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May 09, 2006
Observations : A funning this happened to me…
…on the way to this blog entry.
A week ago today, I posted on "a political thought experiment", outlining a theoretical situation I ponder from time to time. My intent was to post part 2 of that series today, explaining my own answer to the problem; and then to post part 3 next week which would apply that answer to the question of governments of people instead of territory.
However, as I began to write up the blog post, I discovered that my arguments were not as compelling to me in black and white as they had been bouncing around in my head. Now (so far at least) I haven't actually changed my mind on anything; but I have to concede that I am less certain as I was of my answers. Given that, I have decided to postpone the remainder of this series until I have thought through the question more.
Instead, I will make two observations on this occurrence. The first is that another unexpected benefit of writing this blog is that it has forced me to think through my opinions more clearly. It is one thing to form an opinion on one's mind, and quite another to try and explain that opinion in a compelling manner to another person. For those who value their own intellectual integrity, I highly recommend blogging.
The other observation is that I continue to view humility as one of the principle virtues. All learning begins with the willingness to acknowledge that you may be wrong, and stops as soon as you cease to be willing to listen to alternatives. Openness to experimental proof or counter-proof is a hallmark of science. The willingness to consider alternative explanation is the cornerstone of skepticism. Humility can lead you to value both the wise man for his experience and the fool for his alternative point of view. We would have far fewer problems in the world if humility was more greatly valued.
Posted by Steven at May 9, 2006 07:50 AM
Comments
and not just blogging, but any journal keeping / writing in general. hopefully more than just those who question their intellectual integrity do this... it's also a great way to sort out emotions. and work on the mastery of language. (in french class, they often make us keep a "journal de bord" where we - regularly - write about anything we want.) writing also helps preserve sanity, i think, because once you assign words to your emotions, and record them, you separate yourself, somewhat, from any craziness in your head by making them concrete in front of your eyes. (obviously you can tell i'm a girl, because of the emotional aims of my writing...) so voila, writing is simply a great exercise for many reasons.
my favorite reason is probably the fact that it keeps a record. going back to read my old posts is always a treat.
Posted by: v at May 11, 2006 01:39 AM
So true on all points, although I do find I am less rigorous in my logic when I've written for a personal journal simply because I knew no one else but me would read it. Knowing that there will be additional eyes on my blog (however few they may be) really seems to force me to think things through.
Posted by: Steven at May 11, 2006 07:12 AM
