nullius in verba

 “The truth knocks on the door and you say, ‘Go away, I’m looking for the truth,’ and so it goes away.” Reading this line took me back 45 years, reminding me of my friend, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. As I continued reading, I realised it had been with me all along. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig takes the reader on a journey filled with practical ideas that evolve into profound truths and goodness, becoming a trusted companion for life. Despite the complexity and depth of meaning that Robert introduces, it doesn't come across as heavy sophistry. Instead, it feels like someone explaining how to sweep a footpath or wash clothes, with a motorcycle and a young person as companions. For anyone trying to make sense of ‘what is objective’ and ‘what is subjective’ or ‘what makes truth, truth’ and parse the binary nature of partisanship, where one side is right (objective), the other is just ephemeral (subjective), this book helps us understand...

 As long as one can go back to when humans started to live in groups, clans, and tribes, they gathered around log fires, told stories and shared real or imagined experiences, strengthening camaraderie, forming bonds, and creating collectivism. This oral tradition was aided and abetted by rhythm and form (poetic), which was easy to memorise and passed on from generation to generation. The stories morphed and changed to suit the period in which they were told, with memories altered to account for the mores of the time. Added, removed, deformed on a collective basis, so much so that to name a single source of ‘who created it’ was no longer relevant – the stories became our stories, a collective. The faculties developed to sustain this required effort differed; repetition and rote ability were the most valued. This was long before the invention of the script to codify the sounds that represent speech, poetry, and stories, which was developed as an offshoot of recording quantities, ...