Intellectual Activism and Cultural Change

Ideas are important. Ideas shape culture and life. I had recently decided to improve my life I would work, in some fashion, to spread good ideas. So over the past month, along with diligent philosophical study, I have been trying to promote good ideas when possible.

I have submitted two LTEs, one to USA Today and one to the Philadelphia Inquirer. They were both rejected but there was a brief moment of excitement when an editor at USA Today emailed me to confirm some information and tell me my letter was being considered for publication. I plan to continue trying to get LTEs published, but in the mean time I have posted a handful of comments on philly.com.

I have also worked to improve my business life. I have been classified as a “pusher” by some for my efforts to promote David Allen’s GTD. But I am having some impact, three of my coworkers have purchased Getting Things Done, and to the extent any of his advice is incorporated into their daily routine it will benefit me greatly.

There is a need for good ideas in our culture. It is this intellectual vacuum that allows bad ideas to become so prevalent so quickly. So my advice is to know reality as well as possible and then be vocal in your judgment of the works and ideas of man. “Judge, and prepare to be judged.

3 Responses to “Intellectual Activism and Cultural Change”

  1. tmc says:

    good luck being heard in the wilderness of the philly.com comments. Some of the stuff in there is just insane.

  2. Kevin says:

    Yeah, it actually hasn’t been too terrible. It seems the stuff I am commenting on isn’t sports related so there are typically only a handful of people commenting. A good example is here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/26945254.html

    Where there is a debate about public housing.

    However, I have seen the nonsense of which you speak and if there are already too many comments, or too many dumb comments, I won’t bother.

  3. Your readers might be interested in an upcoming study group (Study Groups fo Objectivists) focusing on Yaron Brook’s and Onkar Ghate’s 2008 OCON lectures on “Cultural Movements: Creating Change.” The address is: http://studygroupsforobjectivists.com

    Also, the August 1 and August 8, 2008 posts on Making Progress address the nature of “in-line activism” (acting in one’s own field) versus “off-line activism” (acting in another field). The address is: http://aristotleadventure.blogspot.com