly unimportant exploration by a human mind that turns out to shine a light on a previously unknown corner of knowledge.  He cites the then very current issues arising from totalitarian fascist states in Germany and Italy curtailing “frivolous sciences” and “useless” explorations.  This led to many of the most genius humans on the planet to make their way to the United States, where they could join places like the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.  This institute was solely dedicated to the search for knowledge and had such a minimal infrastructure that any one person could cooperate and learn from any other, allowing geniuses in science and the humanities to explore wherever their curiosity led them.  Learning itself is what was cultivated.

            I have always been intellectually curious about nearly everything in the world around me.  There are many people who think that specialization is the true mark of genius or dedication, or intellectual rigor.  These people, while they may achieve much, are missing out on the whole picture.  I personally am an artist.  I paint and draw and I love to study art.  I am also a hardcore music fanatic.  These two fields are not mutually exclusive to most people.  I am also a deep, deep lover of all things scientific, especially the field and history of Physics.  In this case, countless people cannot fathom that a human can be artistically inclined and scientifically inclined and enjoy both equally.  I feel that, beyond the pure joy of learning itself, my scientific knowledge informs my art, and my art knowledge informs my scientific curiosities.  I am also a hardcore sports fanatic, especially my beloved American Football and all my Houston, Texas sports teams.  I have been ridiculed by sports people who do not think I am a “true fan” because art is not for jocks, and I have been ridiculed by the arts crowds for showing up to a gallery wearing a Texans jersey.  These close-minded fools will never understand, and they will never learn, until they decide to explore what intrigues them without the fear of ridicule by the people in your chosen peer group.  If only this great essay by Mr. Abraham Flexner was required reading in the schools.  Share it with someone that has been stifled in their curiosity.   It may change a life.

(This essay can be downloaded in PDF format from Harpers Magazine here: https://library.ias.edu/files/UsefulnessHarpers.pdf )

The evil that men do is hard to explain sometimes

Invisible Eagle: The Hidden History of Nazi Occultism – Alan Baker (2000)

            It is very difficult for normal humans to understand what can drive a group of people to commit unspeakable atrocities and horrors against other humans.  When such twisted and malicious ideas become national governmental policy?  Even worse.  The National Socialist government of Germany engaged in such atrociously clinical and rigorous genocide and mass murder that even today, 60-plus years later, people still seek the reasons behind such actions.  How could this happen?  How could a country that has always been at the forefront of rational science and philosophy get taken over by a megalomaniac whose inner circle drove all of Germany to some of the most insane acts ever committed?  It is a question that people will grapple with for a long time.  Many people, however, are convinced that the pure evil on Nazi ideology and actions had to come from something more sinister than the human mind.  This book explores the many claims laid out by people over the past decades seeking to explain this evil.

            One of the most common claims about Nazi Germany is that from the top down, it was a fully satanic endeavor.  Others claim that the Nazis were involved with deeply Occult matters that fueled their insanity.     Still others assert that Hitler did not kill himself, and instead escaped to a secret base in Antarctica where the Nazis had discovered some mystical secret.  Each of these things, while implausible, seems to help those who claim them as real to rationalize away the evil perpetrated by Hitler and his assholes.  It is too scary to imagine that a roomful of supposedly well-educated governmental leaders could just come up with the horrors of the Holocaust while sipping tea and enjoying some classical music. 

Aleister Crowley could come up with those horrors while chillin' at the Starbucks!

            It is indeed true that certain members of Hitler’s inner circle, especially Heinrich Himmler, were deeply obsessed with certain occult and esoteric ideas such as Theosophy, the Ice World Theory, and other crack pot ideas that were all the rage in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  These bastards used these borrowed ideas to shore up their claims of an ancient Aryan master race that was diluted and “mongrelized” by interbreeding with the “lesser” races of the Earth.  They also shared a deep anti-Semitism which condensed itself into the most horrific attempted genocide of recent times.  Hitler himself did not believe in these occult things, but he was perfectly willing to use their ideas in shaping his propaganda.  He even mentioned how pathetic Himmler was in his devout beliefs in the more outlandish of these pseudo-theological ideas.  No matter, for he knew exactly how to utilize them to his own ends. 

            This book does a great job of explaining exactly what these influences were, and how they were put into action by the Nazi Party.  It also shows the ease with which an evil idea is rationalized by those who think themselves to be better than others.  It is a slippery slope that leads from racist ideas to the notion that the “lesser” races need to be wiped out for the good of the “Master” race.  It is also easy to forget that the Nazis not only sought to exterminate the Jewish people, but to cull the homosexuals, the infirm, the mentally and physically disabled, the “mixed races,” etc., not to mention any intellectuals that did not agree with the Nazis and any person opposed to their rule.  Their evil came straight from their own hearts, and to lay blame for it on the Occult or on Satan or on some sort of vague idea is a disservice to those that suffered and died under these fucking assholes.  It also keeps us from seeing this as it happens in our own day today.  Atrocities are caused by humans, against humans.  When such racist and evil ideology is used as a governmental platform, it strikes fear in me.  It is also important to note that many high ranking and powerful members of the UK and the USA wholeheartedly supported the Nazi party with money and arms and fully agreed with their racist bullshit. We have not yet rid ourselves of the evil of racism, and we may never do so.  However, we must remain ever vigilant against racist ideas being implemented as official state policy.  That is when a small evil turns into a big EVIL.

(This book can be downloaded in .pdf format here: http://www.germanophobia.net/books/IE.pdf )

Hitler was far crazier than we will ever know...

"The Spear of Destiny: The Occult Power Behind the Spear Which Pierced the Side of Christ" by Trevor Ravenscroft (1982)

I found this book at the Friends of the Houston Public Library annual book sale, my favorite book sale of the year!  While this book is nominally about a relic, referred to as “The Spear of Destiny,” “The Spear of Longinus”, and other names, it goes into much more than just that topic.

            The Spear is supposed to be the lance that was thrust into Jesus’ side when he was crucified to determine if he had died.  According to non-biblical Christian lore, the Roman Centurion was named Longinus.  He is not mentioned by name in the Bible.  Supposedly, this spear, due to its contact with Jesus, grants it’s possessor near-infinite occult powers.  This book deals with the assertion that Adolf Hitler sought out this relic, had it brought to Germany when he rose to power, and used it to further his occult studies and to help him rule the world.  Like many such power relics of legend, it magnifies the intent in the “heart” of the person who owns it, and it can be used for great evil as well as good.

This Robot found the Hammer of Destiny...

            I have always lived by the idea that, while some things are claimed to be supernatural, it is not whether  that is true that is important, but whether someone believes that it is.  This grants things power.  The writer of this book claims contact with a man who escaped Nazi Germany and supposedly helped the Allies against Hitler, specifically in their occult “war” against him.

            Much of the book deals with the interesting yet quasi-factual background history of the Spear, tracing its ownership through the years down to the Hapsburgs, who stored it in an Austrian museum along with other relics.  This is where Hitler first saw it while living in Austria in the early 1930’s.  It is quite a delirious read, for fantasy, history, myth, and esoteric knowledge all come to play their part in the story.

            Having read it, I can definitely say that I am even more glad that Hitler is dead.  Ha!  Also, that the world is far crazier, and far more full of people who believe deeply about the weirdest fucking things, than one can imagine.  Legends are legendary for a reason.  They empower those that believe.  Hitler fully believed that his insanity was perfectly sane.  He believed that he was the reincarnation of a legendary Teutonic leader, that the Aryan people were the original unblemished humans, and countless other jacked-up shit.  It is strangely ironic that someone who was so vehemently opposed to the teachings of Jesus (and Mr. Ravenscroft goes into detail about this), would seek to wield ultimate power from a weapon whose legend was fabricated to honor Jesus.  Longinus supposedly repented, after having pierced the side of Jesus and seeing not blood but water coming out (a miracle!), giving up his clothes and title as a centurion and becoming a Christian on the spot.  For this he is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.  It is all a story made up maybe 600 years after the fact but it makes for a good fable.

            Hitler, like all megalomaniacs, used anything and everything he could get his hands on to further his selfish desires and propagate his evil of unprecedented proportions.   Beware of any fucker who follows the maxim “the ends justify the means,” for they will sell their own mother to their enemies to be ground up for dog food if it helps them achieve their goals.