More than money or power, thought is the stuff that runs the world. Not necessarily good thought – just thought. I presume like most people, I have opinions about their own thought and capacity for good thought and, I also presume like most people, have layers of confidence in my own ability, onion-like, alternating towards the core between brilliance and boneheadedness. While the relative placement of any one thought might be up for debate, I think it is at least a fair range for anyone to place the quality of their thoughts, though weighted to the mundane end - like most, much of my brain activity relates to my debt, my weight, my sloth or my work, my family plans, pointless personal projects.*
Thought
Posted by on Tuesday, September 9, 2003 in - leave a comment
Conversely, the importance and quality of individual thought to the community is never set out so clear as during an election. I am following the provincial elections both in my last province, PEI, and my new one, Ontario as well as a local municipal election which I am in a small part involved administratively. It may come as no great surprise that the provincial elections are a wasteland as usual of stale repetitive economic and social analysis. Unfortunately, few pay attention to local votes where much of the real stuff of life is actually determined. Because of this sad state, I am compelled by political writings of idealist groups like anarchists who actually are trying to work something out. Even the Fraser Institute of it’s-mine-and-you-can’t-have-some theory give you something to think about and reject. Both are fundamentally pointless exercises in the possible which are impeded by their impracticality. But at least they are exercises in thought and an exercise in the tradition of far greater thinkers - Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau - who directly linked their theory of the state to their theory of being human.
It is heartening, then, when you see evidence that respect for thinking towards a useful thought exists out there. Some of my pals in PEI have organized a conference. I have an odd relationship with conferences. They are seemingly either gems or duds with little middle ground depending entirely on the quality and freedom of thought found there. In the past I have advocated for the creation of "conference performance art"? where booths promoting false and constantly shifting business proposals are staffed by artists whose job is to implicitly challenge what people do at conferences. Using "disruptive business analysis? techniques, organizers and those who fund participation learn through Genx40 Consulting? ways to improve the quality of the experience. I have faith that no such consult is required by the lads in PEI.
*[Accordingly, this place on the web is not kept under the presumption I am consistently at the brilliant end of the scale so much as an exercise in the fact that the brain needs regular buffing to maintain what shine it has. After now over 150 posts or so, I highly recommend daily public writing to anyone as a means to participate in your own thoughts. ? all very much pre-pending, by the way.]
