Static and dynamic psychologies.

In Soviet philosophical terminology, the first was called “Metaphysical”, and the second “Dialectical”.

More generally, Everything standing, frozen in time in form and content was called “metaphysics”, and everything changing, moving, dynamic was called “dialectic”. Although both of these terms have nothing to do with the meaning they arbitrarily put into them. Metaphysics is an old name for philosophy.

Newton also disliked her and warned her: Physics, be afraid of metaphysics!

Although the meaning of the word itself is a kind of very large, all-encompassing physics, that is, considering the most general laws of nature. Dialectics, in its original understanding, is the art of arguing.

After such a philosophical and etymological introduction, I turn to the essence of the note.

I have said more than once, summarizing that often rereading, rethinking a talented book, thoughts, somehow generates new and unexpected thoughts for myself.

I remembered a piece of text from Pushkin’s favorite drama “Mozart and Salieri,” and immediately disagreed with Salieri (and with Pushkin, who put these thoughts into Salieri’s mouth).

Salieri talks about Mozart alone, convincing himself of the need to “Eliminate” him. Not even as a rival in composing music, but as something extraordinarily talented, but “Useless” for present and future generations, and therefore leaving Salieri no choice but to kill Mozart, despite Salieri’s admiration for the talent of a fellow composer:

«And what will it avail if Mozart live

And scale still higher summits of perfection?

Will he thereby raise art itself? No, no

‘Twill fall again, when once he disappears.

He will not leave a single heir behind.

Then what, can he avail for us? Like a cherub

He brings to us some songs of paradise,

And wakens in us children of the dust

A wingless longing—then he flies away!

Well, let him fly away! We’ll speed his going!”

(Translation from Russian by A.F.B.Clark)

What is Salieri’s mistake?

This is not a moral and ethical question, they say, killing such a talent is a double crime: Killing a living being and killing the bearer of a great talent that lights the way for all mankind!

Salieri insists on talking about a certain STATIC state of universal psychology and a way of thinking. Completely ignoring the fact that this concept is DYNAMIC, moving, changing!

” ‘Twill fall again, when once he disappears.”

“And wakens in us children of the dust

A wingless longing—then he flies away!”

The steady static in these words:

There is a certain given state of people’s thinking, and it is UNCHANGEABLE, ETERNAL!

Art will not enrich itself with anything, it will not rise higher, the wingless desire in the children of dust will remain wingless, and the children of dust themselves will forever remain wingless children of dust…

But this is not true. Mozart’s music lives and continues to live two hundred years after his death and raises art, and among the children of the ashes, nevertheless, there are not biological, but worthy “heirs” of Mozart.

Salieri believes that Mozart’s talent cannot be learned, but in fact it CAN BE LEARNED by simple child imitation. At first, it was wingless, swarming in the dust of ashes, but with each new movement, certain mounds on its back begin to grow, the tissues gradually spread apart and the small, still weak and delicate wings begin to break out very, very slowly but surely from the tight folds of skin and meat and with each “swarm” slightly lengthen, strengthen and Grow up! Their timid fluttering is at first imperceptible to the outside eye, but this wingless creature itself, through its nerve fibers, already feels something new in itself, some strange quality of NON-WINGLESSNESS!

And so a new talent gradually appears and grows stronger, not the one that was given from birth, but from imitation, characteristic of all children on Earth, children of animals and people! By imitating adult beings, and Mozart’s talent is mature and adult, these children learn to live and create like him!

No, art or science or any other form of talented human thinking WILL NOT FALL with the death of talent, but will always find imitators-heirs. And the new ones. At first, wingless creatures, the children of dust, will also have a desire to acquire these wings, and, if they have the will and character, the strength to strive for this goal, they ACQUIRE WINGS!

Not a frozen, dull and aching regret for his lack of wings, but an active, firm, strong-willed desire to gain the desired wings!

That’s what Salieri and Pushkin did not take into account when the last put these bitter, but not moving words into Salieri’s mouth!

11 III 2026