The Summit of Mind
Table of contents
Table of contents
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If we imagine all human knowledge as a large hierarchical structure, we can say that at the summit lie the peaks of the mind — the most abstract and general thoughts. Few people venture to these heights of thinking.
From these intellectual explorations we gain no practical advantage or concrete profit, yet these peaks possess an austere and severe beauty that, just like real mountains, justifies for many the effort and strain needed to reach them.
The peaks of the mind operate outside the logic of efficiency entirely. Their value cannot be measured in practical returns.
I’m particularly attached to this idea because it captures exactly what I feel when hiking — straining to reach something that is nothing more than romantic, terribly ephemeral beauty. The mountains taught me this before philosophy did.
Some efforts don’t need to be useful. They need to be beautiful.