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I think that Rimbaud is correct; the discussion of light here is entirely metaphoric. However, the analogy with science is not wholly out of place. Science itself is not evil. But Gandalf tells us exactly how Saruman left the path of wisdom: he broke something to find out what it was. Gandalf's injunction can hardly be applied to Newton, whose experiment was quite innocent. But to actually break something, to destroy it, in order to learn about it - to trade the thing itself for knowledge of the thing - that is folly. The pursuit of knowledge is not at fault, but the pursuit of knowledge at the expense of the world is.
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