There is Nothing So Absurd

Marcus Tulius Cicero wrote, “There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.”  Apparently, he was referring to arguments about how it is wrong to eat beans.  However, it has come to mean that there are no new or unique thoughts, or at least very few.  Most philosophical topics have already been covered in one way or another.  I don’t know how true this statement is.  I don’t even know how to measure the uniqueness of thought.  However, I will claim that most of what I say or write is not unique.  You can probably find someone smarter and more eloquent saying what I say better.  You can probably find better formed arguments saying the opposite of what I claim.  That is fine.

When I was in sixth grade I had an English teacher that required the class to memorize a different quotation every week.  One of those quotes was:

I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.

– William Faulkner

I agree with about 50% of that quote.  I find that writing things down forces me to think my thoughts through. I often change my mind when talking to myself in writing.  I don’t need to write publicly to have this experience.  However, facing the possibility that others may actually read what I have written does force me to be a little more polished than I might otherwise be.  So I have created this blog.  There’s also the possibility that discussions may come from some of this.  I am curious where this will lead.