Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind’s eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the cave.
I read the short story on my way to Boston, and it was incredibly thought-provoking. If such an operation is real, would I choose to take part in it? To be able to glimpse into a far brighter world, and then submerge back into the clouded abyss that limits my mind seems…
Man, I honestly don’t know how to put my feelings about such a thing to words.
I assume that I will remember I had the operation, and remember my brilliance during those few weeks which I could understand everything. My life after I returned to the normal state would be unpleasant to say the least. “I used to know this! I used to understand this! Why can’t I do this anymore!”
But how I wish to glimpse into the mind of a genius; to see a larger picture, even for just a few minutes.