The transcendentals are a funny set of subject matter. What I really mean is that it’s funny how we treat them in our regular daily lives. There’s a dramatic scene in National Treasure (2004) when Nicolas Cage’s character reads an excerpt of the Declaration of Independence followed by, “people don’t talk that way anymore.” In many scenes of that film, the average person will roll their eyes or cringe at the corny sentiment being communicated, but that’s exactly my point. People are uncomfortable with rhetoric and discussion of things that are true, beautiful, and good. Cage’s character is right. We don’t speak like that anymore. I even receive criticism from a few of my readers for using big fancy words or jargon-y descriptions. There are a few problems with the validity of these critiques.

The first, being the reading level of the average American as well as the plummeting reading levels of school-children since the conception of the Department of Education. Good riddance.

The second issue is that of the actual comprehension level necessary to read MMM or the Declaration of Independence: if either of these pieces of literature are impossible for you, I’m afraid you are the problem. If this is the case, I’ll direct you to some more appropriate reading material here until these articles aren’t too much work.

Lastly, the problem with criticizing organized thought or commentary on the transcendentals is that in order to discuss them, you must conceive of things greater than your common reality. The origins and nature of things like justice, identity, evil, pain, chaos, and the afterlife simply can not be discussed with the same vernacular you use to tell your group chat about the tweaker you almost hit on the way to work. In order to understand even an inkling about things of this magnitude, you must search the depths of your soul and hope to articulate what you might see. You can’t do that with the vocabulary that Urban Dictionary and rap songs can offer. There’s a very good argument for the correlation between your range of vocabulary and your intelligence. Many psychologists believe that a vital part of our capacity to think is dependent on our ability to express our thoughts and feelings with words. It’s very difficult to express anything of importance if you don’t know many words.

Don’t take this stern opinion for a call to exclusivity. On the contrary, I wish (and aim for) a culture that can and will discuss the important things, things above, on a regular basis. I look to the ancient Greeks in this respect. We assume that because we live in so much prosperity now, that we know all there is to know. If that were the truth, you wouldn’t be reading this now. Discuss the transcendentals, but do them justice. Do yourself justice.