I am struck by the timeless quality of this cautionary tale. I don't think it's about politics or religion, I think it's about a more general human failing and a redeeming human quality. It's about ignorance versus reason, survival at any cost versus pragmatism.
I see this as people abandoning science for a quick fix because they are tired or they are frustrated beyond reason, and commit communal suicide.
The same is happening today in slow motion. When the 'old man' helps the community, this help is taken for granted. People are more frustrated that the 'old man' (i.e. science) is right, rather than the fact that they paid for their own ignorance of his knowledge. When the 'young man', thug (i.e. ignorant politicians/religious leaders), shows up and says everything is okay, everyone falls in (what an apt expression) and conforms to authority.
The authority figure even mocks the old man with the false death...the fact that death from radioactive food takes days is ignored...ignorance again.
It's easier and less frustrating with the young man than dealing with the old man...the community doesn't need to worry about listening to advice or facts. In their ignorance, their abandonment of reason, and their primitive pecking-order faith in the young man, the community runs straight over a cliff.
I see this as people abandoning science for a quick fix because they are tired or they are frustrated beyond reason, and commit communal suicide.
The same is happening today in slow motion. When the 'old man' helps the community, this help is taken for granted. People are more frustrated that the 'old man' (i.e. science) is right, rather than the fact that they paid for their own ignorance of his knowledge. When the 'young man', thug (i.e. ignorant politicians/religious leaders), shows up and says everything is okay, everyone falls in (what an apt expression) and conforms to authority.
The authority figure even mocks the old man with the false death...the fact that death from radioactive food takes days is ignored...ignorance again.
It's easier and less frustrating with the young man than dealing with the old man...the community doesn't need to worry about listening to advice or facts. In their ignorance, their abandonment of reason, and their primitive pecking-order faith in the young man, the community runs straight over a cliff.