The event itself left me feeling intangibly deflated. It was only afterwards that I was able to analyse what had actually been going on.
What's the big deal?
The session started off with Steiner giving a rousing state-of-the-world speech that covered:
- The increasing intellectual laziness of the world
- Our declining standards in rigour of thought
- Our collective callousness. After what we have seen from WW2, the most powerful nations still avoid benevolent intervention .Yes, we intervened in Kosovo, but we only intervene when it suits the interests of traditional 'great power' manoeuvrings.
- The un-inspiring leaders we have
- The country’s obsession with money
Now, I was into this as much as the next man and was quite carried away by the tidal wave of misty idealism in the room and the almost hysterical respect in which Steiner was regarded.
The came the questions -- each one prefaced with a good 3 minutes of praise for Steiner's wit, wisdom, learning, intelligence, insight, and blah-di-blah.
Some typical questions and answers follow (these are typical examples).
Q. Why have you not publicly attacked George Bush?
A. Because he gave me $12,000
Q. Rather than confine your message to the few (people like us), why have you not used the mass media in the manner of Bronowski and Clarke?
A. I was offered a series by Huw Weldon of the BBC but I didn't want the hassle of being recognised in the street or the discomforts of travel. And I was concerned that I would lose my reputation with my academic peers.
The answer to some question about teaching, involved the statement that teachers are not paid enough. Apparently, the great thing Stalin did was to pay secondary teachers as much as university professors. (Though presumably the real thinkers in the Gulag didn’t receive such beneficence.)
So much for feeling enough solidarity with our fellow humans to do something to improve the world. So much for the critique of the modern obsession with money.
It seems that the old saw still very much applies: 'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.'
Now, you may think I'm being a bit harsh picking on some 80 year old bloke. But he was selling his book, and I was charged a ticket price. And there is an important lesson to be learned in the hysteria of admiration. At the time, I doubt that any person in the room formulated any criticism of what was being said. I didn't: I only came to my senses afterwards. It is saddening to see such sloppy and blinkered standards passing for our intellectual life. Especially in a room full of people who ought to know better.
In short: intellectually lazy, manipulative, lacking rigour, money mad, and helpful to fellow men -- as long as no person inconvenience is involved. Rather un-inspiring.
