Occasionally I will read anecdotes about the early leaders of the United States, about how erudite and educated they were in the Bible (which they regularly would comment on intelligently even in political speeches), in Plutarch (for plenty of Greek and Roman history), and in foreign languages. Being the sort of person who aspires to be counted as worthy among the company of civilized and noble people of all ages, I find it sometimes a bit daunting to think of how poorly I measure up, with all of my interest in classical education, with the standards of the past. I wonder all too often if I (and those of my time) have been spending time in the shallow end of the pool and not reaching the level of intellectual discipline and achievement of those who came before us.

Perhaps no one would think of me as too shallow, whatever they might think (in agreement or disagreement) with my thinking process and the fruits of my intellectual labor. It is certainly clear that our age has achievements in technology that are far above the achievements of the past–but that is largely because our gains in technology have been cumulative. But when it comes to putting forth the effort to achieve intellectual depth in our studies we are definitely not at the level of our ancestors. I remember one time listening to a radio episode of Fibber McGee and Molly, in which the radio announcer was giving reports of the election results for 1936, and engaging in erudite wordplay. And this was a mass-appeal radio show only a couple of generations ago. I got the jokes and found them rather witty and pleasing, but many people would not agree.

If our highbrow and midbrow culture struggles to reach the level of popular culture from the 1930’s, what business do we have to claim such a superiority over our ancestors. Certainly I would not want to live in the conditions of past decades (I do appreciate such amenities of modern life as I am able to enjoy), but at the same time wisdom does not consist in possessing technology but having the moral and intellectual fortitude to know the right way of behavior and to be able to do it even in difficult times and difficult circumstances. Our present cultural, economic, and political leaders are not statesmen possessed of a broad understanding and vision and moral courage, but rather most of them are self-serving cowards only interested in expediency and their own narrow self-interest. But we get the leaders we deserve–if we as a people are not possessed of moral courage and self-sacrifice and nobility and virtue, we will not get those qualities from our leaders.

Being deep does not need to be pretentious, nor does it need to mean a rejection of politeness or a lack of awareness of present culture. After all, popular culture is often a fruitful place to make deep comparisons and analysis for the purposes of greater understanding. And if we want to reach people, we have to reach them where they are anyway, even if it is our desire (and their desire) to reach greater depths of understanding. I struggle myself with being more accessible without pandering or talking down to others, and I do not pretend to be perfect at making myself easily understood. But I do try my best and work hard at it. We all have work to do, anyway.

I believe it would be far easier for us to aspire to depth if we had some historical knowledge as well as some understanding of the benefits of historical perspective. If we learn from the behavior of those who came before us, we can avoid at least some of their mistakes. And not only on the negative side, but also on the positive side we can learn from the resourcefulness and genius of others as well, learning how to recognize situations where different strategies and tactics can be used. But without that historical knowledge we have to keep reinventing the wheel, thinking as if we are discovering something new when in reality we are just rediscovering what had been forgotten. We can only make genuine and useful progress when we have a firm awareness and grasp of the past so that we can weigh our decisions against the larger context of human behavior. For we are not the first generation to flounder in the shallow end of the pool, not by a long shot.