Tuesday, March 2, 2010

General Thoughts you might find useful

My first degree was in physics and my second was in law. I tended to believe that we should be rigorous in our logic when analyzing every issue, even moral and cultural ones. I also thought that we should, when making a point, sound very professional and balanced, give all of our reasons and address all counterarguments. A good example of this approach can be found in Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

Now, however, I believe that many areas of life do not lend themselves easily to rigorous analysis, and we probably have far too little understanding and data to do that analysis even when we try. Also, I see benefits in succinctness, even to the point of leaving out one's reasoning.

Succinctness can have some tremendous benefits. If you make a profound statement that is easy to remember, then others will hear it, remember it, and test it for themselves. If they come to agree that it is true, they may well remember the statement and even remember where they found it - and come back for more!

I don't claim to use these short statements much. I tend to the other extreme.

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