Lately, I’ve been thinking about biography.
We are all of us biographers both of ourselves and of others, formally and informally, and we employ a variety of means and media to write the stories of our life and lives.
I’ve also been thinking about the power of perspective.
By a simple switch of focus — sometimes intentional and sometimes not — our understanding of phenomena can change drastically.
I’ve also been thinking about history.
Either our history is a story of slow and steady progress punctuated by temporary moments of uncharacteristic horror or it is a story of slow and steady brutality punctuated by fleeting moments of uncharacteristic civility.
I have one hope.
With a simple switch of focus, perhaps, I / you / we can create a world in which all of our descendants, from every imaginable perspective, can easily and honestly tell a story of progress and civility — even if that story only starts from this or some other not-too-distant future moment.
It is a faint hope but I prefer hope to despair.
Posted on September 29, 2011
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