This blog, says the masthead, has set its face against
“offering comments on current affairs. It rather uses incidents, books (old and new), links and papers to offer musings about our social endeavours. So old posts are as good as new!”
But these are “Manichean” days – when people expect you to favour one of two sides; and, indeed, to nail your colours to the mast. And this I refuse to do – since I belong to the generation which grew up on Bertrand Russell - whose “Sceptical Essays” opens with an essay on “The Value of Scepticism” which puts in shade a lot of current discussions about “fake news”. And it was written almost a hundred years ago…….
Although I was very active politically for some 25 years, my values were mainstream and I readily own up to being a bit of a “mugwump” who sees several sides to any story - and is open to new ideas. Just a few weeks ago, I found myself quoting this Russian proverb –
“Don’t fear your friends - because they can only betray you.
Don’t fear your enemies – because they can only destroy you
But fear the indifferent – because it’s they who allow your friends to betray you and your enemies to destroy you”
But under no circumstance should we confuse the “indifferent”
with the sceptical!!
- The indifferent are simply those who
don’t care - they shrug their shoulders and “pass by on the other side”.
- The sceptics, on the other hand, care deeply – they are passionate searchers after truth and, like Voltaire, will defend your right to your hallenge to what JK Galbraith called “the conventional wisdom”
I would like to think my posts are as much “perennial” as open-minded and sceptical. Just click a title to access a post!
Post title |
What sparked it off |
Its basic message |
|
Realising that I had
never given a proper explanation of the changes in the blog’s name |
Quite an important
personal statement about the importance of trespassing – and how long I’ve
felt this |
|
This title
was too warlike |
|
Applying the test I have developed for non-fiction books to
a book which caught my eye. |
Authors and publishers
really do need to understand we are fed up with the flood of books they
inflict on us |
|
Wondering if straddling different worlds, however
uncomfortable, doesn’t help challenge groupthink |
There are some
very-well written books out there about the operation of our economic system –
but you have to know how to find them |
|
|
Updating my list of journals worth reading |
Ditto for journals |
Starting with a great find from 1983 about how to write well
and a 1944 book on the same topic |
I confess I have a
hidden folder on the art of writing |
|
Trying to pursue this hypothesis |
It helps open one’s
eyes – but then sheer discipline needed |
|
|
Summary of a marvellous essay from a man who changed into a
woman a couple of decades later - |
Imagine a reader –
ensure paras have points – check each word – reread, reread, tighten – be
concrete and plain |
Gathering the best references in one place |
Practice, practice –
and use appropriate tools like this table |
|
|
The first of 7 well-written books dealing with a sense of
humanity at the crossroads |
David Runciman’s book
is a stunning example of good writing |
Harari’s “Homo Deus – a history of tomorrow” |
He may be too much the
techno-optimist |
|
|
Starting with Coronavirus, then painting and ending with a
couple of new series |
As always some great
hyperlinks |
|
A post from a
survivalist |
The apocalypticists may
have a point! |
The urge to select and disseminate the clearest |
The most helpful advice
is not from government sources |
|
|
A model book review; Adam Curtis; survivalist blogs |
The need for straight
talking |
|
Discovering a German pulmonological/.political sceptic |
The importance of
scepticism and peripheral vision |
Rediscovering CDs |
I need to honour
tonality more than textuality |
|
Appalling TV programme selection; intellectual history;
accounts of lockdowns |
At times such as these
we need sensitivity and honesty |
|
A good quote from William Davies |
This could be a paradigm change |
|
About how mundane our prior passions now look |
Useful to look back and see how we were
dealing with the pandemic in its early stages |
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