Waking Life
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:39:02
When you come to think of it,
:39:04
almost all human
behavior and activity...

:39:07
is not essentially any
different from animal behavior.

:39:11
The most advanced technologies
and craftsmanship...

:39:14
bring us, at best, up to
the super-chimpanzee level.

:39:19
Actually, the gap between,
:39:22
say, Plato or Nietzsche
and the average human...

:39:25
is greater than the gap between
that chimpanzee and the average human.

:39:29
The realm
of the real spirit,

:39:32
the true artist, the saint,
the philosopher,

:39:35
is rarely achieved.
:39:37
Why so few?
:39:39
Why is world history and evolution
not stories of progress...

:39:45
but rather this endless and
futile addition of zeroes?

:39:48
No greater values
have developed.

:39:52
Hell, the Greeks 3,000 years ago
were just as advanced as we are.

:39:57
So what are these barriers
that keep people...

:39:59
from reaching anywhere
near their real potential?

:40:03
The answer to that can be found in
another question, and that's this:

:40:08
Which is the most universal
human characteristic--

:40:12
fear or laziness?
:40:26
What are you writing?
:40:32
A novel.
:40:35
What's the story?
:40:37
There's no story.
:40:39
It's just...
:40:41
people, gestures,
moments,

:40:45
bits of rapture,
fleeting emotions.

:40:49
In short,
:40:52
the greatest stories
ever told.

:40:57
Are you in the story?

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