How To Achieve Historic Perspective
A Tilt Through History On The Shoulders Of Giants… Well, They Might Be…
“Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves.” ― Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Of course, he carried it a bit too far. He thought that every windmill was a giant. That’s insane. But, thinking that they might be… Well, all the best minds used to think the world was flat. But, what if it isn’t? It might be round. And bread mold might be medicine. If we never looked at things and thought of what they might be, why, we’d all still be out there in the tall grass with the apes. — They Might Be Giants (the movie)
Written in 1605, Miguel de Cervantes’ reference to giants beat Newton to the punch by about 70 years. Though Newton was referencing some much older wisdom.
Newton was referencing the further reference of John of Salisbury. John The Little as he called himself, no relation to Robin Hood and clearly not a ladies man, at least no reference claims he was… was himself referencing Bernard of Chartres who himself was referencing a little Sophocles. Sophocles was a contemporary of Socrates, but likely owed much of his “philosophical street cred” to Plato and Aristotle. Follow?
Sophocles, Bernard, and John The Little were all referencing a little Greek mythology. Specifically Cedalion, a dwarf and teacher and Orion a giant who spent a little time blind. Sophocles play and most of Bernard’s references were lost to history but John was cool enough to record his reference in the Metalogicon. This was a book not a Heavy Metal Convention. It was written in 1159 and is widely credited as a milestone in education theory.
For his part, Newton referenced his giants in a debate over optics. Also possibly as a short joke (implying he was truly focused on the dwarf) against a rival Robert Hooke, but all that is rather speculative. Miguel de Cervantes may or may not have been referencing that same legacy in his novel, but was clearly making similar references on philosophy and perspective.
Don Quixote would later inspire and interesting George C Scott movie about a man who thought himself to be Sherlock Holmes. The title later inspired the band “They Might Be Giants”. Who warped a good deal of perspective and created quite a few educational songs to boot.
Mixing this up further, because why the Hell not… the movie also gave us the following quote:
I think if God is dead he laughed himself to death.
Nietzsche had already speculated as much, but hadn’t offered a cause. A man of his own unusual perspectives, Nietzche also referenced the story of Cedalion in his own works but chose to focus on the diminutive stature of the dwarf as an analogy for most academics. Depeche Mode, another perspective altering band, would offer it’s own Blasphemous Rumors. All of which leads us to Stephen Hawking.
Hawkings borrowed from Newton for his own purposes. But, rather than standing on Nietzche’s shoulders, Hawkings cut him off at the knees by declaring God never existed. All of this is an interesting perspective but clearly speculative. So where is all of this going?
In a big circle of course, have you never been to the movies? But seriously, when people hear a “shoulders of giants” reference — they think Newton. This is despite the fact that the very quote speaks to a greater truth. Perspective is historic. More importantly, it is borrowed. For that matter, so is education.
So much emphasis is put on attribution and originality, but little if anything is truly original or cleanly attributed. Instead, knowledge and invention seem to be iterations. Each new insight, each new perspective is simply a small dwarf on the shoulders of an historic giant.
It is also important to remember that giants fall. Whether the titans of Greek mythology, Goliath, or the one atop Jack’s beanstalk. Or perhaps we are talking of Newtonian Gravity, Hawking’s Black Hole Theory, or aspects of Aristotle’s Optics. All this brings us back to Don Quixote:
“What giants?” Asked Sancho Panza.
“The ones you can see over there,” answered his master, “with the huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long.”
“Now look, your grace,” said Sancho, “what you see over there aren’t giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn the millstone.”
“Obviously,” replied Don Quixote, “you don’t know much about adventures.”
Or perhaps to Sancho, a small pot bellied man who road upon a donkey. Sancho was the foil by which Miguel de Cervantes delivered most of his own perspective and philosophy. But that should hardly be surprising… Cervantes wrote about the fall of giants and the fall of their slayer.
So stand on the shoulders of giants, or just those who might be. One day all giants fall, but until the fairy tale ends you will see further and learn more. It is historic perspective and a lesson in originality, attribution, and education. It is the greatest lesson of history and a grand adventure. Two things we have always embraced here. Thanks for reading!
