Owl has Flown

Sven Birkers' essay The Owl has Flown mostly refers to the fact that our society tries to learn facts about everything, instead of really thinking about one particular subject inside and out. Places without as many books or reading material tend to cherish what they have and reread it over and over; whereas here in the United States books are so common that they have lost their value. Birkerts goes on to state, "The growth forests of philosopy have been logged and the owl of Minerva has fled." In other words. our philosophy has be taken away so our wisdom has left us. Birkerts also said, "Wisdom doesn't have to do with organizing facts.... it's about seeing through the facts." We need to take note of this. We aren't as wise as we were years ago. If we want an answer, we get on the internet and find a quick answer instead of researching the topic and really learning about it. Birkerts talks about how we now think horizontally instead of vertically. This means we dont take time to really think about the topic at hand; instead of finding a quick answer and not thinking about it any further, we need to explore each question we ask. We are using our brain to store facts instead of learning a subject thoroughly. The only places Birkerts has found that still think vertically on a regular basis is in church and in a therapist's office. In church they reread the bible over and over looking at every passage and thinking about it. The pastor gives the audience time to pause and really think about it. When you're in a therapist's office they ask you questions to help spark vertical thinking. Once you start talking the therapist doesnt interupt you and allows pauses for you to think about your responses. Birkerts states, "...only where silence is possible can vertical engagement take place." We need to ignore the distractions of our everyday life and begin to think vertical." We need to ignore all of our distractions and research the answers we need.