Conversation
Opposing or otherwise complementing schools of critical thought, there exist patterns of lateral thinking, that may dawdle and meander but still be ultimately fulfilling of some role. They may lack immediate explanation as to their source or direction; some are discovered to be hollow and fruitless offshoots of the discussion. But they will live, die, and circulate by their own individual merits. Despite any apparent lack of substance, they still consist of thought, and hence I have strong faith in their breed. I would think that in the absence of scrutiny, there is no necessary absence of value.
(Lateral thought was formerly brought to me, I'll admit, by Robert Pirsig, but apparently, thankfully, it's a term originally coined by Edward de Bono, and so may warrant less reluctance.)
The scientific method has flourished, bringing critical discourse to its rightly-privileged place in social deliberation and fostering a healthy public skepticism. Today's claims, it is expected, undergo a certain ritual of thought to test durability, generality, and fundamental truth, and our purest mind holds to them that hold up. The weak and discarded ones will remain, idle and lonely, unwelcomed outside of public acceptance.
Which brings us to the mistrust of the outwardly unfounded word. It's been a boon to reason, and reason being boon to mankind I'll not speak to its detriment. However, I'll insist that it is no virtue. Only a cultural trait: lionized, presiding, but intended to delimit our domain.
Andrew Keen represents the general fear of Wikipedia, of blogs, and of anything unscrutinized by a professional eye. His alarmism already seems silly, and disdainful of the discriminating mind, but I'll read his book. My imagined rebuttal features the internet's obviously astronomical successes, tremendous possibilities, blah blah blah, but I want to go further. Insist that we haven't gone far enough. Every unfounded thing on everyone's mind should be published. Once we've managed to frame that conversation, critical thought will fan reason, lateral thought art, and each one the other.
