Saturday 11 September 2010

The Persistent Struggle

For me the persistent struggle is a struggle for quality in what we do.  I hope it'll cover a wide range of subjects and be of interest to some people out there.  It isn't a vanity project or self-aggrandising soapbox, though opinions will certainly be expressed.  Right now in my life, I have much less time for hanging around with interesting people and discussing ideas freely.  I hope this provides an outlet and that some of you might join me.

2 comments:

  1. As a student, the idea that I have to actively seek interesting people to discuss ideas with is surprisingly foreign.

    We're handed opportunities to grow our critical thinking skills, and maybe I missed that day in class, but not required to seek those opportunities.

    On the other hand, vanity and self-aggrandizement seem the goal of schooling. More awards, more recognition, more pats on the back. I'm interested where you derived such a critical, yet humble perspective. Parents? Siblings? Teachers? Books?

    I've already benefited from your thoughts (Comte and Price). Cheers!

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  2. Hello, thanks for your comment. There's something great about ideas themselves being able to stand or fall independently of who champions them. Knowing their history is still valuable. Most teachers - even at university level - teach to a syllabus, which is fair enough, I think. The primary source, though, is often surprisingly close behind that syllabus. I only fairly recently realised this. Knowing it gives me more confidence in the value of a syllabus. The approach on this blog is partly down to my modest parents and my own curiosity. Three books I remember reading whose approach to thinking for yourself were Michel De Montaigne's Essays, Friedrich Nietzsche's Joyous Wisdom and Richard Rorty's Contingency, Irony, Solidarity.

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