My dear Mister Thornton: Like many deeply thoughtful people who wish to explore the richness, weirdness and confounding mysteries of deep water while the rest of the species seems content to splash noisily in the shallows, you have been bedeviled by this devil of doubt about having any audience at all for as long as I have read you. No quick comment of mine is going to change your mind if you take the ball of your scintillating smarts and wit and go home with it. So, there is that. If that's truly what you have decided, so be it.
But if it is the usual despair and loneliness of the sprawling intellect hungry for equals or at the least a capable audience, know this -- and you know it in maybe less depressed and angsty states of mind. This is an age-old curse of people with rangy, omnivorous, nuanced minds. To quote one of my personal pop philosophical absurdist counselors (David Byrne): 'Same as it ever was ...'
I suggest to you two things as you look back over your shoulder after first locking the door behind you on your stimulating, feisty Facebook account -- and now with your hand on the knob of your Substack digital garret door:
(1) Whenever this particular pseudo-intellectual in the Appalachian sticks -- myself, that is to say -- notes that Kit Thornton has published something new and fresh, I make sure to read it. Your prose always stretches my thought and imagination, even when I don't always understand you or retract a bit when you indulge overmuch in a misanthropic thread that goes on too long. But your writing makes MY often lonely mind and starved intellect feel less lonely and better fed.
(2) Be sure also that your slamming the Substack door behind you isn't being overly fed by our oh-too powerful ruling demons of ever-lingering depression, as well as an ancient Holiday Hellscape state-of-mind malaise.
TL/DR: This reader would dearly miss reading you.
I am always reassured by your athletic thinking and theo-philosophical scuba-diving. Finishing your essays, I routinely feel -- 'Whew!' -- I am not the ONLY person in this end of the galaxy who lies awake at night wishing to somehow, someway communicate what feels like an utterly essential point to continued inquiry into existence. | 🙏🏼
I’ve been following you for years, and I appreciate everything you’ve written and shared with us. You’ve been a bright light in an ever darkening world. Thank you for your time and efforts to enlighten people and provoke deep thinking. You will be greatly missed if you decide to stop writing.
I rarely comment, feeling my responses may be inadequate, but frequently read your essays and just as often share. I would miss the opportunities you provide to exercise my thinking and promote my understanding.
I'd like to think it's a case of quality over quantity, but I'm probably tipping the scales more towards quantity....I don't know what pace you're adding new followers, but it should grow rather exponentially. I'll make a subscription payment this week, I've been focusing more on my Dad lately, he's 90 now, still lives on his own, drives, and is very stubborn about making changes. Something has to give....
I understand, maybe it's a general Substack subscription, and I see that there are different tiers of access. You do deserve compensation, very few people have your knowledge and experience, but I understand. You do what's comfortable for you, and there's nobility in offering free education. There is a benefit to relieving yourself of your thoughts.
2 questions; Is it possible that we need to go through cycles of growth and retreat, only to (hopefully) come back, even if just a little better than before?
Are there any philosophers/works of even the last 20-30 years that have added new value?
You'll get 'em. I'm living at the bottom of a well right now, but Karl Popper, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Hillary Putnam, John Rawls, Giles Deleuze and Richard Rorty leap immediately to mind. It's harder as you get closer to the present of course, since we don't yet know who will stand the test of time. Zizek, Chomsky, Dennett and a few others may still be relevant fifty years from now.
In this vastness of social media, there must be a group of highly intellectual people like you who would love to have you in their group to share your vast knowledge.
I personally love reading your post but must admit that sometimes I wonder what did I just read, which is a feeling I don't mind, for it challenges me. Thank you, Kit.
If he went somewhere else, I would just hope to be on the list.....
I don't know if there are sites that are "better" than this. I quit farcebook about a year ago, not because it isn't a good platform, it is. It's a place to gather your family, friends, and acquaintances, post your thoughts, pictures, interact as you like, debate if you care to (or if someone wants to try...), you can set your own parameters, it's well organized, smooth....
But I have a real attraction to facts and fact-checking, truth and journalism. I'm crazy like that....and while I'm a big supporter of free speech, and loathe censorship, it's not a free-for-all, and when it causes damage, or brings us down, or is applied (or not applied) with malice or cowardice, well.....I'm out. It's not like Zuck didn't have enough time to get it right.
Speaking of which.....have we lost the ability to edit our own posts?* I could swear there used to be that feature, or maybe they've changed some things around.....I'm not a spelling nut, but I write quickly, and would like the ability to correct mistakes. Sometimes I forget to add a thought, but mostly it's because of finger spasm. Right in the middle of typing something (this is only a phone phenomenon), my pinky or ring finger will jerk downward and hit the "send" button. It's a common problem typing/posting things using a smartphone. "Nooooo!!", "No send!!", "Darn it!! I wasn't finished!".......argh...
*I see that we do have the ability to edit (hence the footnote), it's just that only doable after going back to your post in the thread, not right after you post, if this makes sense. Every site has their own layout to get used to, Substack could make some design/functionality improvements…..
I wanted to read this one at least a few times more. Believe me, when it comes to silence, I'm working on it, so far with minimal success.
I'm sure you're well aware of "Landmark education", which comes from the old "Est" courses.
One of the funniest lines I ever heard was "I don't need to spend $400 for people to tell me I'm an asshole."
I went through a number of their seminars/forums, with an open mind. There was a point, which it seemed like most people could not get to, where I said "There has to be a point when you decide to stop." There were some good things to learn, I took those things and moved on. At some point you need to take what you've learned and go out and live your life.
Abd today it's probably more like $800 to have people tell you that you're an asshole....
My dear Mister Thornton: Like many deeply thoughtful people who wish to explore the richness, weirdness and confounding mysteries of deep water while the rest of the species seems content to splash noisily in the shallows, you have been bedeviled by this devil of doubt about having any audience at all for as long as I have read you. No quick comment of mine is going to change your mind if you take the ball of your scintillating smarts and wit and go home with it. So, there is that. If that's truly what you have decided, so be it.
But if it is the usual despair and loneliness of the sprawling intellect hungry for equals or at the least a capable audience, know this -- and you know it in maybe less depressed and angsty states of mind. This is an age-old curse of people with rangy, omnivorous, nuanced minds. To quote one of my personal pop philosophical absurdist counselors (David Byrne): 'Same as it ever was ...'
I suggest to you two things as you look back over your shoulder after first locking the door behind you on your stimulating, feisty Facebook account -- and now with your hand on the knob of your Substack digital garret door:
(1) Whenever this particular pseudo-intellectual in the Appalachian sticks -- myself, that is to say -- notes that Kit Thornton has published something new and fresh, I make sure to read it. Your prose always stretches my thought and imagination, even when I don't always understand you or retract a bit when you indulge overmuch in a misanthropic thread that goes on too long. But your writing makes MY often lonely mind and starved intellect feel less lonely and better fed.
(2) Be sure also that your slamming the Substack door behind you isn't being overly fed by our oh-too powerful ruling demons of ever-lingering depression, as well as an ancient Holiday Hellscape state-of-mind malaise.
TL/DR: This reader would dearly miss reading you.
I am always reassured by your athletic thinking and theo-philosophical scuba-diving. Finishing your essays, I routinely feel -- 'Whew!' -- I am not the ONLY person in this end of the galaxy who lies awake at night wishing to somehow, someway communicate what feels like an utterly essential point to continued inquiry into existence. | 🙏🏼
Well said, and thank you. I like reading your stuff, too.
Douglas reads as very wise. # 2 should be considered at least two times. Good luck with whatever road you decide to travel.
Seconded; "I have nothing further to say." 😎✌️
Excellent comment -- I wholeheartedly agree.
I’ve been following you for years, and I appreciate everything you’ve written and shared with us. You’ve been a bright light in an ever darkening world. Thank you for your time and efforts to enlighten people and provoke deep thinking. You will be greatly missed if you decide to stop writing.
I rarely comment, feeling my responses may be inadequate, but frequently read your essays and just as often share. I would miss the opportunities you provide to exercise my thinking and promote my understanding.
Read my responses once in a while.....you are far more than adequate. ;)
Oh, I do read them. Responses from anyone are rare enough that I have time to read and consider them.
I'd like to think it's a case of quality over quantity, but I'm probably tipping the scales more towards quantity....I don't know what pace you're adding new followers, but it should grow rather exponentially. I'll make a subscription payment this week, I've been focusing more on my Dad lately, he's 90 now, still lives on his own, drives, and is very stubborn about making changes. Something has to give....
I wish you the best with your Dad. A difficult situation to be sure.
I don't charge for subscriptions. This page is free, and always will be.
I understand, maybe it's a general Substack subscription, and I see that there are different tiers of access. You do deserve compensation, very few people have your knowledge and experience, but I understand. You do what's comfortable for you, and there's nobility in offering free education. There is a benefit to relieving yourself of your thoughts.
2 questions; Is it possible that we need to go through cycles of growth and retreat, only to (hopefully) come back, even if just a little better than before?
Are there any philosophers/works of even the last 20-30 years that have added new value?
Oh yes. Quite a bit. Just not from American philosophers. Too caught in the analytics trap.
I was.....hoping for some examples.. ;)
You'll get 'em. I'm living at the bottom of a well right now, but Karl Popper, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Hillary Putnam, John Rawls, Giles Deleuze and Richard Rorty leap immediately to mind. It's harder as you get closer to the present of course, since we don't yet know who will stand the test of time. Zizek, Chomsky, Dennett and a few others may still be relevant fifty years from now.
Thank you. Added to my reading list.
In this vastness of social media, there must be a group of highly intellectual people like you who would love to have you in their group to share your vast knowledge.
I personally love reading your post but must admit that sometimes I wonder what did I just read, which is a feeling I don't mind, for it challenges me. Thank you, Kit.
If he went somewhere else, I would just hope to be on the list.....
I don't know if there are sites that are "better" than this. I quit farcebook about a year ago, not because it isn't a good platform, it is. It's a place to gather your family, friends, and acquaintances, post your thoughts, pictures, interact as you like, debate if you care to (or if someone wants to try...), you can set your own parameters, it's well organized, smooth....
But I have a real attraction to facts and fact-checking, truth and journalism. I'm crazy like that....and while I'm a big supporter of free speech, and loathe censorship, it's not a free-for-all, and when it causes damage, or brings us down, or is applied (or not applied) with malice or cowardice, well.....I'm out. It's not like Zuck didn't have enough time to get it right.
Speaking of which.....have we lost the ability to edit our own posts?* I could swear there used to be that feature, or maybe they've changed some things around.....I'm not a spelling nut, but I write quickly, and would like the ability to correct mistakes. Sometimes I forget to add a thought, but mostly it's because of finger spasm. Right in the middle of typing something (this is only a phone phenomenon), my pinky or ring finger will jerk downward and hit the "send" button. It's a common problem typing/posting things using a smartphone. "Nooooo!!", "No send!!", "Darn it!! I wasn't finished!".......argh...
*I see that we do have the ability to edit (hence the footnote), it's just that only doable after going back to your post in the thread, not right after you post, if this makes sense. Every site has their own layout to get used to, Substack could make some design/functionality improvements…..
I wanted to read this one at least a few times more. Believe me, when it comes to silence, I'm working on it, so far with minimal success.
I'm sure you're well aware of "Landmark education", which comes from the old "Est" courses.
One of the funniest lines I ever heard was "I don't need to spend $400 for people to tell me I'm an asshole."
I went through a number of their seminars/forums, with an open mind. There was a point, which it seemed like most people could not get to, where I said "There has to be a point when you decide to stop." There were some good things to learn, I took those things and moved on. At some point you need to take what you've learned and go out and live your life.
Abd today it's probably more like $800 to have people tell you that you're an asshole....
Hang in there, man. And remember: sapiens sapientis est...