The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
- Ron Suskind, NYT, 2004
Procrastinating can be time-wasting of course, but action can be dangerous. Before forging a new reality for a nation (or beyond), the collective should be clear on the reality that they desire.
ReplyDeleteOf course, actions that affect so many people will be studied and scrutinised, always. We learn from the past.
surely, however, a long quiet thought is all we need to take a risk, the only way to learn something new is to take that risk, of something new.
re. the article....they did not try a new approach, the gov., in my opinion, repeated the same error as a thousand times before.
I ask....opposing a reality-based community, where is his community? where is his reality?
S.
Thanks for your comment S.
ReplyDeleteYes, "a long quiet thought" every now and then - reflection is probably worthwhile. And let's not knock the "judicious study of discernible reality" either.
I was glad to come across the source of this quotation - and I was surprised how Bond villain it was in full. I think if you're in the business of creating realities, you probably should recognise there's only so much elasticity.