Cairns

Long ago, a great man once said “there is no other place I want to be, right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history”. Actually, it wasn’t a great man (it was Jesus Jones) nor was it long ago (it was 1991), but all this speaks to a point.

When celebrities come, people flock to them. I have seen massive crowds gather to catch a glimpse of Keanu Reeves or Arnold Schwarzenegger. I have seen people get exited about the presence of my R-list actor buddy at a party. I even saw an old Taiwanese man race down the street knocking over people to see the mediocre teen pop star Sun Yan Zi walk by. Why are people attracted to fame?

Additionally, when “large” events occur, people like to talk and brag about what they were doing at that particular moment. Where were you when Kennedy was shot, the Berlin Wall came down or during 9/11? Whether it is Woodstock, inaugurations or the Pope’s funeral, people want to be right there, right then. Why are people attracted to “experiencing” history?

There is a theory that human beings seek integration. Somehow, by being at great events, near great people or by hanging celebrity photos on the wall, one’s place in society and the universe is known. With these known figures and known events, one’s journey through life is marked with cairns.

Others theorize that people seek immortality. According to legend, a man named Herostratus burned down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one the Seven Great Wonders, in order to have his name remembered. How you burn down stone, I don’t really get, but I’m not an architecture buff so someone will have to explain that one to me. In this case, the person desires to ascend to cairn status.

Lastly, some think that humans seek power:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works. Ye Mighty, and despair!

Somehow, by being known, by having moved earth and by creating cairns, one’s greatness is proven. If Jesus Jones had been older and greater, would you have listened to their words more? Do great things stand the test of time more that mediocre things? People seem to think so, but in reality, pots are the main things that stand the test of time and they are pretty mediocre.

Ashes to ashes, dust in the wind or whatever cliché you wish to apply the issue, we do know that all men, kings or paupers, come to the same end. Even the supposed great men of history are forgotten or changed by time into something that does not resemble who they were. Whether it is a statue that was meant to pass on an image or a text meant to pass on ideas, people usually do not even record them honestly in the first place. Nearly every photo one owns shows a smile. Is the truth a lifetime of continuous happiness? Even if recorded correctly, within a matter on months, truth is almost unrecognizable. Remember when we went to war for WMD? Suddenly we didn’t. Remember when Bon Jovi rocked and then didn’t and then did again? Now put that revisionism in the perspective of ten thousand years of human civilization.

So, the next time Lindsey Lohan is walking by, relax a little and let her walk by unmolested. After all, both of you are going to die and be forgotten.