Bread and games

I think that I could fill this website each week with a blog about Montaigne and his Essays. The man and his work are very inspiring. But that’s not what I want, so after two blogs about Montaigne, I should switch again to another theme. However, this time yet another Montaigne blog, so that you get a kind of trilogy. Next week, I’ll write about something else again, although I don’t know yet what it will be.Last week we saw Montaigne as a psychologist. As a psychologist, he had to be a good observer, which he certainly was. This is especially clear in the journal he kept during his journey through Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy. But also in his own country he looked around with a sharp eye. He praised what he liked and he criticized what he didn’t like or considered stupid, like in the essay “Of vain subtleties” (Essays I-54). This essay starts with a remarkable sentence: “There are a sort of little knacks and frivolous subtleties from which men sometimes expect to derive reputation and applause: as poets, who compose whole poems with every line beginning with the same letter…” This was done in Montaigne’s days, indeed, and I can understand that he thought that such artificialities were stupid. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable sentence, for what Montaigne probably didn’t know is that some time before, a Dutchman had written a long poem and the first letters of the fifteen verses of the poem put in succession made the name Willem van Nassov (= William of Nassau). William of Nassau was count of Nassau in Germany, and also, prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland (representative of the Spanish King there). Willem of Orange-Nassau, became the leader of the Dutch rebellion against the Spanish King, which led to the independence of the Netherlands. The poem just mentioned describes William’s doubts, problems and struggles as a leader of this rebellion. Now it is the national anthem of the Netherlands and it is also the oldest national anthem in use today. Moreover, the author of the poem is not known, so who got the reputation and applause of this poem? And was it the product of a vain effort? Yes, and no. In the same Book I of the Essays, Montaigne had written an essay titled “That men are not to judge of our happiness till after death”. Analogously, we can say that this also applies to the first sentence of his “Of vain subtleties”. But if we would apply this statement rigorously, it would be difficult to have an opinion, and that’s not what we want.
Must we accept then any activity as potentially useful, since later history may show it is, even if this would be very unlikely? Also in essay I-54 Montaigne tells us about a man who was praised and rewarded, because he “had learned to throw a grain of millet with such dexterity and assurance as never to miss the eye of a needle”. This made Montaigne remark: “Tis a strong evidence of a weak judgment when men approve of things for their being rare and new, or for their difficulty, where worth and usefulness are not conjoined to recommend them.”
If he had lived now, Montaigne could still make this remark. I know of a TV show that is about such “vain” activities. Central are questions like: Could this man throw hundred grains of millet with such dexterity and assurance as never to miss the eye of a needle? Is such a TV show senseless? Yes, it is, but then one should ask: Is amusement senseless? I think it isn’t for humans cannot live without it. Nevertheless, it can be a problem. Nowadays, we can see many videos with such “vain” activities in the internet. Many people like them. No problem. No problem? No, unless you see then another one, and another one, and another one… for hours, as some people do. And the next day maybe again, etc. No problem, unless you become addicted to them and spend your time on them and not or no longer on things that must be done. People may feel guilty that they have spent so much time on vain activities and that other things are not done. That’s already bad enough, but more and more websites have videos that are made that you become addicted to them; and especially that children and young people become addicted to them. It’s the revenue model of such websites. Is it a problem? Yes, it is. Since then the choice to become addicted (if such a choice exists) is no longer yours but the choice of another: You are manipulated. In view of this, Montaigne is right. Of course, he did not and could not foresee the internet and all that belongs to it. Montaigne warned us for the weakness of the human mind, which is of all times. Humans have a weak judgment, because they approve of things that are rare and new. Others try to misuse this weakness and make you addicted so that they can manipulate you. And then I haven’t talked yet about the political side of this. Bread and games, is that all we need?