For whatever reason, the thought of thinking and posting something about ideas came to me today. We all have ideas, but some are bigger than others. For instance, I certainly don’t consider myself enough of an adept to discuss something like string theory on this blog (or anywhere else for that matter…). For me this might represent the furthest upper limit to the size and scope of ideas I can deal with here.
Some ideas a either too small or too mundane to be worth taking the time to consider them for a forum like this. For instance, I am not interested in discussing the modalities and methodologies involved in making small talk (this comes to mind for me now, in that I just had a short conversation with my barista…).
This, luckily enough, leaves a large area to consider. Perhaps as an idea (sorry, about the parenthetical conceit!), I could characterize medium sized ideas as being in the human realm. Ideas larger in scope that what I am circumscribing are outside the range of perspectives that we (as humans) could give, and the smaller ideas are not so much human (in a sort of sui generis sense), but personal (and therefore idiosyncratic).
There are big ideas out there which all people can discuss debate and justifiably have a point of view by virtue of merely being human. Some of these ideas include many of the cocktail party anathemas such as religion, philosophy, politics, and social trends. This seems to be the theater ion which most blogs perform in.
The good news for me is that I like discussion and debate. Most of the topics which relate to my definition of this middle ground of ideas are usually seen as irresolvable (i.e. if Socrates didn’t make any headway…?), but they are certainly a great source for developing other ideas, questions, and posers.
There have been innumerable books written over the years which try to answer some of life’s truths (there has even been a lot written about whether there are truths…). I don’t have the space to write (nor do you have the time to waste reading) to this length. My intention (in the next several days) will be to try to help create some useful definitions and to pose some worthwhile questions.
As a start, I want to define some new ideas, or at least try to define some terms which lie on the edges of a lot of current discussions. For instance, what are the real differences between the ideas of Keynes and Hayek? What does ‘post-modernism’ really mean? What do ideas like this imply for our culture? What does the Gutenberg Parenthesis mean (especially with regard to a post-modern point of view)? Do place name titles such as post-industrial and information economy mean the same thing? If not, what are the differences, and why are they often bandied about in such a sloppy manner?
Since we live in a world which is changing ever more rapidly, most of these ideas are worth understanding.
