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by Joy Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ · Book · Writing · #2326194

A new blog to contain answers to prompts

Since my old blog "Everyday Canvas Open in new Window. became overfilled, here's a new one. This new blog item will continue answering prompts, the same as the old one.


Cool water cascading to low ground
To spread good will and hope all around.


image for blog
January 26, 2026 at 2:59pm
January 26, 2026 at 2:59pm
#1106897
Prompt:
"Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force - that thoughts rule the world."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do thoughts really rule the world as Emerson claims? What do you think?


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I doubt that anything created can rule the world on its own, alone. Certainly not the thoughts, and not by themselves. They are, however, the invisible forces behind much of what we people deal with. Those forces, such as actions of people, money, weapons, machines, natural resources, and now. artificial intelligence shape history and our time, and they almost always have power over our fears, hopes, and ideals.

But then, I have to okay Emerson's point, too. Don't revolutions begin as arguments about justice? Scientific findings as hypotheses? My sons' rebellions, before having their own apartments?

Likewise, the push for women’s rights, the abolition of slavery, and the spread of civil liberties were driven by changing moral ideas. This meant thoughts acted as architects whose designs later took concrete forms.

So, the way I see it, thoughts alone don't and can't rule the world. They need people, luck, institutions, circumstances, and resources. Take economic crises, political pressures, military power, for example. They always have ideas and thoughts behind them. Yet, history is full of people whose visions were ignored because the world around them was not prepared to change.

Then, Emerson’s emphasis on the spiritual may be pointing to the way how we humans are choosing to respond to what we understand. Those choices can lead to resilience, reform, or worse, domination. So, I think, thoughts alone may not rule the world, but they may influence how the world is ruled.

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