spilling the yolk
Maybe it was the shock of seeing it in simple and deeply moving words - there seems to be precious little I can say by way of reaction, except maybe share this:
"Medical history tells us of the case of a man living under the peculiar delusion that he was a fried egg. Quite how or when this idea had entered his head, no one knew, but he now refused to sit down anywehre for fear that he would 'break himself' and 'spill the yolk'. His doctors tried sedatives and other drugs to appease his fears, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, one of them made the effort to enter the mind of the deluded patient and suggested that he should carry a piece of toast with him at all times, which he could place on any chair he wished to sit on, and thereby protect himself from breaking his yolk. From then on, the deluded man was never seen without a piece of toast handy, and was able to continue a more or less normal existence.
"What is the point of this story? It merely shows that though one may be living under a delusion (love, the belief that one is an egg), if one finds the complementary part of it (another lover like Chloe under a similar delusion, a piece of toast) then all may be well. Delusions are not harmful in themselves, they only hurt when one is alone in believing them, when one cannot create an environment in which they can be sustained. So as long as both Chloe and I could preserve the yolk of love intact, what did it matter quite what the truth was?"
Alain de Botton, "Essays in Love"
"Medical history tells us of the case of a man living under the peculiar delusion that he was a fried egg. Quite how or when this idea had entered his head, no one knew, but he now refused to sit down anywehre for fear that he would 'break himself' and 'spill the yolk'. His doctors tried sedatives and other drugs to appease his fears, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, one of them made the effort to enter the mind of the deluded patient and suggested that he should carry a piece of toast with him at all times, which he could place on any chair he wished to sit on, and thereby protect himself from breaking his yolk. From then on, the deluded man was never seen without a piece of toast handy, and was able to continue a more or less normal existence.
"What is the point of this story? It merely shows that though one may be living under a delusion (love, the belief that one is an egg), if one finds the complementary part of it (another lover like Chloe under a similar delusion, a piece of toast) then all may be well. Delusions are not harmful in themselves, they only hurt when one is alone in believing them, when one cannot create an environment in which they can be sustained. So as long as both Chloe and I could preserve the yolk of love intact, what did it matter quite what the truth was?"
Alain de Botton, "Essays in Love"
posted by leah | 10:32 PM
4 Comments:
that (dodgy) philosophy is acceptable rationally only because the (double-deluded) cause creates a (subjectively) attractive effect
For the end to justify the means, the means must themselves have no other ends (effects). Unfortunately, two wrongs inevitably breach many rights, particularly in the context of an(y) absolute reference frame of values.
And for those who find relativism more attractive, the question really is why there's a need to justify the two wrongs in the light of one right, when nothing is wrong or right.
when i think of writing, i always think of you. go read me x
beautiful
free the content! free the content!
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