High life | 27 September 2018

The grandest view of Gstaad and the surrounding Saanen valley bar none — and that includes the vista from my high-up-on-the-hill farm — belongs to an imposing house that was originally a sanatorium but is now a home for the blind. It’s ironic that it is located where only eagles dare, but its residents are unable to view the sights. Such are the jokes that fate plays on mankind.

I had just finished a very hard training session and was looking up the mountain at the blind people’s home, which looks like a very luxurious hotel from the outside. My heart went out to the poor folks inside, blind to the magnificent valleys, streams and mountains that surround them. For me, there is nothing worse than losing one’s sight, although Helen Keller might have had something to say about that. Some of you young whippersnappers may consider me blind, insulated from the internet-dominated world as I happily am. I decided that I will never learn to text, tweet or use Facebook, although I do know how to file copy and send and receive emails. Yippee!

I acknowledge that being a Luddite is a form of blindness to the modern world, but I hate modern technologies and the immediate pleasure they afford. Apparently, smartphones stimulate the production of dopamine, the stuff that plays a role in addiction. But as I’m already addicted to booze and beautiful women, the last thing I need is a hard-on for a device next to my ear. I know, I know: this makes me a non-person. Well, anonymity may be a mortal sin nowadays, but it’s still a luxury for some.

I recently read somewhere about Socrates and Wittgenstein both having an obsession about ‘knowing oneself’ and found myself rather surprised at having something in common with those two chappies.