A Note On #Idea Posts

I get a lot of feedback, do I ever... but let's remember. Thought posts are designed to:

Get you to think outside the context you normally would
Challenge your assumptions
Challenge how you think
Likely change as new ideas develope
Not necessarily be politically correct
Not be offensive, but may be
Not necessarily be something I believe
Not necessarily my opinion
Not designed to reinforce your beliefs

In 2019/2020, there doesn't seem to be room for nuance in conversations. In my view, this has greatly distracted us from the ability to have productive discourse. Meaning: I'm not interested in the minutia of 'in vogue' topics. I'm also not interested in virtue signaling. I'm interested and seek to push the discourse forward toward measurable and accomplishable solutions. This is not to say I have the solutions, only that I'm seeking to get the discourse unstuck.

If you think reading what I'm writing some home makes you know me better, you're greatly mistaken. This blog is an experiment in thinking out loud in public, an experiment designed to get people talking about new ideas, new approaches to the same old problems.

Final Thoughts & Opinions

This is a long term project, I'm still in the early stages of 'getting it out there.' It could take years before you start to 'see' what I'm trying to do, however killing off ideas at the most initial stage seems to be very 'in vogue,' that's dangerous not only for the group think it provides for, but very dangerous in preventing future innovations form starting.

Now, more then ever, we need bold new and crazy ideas to solve the problems of past and problems we likely face in the future. The world has gone through many "dark ages" in the past, but I'm not convinced we have to turn our collective backs to intellectualism.

This blog is also an experiment in showing the process of intellectual development. Grand ideas, no matter how progressive, didn't start that way. Brilliant people have often held views, beliefs, or experiments that didn't aline with their final conclusions-- often finality never happens-- that use to be called progress. History, instead largely picks the 'best' ideas from frozen moments in time to retroactively call praise to 'good' ideas or villainize those who were perhaps behind the curve, at a different point in intellectual development or questioning the ideas and/or motives of the time.

Now, I'm not claiming and grandness myself, at least not yet 😉.

About the author:

andrewjneumann.com Andrew lives in Portland, OR and has worked in tech for over 15 years. With a foundation in philosophy, political theory, and communications, he is an avid thinker & tinkerer, constantly learning and exploring the world around us.