Quote of the moment

2008-06-15

“A large city cannot be experientially known; its life is too manifold for any individual to be able to participate in it.”–Aldous Huxley

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Categories : Cities   Quotes and Whatnot
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5 comments

  1. Interesting quote. Is Peoria too large of a city to know it well? How well do I know lie out in, say, Edgewild? Or Goose Lake, for that matter.

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    Billy Dennis, June 16, 2008

  2. Hi, Billy.

    It’s entirely possible that I’m reading into the quote. However, what I got from it (and what I was pondering when I posted it) is the idea that there is so much going on in the interactions of people in a city that it’s too much for a single person to take it all in and connect with all of it.

    There’s probably a connection between this and planning commissions, too, but I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader. ;-)

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    Seth Ben-Ezra, June 16, 2008

  3. I like to chat with people I don’t know. I do this all the time when waiting in line, In variably, there is some connection between myself and the person I am chatting with somewhere. If every single person on Earth is connected to every single other person by no more than five connections, then the old woman in line with me at the BBBQ wing joint on Sheridan must know someone in common.

    This is one reason I think community blogging is important. It lets us communicate in a way that’s somewhat less “mass” than mass media, but still more than chatting with a neighbor over a fence.

    Mistrust and misinformation keeps us from progressing. There’s no reason why, in a city like Peoria, we cannot find common ground.

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    Billy Dennis, June 16, 2008

  4. Hey, Billy.

    Seems like I wasn’t being clear. I totally agree with the sentiments of your last comment. Indeed, I think that, as Peorians, we all need to be working together to give attention to our common place. We share the same space and have to live together; therefore, we should get busy trying to learn how to live at peace with each other.

    What I took away from the quote is that a city is an emergent entity overflowing with life, and therefore it is impossible for any one person to completely embrace and comprehend it all at once. It’s just too big.

    I don’t see this as a discouragement from trying to be a part of your city. Actually, I thought that it was kinda nifty, and also a call to humility. Our city is filled with a broad variety of experiences, and we should be careful to avoid making sweeping claims about them all.

    (Now, after all that, maybe I just read the quote wrong. :-D)

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    Seth Ben-Ezra, June 17, 2008

  5. I wasn’t disputing you. Just talking out loud.

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    Billy Dennis, June 17, 2008

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