SERIOUS THINKERS
There are not many serious thinkers out there in this world. I am not one. I am a serious observer. I have only one friend who I would consider a “serious thinker”, and that is my old friend John. By serious thinker, I mean someone who spends quite a bit of energy and time trying conceptually figure out the way this world works. Tries to formulate a system of “moral logic” that portrays a better way of living. Now, I have lots of intelligent friends who have lots of ideas, but they do not spend their time putting those ideas into words to describe their viewpoint.
At one point in history, when only a small portion of the population could read and write, people who were “serious thinkers” were about the only ones getting published. People like Hume, Locke, Decartes, Husserl, Kant, and many others. Then as the world got more educated, we had Shaw, and Sarte, and those early 20th century thinkers. In all that “serious thinking”, the one thing that is most obvious, is that no one figured it out. At least, in a way that was palatable to the general public. Much ado about nothing.
So now, we have pundits, explainers, spouters, apologists, pragmatists, political shills, and others who only try to justify what is going on, or protest what is going on. None of them are “serious thinkers”. I used to think that William Buckley was a “serious thinker”, but he was mostly a defender of his conservative position. This is the key. To be a serious thinker, is to not have a position, but to explore positions. Not many out there are serious anymore.
And the world does not want “serious thinkers” anymore. We used to value them as pushing the edge of human thought. Now, they are “elitists” who have no connection to the common man. Well, that is what made them serious! The common man, albeit such a value to living, did not have the time or inclination to do the work to understand “serious thinking”, even though most of those thinkers were mostly concerned about the common man. Ah, quite the paradox. A few elite try to figure out the world to make it work for most humans, and that very endeavor is now seen with disdain.
And that brings me to the point of this paper. Serious thinking will always bring one to paradox. Not that most of my readers will get there, and that is not some put down of them. (seriously, do you ponder the complexities of life on a daily basis?). We live in a world of fast paced data and change, and the broader and bigger issues of life are left behind. But, left behind to whom? We no longer value those serious thinkers who live among us now. We want simple answers. Serious thinkers never come up with simple answers. It is not in their job description!
And what I point to, is beyond the thinker. It is awareness, not thought. And with awareness, we need those thinkers to translate that to the operational aspects of putting together a system of life that works for everyone. That is what I did for a living for 30 years. If serious thinkers get this, we will figure it out. Tlane 2/14/17
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