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Why I Have This Journal
May. 30th, 2007 01:19 pmJohn Leo on good writing:
The late Christopher Lasch said something sharp in this point in his book, “The Revolt of the Elites.” He said that only in the course of arguing “do we come to understand what we know …we come to know our own minds only by explaining ourselves to others.” Exactly. When a friend launches an argument and your rebuttal starts to sound tinny to your own ears, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out that something’s wrong—usually that you don’t really agree with the words coming out of your own mouth. The same is true of writing. Arguing in person, or in print, can rescue us from our own half-formed opinions.
The late Christopher Lasch said something sharp in this point in his book, “The Revolt of the Elites.” He said that only in the course of arguing “do we come to understand what we know …we come to know our own minds only by explaining ourselves to others.” Exactly. When a friend launches an argument and your rebuttal starts to sound tinny to your own ears, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out that something’s wrong—usually that you don’t really agree with the words coming out of your own mouth. The same is true of writing. Arguing in person, or in print, can rescue us from our own half-formed opinions.
