The film “Field of Dreams” wasn’t off the mark by much. The catch-phrase, “If you build it, they will come,” is remarkably similar in meaning to the title of this article.
Once again, I find myself immersed in matters fundamental to human nature, and the simple words I am typing now bring me to the first example of a theory I have formulated after years of research and unrelenting of pursuit of universal truth … in a world where the “lie” is most often accepted at face value.
Whether or not I have yet to say anything meaningful matters little. The only thing of any importance is this – I have an abundant supply of words, and I use them. Is there a purpose to such use? Absolutely. In fact, words are unique because they can be employed to serve multiple purposes. I can carry my bag of words with me wherever I go, with the intent to use them for whatever purpose I choose. Should I wish to tell you about my attempt to strangle my dentist yesterday, after a bad trip on nitrous oxide, I can use words to tell my story. Words are unique in this respect: if you have a washing machine, you can use it to wash things, but the machine cannot be used to tell someone of your last encounter with a woman, or your frustration with the slow-moving lines at Stop & Shop. On the other hand, words can be used to communicate basic information, like “Your fly is open,” to “the Yankees play tonight at eight.” They can also be used to make a friend laugh, or cry, or worry; they can be deployed as weapons to hurt the feelings of others or to traumatize a young child, and they can be used to arouse emotions like pain, anger, joy, sorrow, rage, etc. I think we can agree that words are unique in the diversity of purposes they serve, and that like anything else, if you happen to have them in your possession, you will use them.
The same holds true for virtually anything you wish to pick out as an example. Let’s take credit cards, just for the heck of it. I seriously doubt that anyone who has a credit card will not eventually use it. The odds against non-use are staggering; probably in excess of 1/1,000,000.
What about things like gardening tools, screwdrivers, refrigerators, can openers, air conditioners, automobiles, sleeping pills, telephones and other man-made things designed to make our lives easier? If you possess any one of these, what are the chances that you will not use it? I would say the odds against non-use are astronomically high. Even in cases of sudden death, for instance, the victim has used a refrigerator at least once prior to his/her death.
This is all part of human nature. We do not possess things we have no intention of using.
“Honey, let’s go out and buy a back loader.”
“Jim, have you lost your mind completely? What will we do with a back loader?”
“Nothing. I just thought it would be nice to have one.”
The conversation makes about as much sense as it does for a country to build a hydrogen bomb for no reason.
“Why are we building this, Mr. Premier?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“Do you think we will ever use it?”
“Of course not! I just thought it would be nice to have one.”
I don’t think there is much more that needs to be said about this. As a nation, let us try hard to forget the fact that we have not one, but hundreds of bombs. It is nice to have them. Like Christmas lights, we don’t want the Smiths next door to show us up with more lights than we have. Will we, or any other country that has the bomb, use it? Well, why else would they have one?