Drought, in the age of great contrarian thinkers

A colleague said of Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-275 BC) that "he had no positive teaching, but a Pyrronist is one who in manner and in life resembles Pyrrho."

Two statements from Pyrrho survive.

"Nothing really exists, but human life is governed by convention."

"Nothing is in itself more this than that."

Pyrrho started out as an artist but abandoned art for philosophy. Pyrrho had a great influence on Duchamp. Looking at Duchamp's art now it's tempting to say, what's the big deal? If you see much of anything you're really only seeing his legend and whatever others thought of him. But in fact, Duchamp's art looks like Pyrrho's thinking.

It's time again to take ideas out as far as they can go, not to see where they can go but to see that they've already been thought of and that going nowhere is the whole point.

I speak on behalf of the best who've lost all conviction when I say that the more educated we've become the less sensibly we behave. We assume the great drought will end because great droughts have always ended, and that our empire is different than Rome's because we're not only doing good, we're making things better the right way, not just for ourselves but for others.

I know two things. That I really want to understand the world, but that there's no understanding it. And that everybody at the end of their own life has a chance to become really interesting, to become someone they'd like to know.