hm. So much thought in a single post.

So “die” in the quote from Eliot — I believe it implies an inherent handicap in the human condition; That we [must] ignore the roar or rather, we cannot hear the roar because it is beyond our capacity to perceive. In hearing it, in perceiving something we inherently cannot, we would in a sense, die, and become something else. Something we’re not.

We are flawed creatures. We are limited in so many ways — lifespan, raw intelligence, physical capabilities, attention span, resistance to disease and adverse environmental conditions, etc. etc. — it is not a far stretch that our limitations extend to even our awareness of our own world and existence. We can only listen so deeply and only look in and out so far — beyond which (and don’t get me wrong, it can be extended), we become no longer human, in a manner of thinking.

So the question is, how far can we extend to approach this roar — and can we ever really find ourselves on the other side?