Relentless Pessimism

I've been told that this blog is depressing. My apologies. Perhaps Will Durant can wax apologetically in my defense. Though a computer engineer--almost--by training, I consider myself an amateur historian, albeit one of little account.

Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.