Thursday, February 03, 2005
(9:59 PM) | Anonymous:
Thinking Shouldn't Be This Lonely.
Reading over Scott McLemee's recent article at Inside Higher Education I found myself remembering some very happy times in Paris. In café's I would sit with friends discussing philosophy, literature, the political meaning of our sex lives, faith, and our desire to find ways of taking direct political action. At other times we would simply sit reading in silence, coffee before us, each with a different book in hand. Thinking was part of our relationship, the structure of our lives in Paris allowed for it to be so. We were free from work schedules, the weather was warm, and the society welcomed such activities in public.Even though I have remained friends with all of them, this has not continued here. Partly this is due to economic reasons; not merely the fact that we all work, but also because the restaurant industry in the States is not set-up in the same intellectually friendly way as one finds in Paris. Also due in part because in Paris being literate (the equivalent to what we call an intellectual here in the States) is expected of nearly everyone. So while sitting in the apt-named Jesus Bar near the Bastille, we could engage in conversation with former architecture majors on the significance of the Parisian suburbs. Or, sitting in Café Bac, near the L'Alliance Française, the café owner could discuss the intellectuals who frequented and some of their work (like our friend, St. Jackie).
The commodification of our passion for thought (and of course action!) has made thinking a lonely task. We are not martyrs - much worse, we are ignored or put up with. It makes actual human interaction somewhat difficult, so that when we do finally meet others who care for thought the same way we do it often moves to fisticuffs. Though blogs may offer some relief, they are not the cure to this loneliness that hangs over our thinking life. I wonder what kind of space is possible for a thinking between friends.
