The importance of being moderate

Oscar Wilde, who wrote The Importance of Being Earnest, made his name by playing with words with a double meaning. Earnest was not just the name of a principal character in the play, but also describes a person of sincere conviction. Wilde, a man of notable success and excesses, said: "Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess."

So, are we living in a world of success or excess?

For the silent majority who go about earning a living and leaving politics to the politicians and religion to God, it seems that the world is becoming more and more polarised.

I have a collection of books on Western philosophy that divides history into different ages. The Renaissance period (the 14th to 17th century) was the Age of Adventure, and the 17th century was the Age of Reason. The Age of Enlightenment described the 18th century, and the 19th century became the Age of Ideology with the rise of capitalism, socialism and the like. The 20th century was the Age of Analysis, an age of computers and data.

Unfortunately, the 21st century is an Age of Uncertainty, when even science is no longer sure of anything. With our spacecraft and super-telescopes, we have looked out further and further and realised that there are not only more universes out there, but also black holes that we cannot understand.

If we believed in Hollywood, an American way of life would be nirvana. Many in this world are no longer so sure. Such a life of materialist consumerism is possible for the few, but certainly not for the majority.