In response to my posting about the BBC’s “greatest philosopher” vote, Mark suggested that I should take a look at a fascinating piece by Paul Graham entitled What You Can’t Say. After a short preamble comes the challenge:
Let’s start with a test: Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers?
Now this is fascinating, because in a conversation with a friend last week I mentioned that I was thinking of posting a piece challenging people to say whether or not they subscribed to any unorthodox or “fringe” beliefs. Graham’s formulation is much better: it avoids the awkward judgment as to what would count as “unorthodox” by framing it in terms of behaviour.
Graham’s essay is about how we see ourselves, and how we might want to reconsider our confidence in our contemporary beliefs by comparing them with others times and other cultures. It’s really well-written, and I strongly recommend it. I, on the other hand, would like to pause a while with his challenge, and invite people to “come clean” about opinions that they might be reluctant to express in front of their peers. The nice thing about blog comments is that they can be anonymous, so your peers will never know that it’s you….
I’ll kick this off with my own personal “reluctant admission”. I am a firm believer in the Aquatic Ape Theory proposed by Alister Hardy and documented by Elaine Morgan. Today it is often treated as an example of weird fringe science, but I am convinced that, in time, it will become part of the orthodox account of the evolution of homo sapiens.
Your turn.