In Rejection of Being Taken for For Granted

My publishing schedule is generally less a schedule than a semi-regular spasm of writing. The regularity of that spam has been ruptured somewhat. I started a piece on my return to the question, “How have educated adults convinced themselves that sex is mutable?” It was meant to be a quick piece tied somewhat loosely to Thomas Sowell’s concept of the constrained vs unconstrained approach to knowledge from his Conflict of Visions. The connection has somewhat metastasized as I consider the implications. Quick and loosely, Sowell posits that there are those with a vision of humans whose human nature is constrained by external reward and negative consequence and those who feel that human nature itself is endlessly pliable. He placed neither vision over the other in primacy when he first published the book in 1987. One wonders if that would remain true under a set of circumstances in which one vision has near absolute power. To stop your prolonged guessing, I’ll tell you now that since the visions have worked in concert historically, either vision unconstrained by the other, will lead to tragedy. I’m working to lay out how as clearly as possible.

I have also been wrestling with an idea for a new project. I’m not sure if it’s a part of The End of Shared Reality or a separate entity with a similar focus. October 7 has crystalized my thinking around my problems for a number of positions I once held. I feel this reactionary frisson at times reading or hearing people professing positions that I once held which fell apart under examination. I’m calling the project Knee-jerk. It’s an exploration of whether I am thinking through these topics with new evidence or simply choosing a new position in reaction to former positions. I will share them here first as I consider the potential of the project and my commitment.