Read for Discovery

The risk of partisanship

In writing these blogs I find it hard to read anything that does not suggest ideas that I want to share or elaborate.  And that itself is worthy of a brief comment. 

The world of blogs, columns, editorials and commentary (when thoughtful and serious) is a rich source of “mind stuff.”  But, and there is a but, many do not seem to benefit from these sources.

When we read as “partisans,” we either mistake for the thoughtful and nuanced what is clearly fuel for the fury of one-way thinking, or we grab hold of talking points (arrows of spite) for our own battlefields. 

We are better than that, although reactive theater seems in our genes.  Part of the problem is that any brief introduction to a serious idea is itself only a teaser, a doorway, to intellectual adventure.   In our tweet-lit world, the fuller expression of an idea (which can become a personal journey of discovery), is unheeded.  Instead, we receive all ideas as finished thoughts.  Signed, sealed and delivered. 

In other words, we need to recognize when a “tasty” piece of writing is mere smoke and mirrors, “incoming,” as they say on the battlefield.  And we need to appreciate that all ideas are a starting point for our own development as an aware and perceptive person.