W ha t p ro fe ssio n d oes J o hn p la n to h a ve in " B y th e W ate rs o f B abylo n"? Jo hn is th e s o n o f a p rie st: " 'I a m a p rie st a nd th e s o n o f a p rie st! '" ...

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W ha t p ro fe ssio n d oes J o hn p la n to h a ve in " B y th e W ate rs o f B abylo n"?

Jo hn is th e s o n o f a p rie st: " 'I a m a p rie st a nd th e s o n o f a p rie st! '" In th e ir s o cie ty , a c hild d oesn't " p la n" o n h a vin g a
"p ro fe ssio n" in th e w ay th a t w e, in o ur s o cie ty , a re fa m ili a r w ith . T he q ue stio n p erta in in g to J o hn's e duca tio n, w ork a nd
fu tu re c a lli n g m ig ht...
S olu tio n
Jo hn is th e s o n o f a p rie st: " 'I a m a p rie st a nd th e s o n o f a p rie st! '" In th e ir s o cie ty , a c hild d oesn't " p la n" o n h a vin g a
"p ro fe ssio n" in th e w ay th a t w e, in o ur s o cie ty , a re fa m ili a r w ith . T he q ue stio n p erta in in g to J o hn's e duca tio n, w ork a nd
fu tu re c a lli n g m ig ht b e b ette r e xp re sse d in te rm s c o he re nt to h is s o cie ty a s: W ha t fu tu re w ork o r c a lli n g d oes J o hn e nvis io n
him se lf a s h a vin g ? T he a nsw er w ould b e: H e e nvis io ns h im se lf a s b ein g a p rie st a s h is fa th e r is a p rie st.
Jo hn's fu tu re w ork is a ptly e xp re sse d a s a n e nvis io ne d c a lli n g b eca use , a s in m uch d ys to pia n li te ra tu re , e ld ers s e le ct th e
w ork c hild re n w ill p urs ue a s th e ir a dult o ccup atio ns. In a s e nse , J o hn's fu tu re w ork m ig ht b e c a lle d a " p ro fe ssio n" s in ce it w ill
re quir e y e ars o f s p ecia li z e d e duca tio n, tr a in in g , p ra ctic e a nd in itia tio n. In a no th e r s e nse , th e s e nse p erta in in g to th e ir
sp ecific s o cia l d eve lo pm enta l tim e--w hic h is d iffe re nt fr o m th e d ys to nia n c hro no lo gic a l tim e th a t in clu d es th e p re -G re at
B urn in g e ra ( i.e ., e quiv a le nt to o ur tim e)--J o hn's s o cie ty is s o b ackw ard th a t th e c o m para tiv e d eve lo pm ent o f th e ir s o cie ty
p re date s th e c o m para tiv e in tr o ductio n o f th e w ord " p ro fe ssio n" in to th e ir to ta l c hro no lo gy. T o c la rify , th e w ord " p ro fe ssio n"--
in th e s e nse o f w ork d one th a t r e quir e s e xte nsiv e e duca tio n a nd tr a in in g a nd in te nsiv e p ra ctic e a nd in itia tio n ( in o ur tim es,
in itia tio n b y w ay o f li c e nsin g e xa m s a s