Most of us are think they are familiar with the term “growth”, thanks to media brainwashing. The economy this, the economy that. But how many are as familiar with the term degrowth? Even if you are, you’ve probably never heard it in connection with writing. What is degrowth for writers, and why should you care?
As with so many other things, it’s a matter of expectations. I’m amazed at how many people, how often, how inescapably, fail to answer this simple question: What do you want from your actions? What is it that you expect from your writing?
Answering such questions honestly is the only way thinking individuals can live with themselves.
“Riches don’t make a man rich; they only make him busier”(more…)
Words are powerful, they can make or break situations big and small. From your Friday date to starting a war, the right (or wrong) words can be the difference between bliss and destruction. But have you ever wondered what’s the connection between language and context?
In other… words, words are powerful in unique ways, that go beyond the surface of things. Just look what I did at the beginning of this paragraph. Yet at the same time, language seems to rely on a wider context to operate efficiently.
Just to clarify, in this post I do not refer to linguistic but to sociocultural context. The issue is not whether the sentence “He did this to me, this way” says nothing without a context about “He”, “this”, “this way” (and even “did”).
Rather, the issue is whether words taken out of their context can have a seriously destabilizing effect. Take these sentences for example:
I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.
Fear defeats more people than any other thing in the world.
Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so you are insulting yourself.
You probably don’t see anything particularly wrong with them. Indeed, they probably come across as good advice, not unlike what you’d see as a quotation – complete, with a sunset sky or butterflies behind it.
I’ve got a little surprise for you, though…
Words are drops; the surrounding water is the context. And it makes a hell of a difference whether you’re in your bathtub or the Pacific Ocean(more…)
Most great thinkers in history share a common oversight: they have not talked enough about idiocy; that kind of bottomless, malevolent ignorance that plagues the world. How to escape ignorance is something philosophers haven’t tackled, and that has come back to bite us all.
With the possible exception of the delightfully pessimistic Plato, philosophers through the miserable centuries have talked about truth and ethics having a rather idealistic picture of humanity in mind.
Even Marx, who talked about the responsibility of philosophers to actually change the world instead of simply interpreting it, underestimated popular idiocy.
Let’s not fool ourselves, being poor or working-class is a shield against neither ignorance nor malice.
The problem with ignorance is that ignorant people don’t realize their own ignorance(more…)
