Influences

I've started the process of adding the books that most influenced my own writing. It's going to take me a while because it's very hard to resist dipping in and starting to read them again. These are books that I have had sitting on my shelves for 20 years without being disturbed. That's a long time, but when I start flicking through the pages, all sorts of memories are stirred up which seem incredibly fresh. It's strange how time always has this dual quality where events seem simultaneously close and distant.

So, I've added A Guide for the Perplexed tonight. I do remember being very perplexed when I was led to this book. I guess that's what drew me to the title in the first place. I was already aware of Small is Beautiful so Schumacher was a familiar name. I was very taken with his notion of philosophical map-making. I don't think I had quite fully realised before that I was lacking such a map. It helped me to understand why I felt somewhat lost in my life. This passage is still poignant:

The first principle of the philosophical map-makers seemed to be 'If in doubt, leave it out,' or put it into a museum. It occurred to me, however, that the question of what constitutes proof was a very subtle and difficult one. Would it not be wiser to turn the principle into its opposite and say, 'If in doubt, show it prominently'? After all, matters that are beyond doubt are, in a sense, dead; they do not constitute a challenge to the living.

This was a kind of watershed for me. Previously, I was only interested in the certainties of life, that which can be known. I was at my happiest working out a mathematical proof or constructing a computer program to solve a well-defined problem. From this point onwards I became fascinated with the far richer world of that which isn't known, and quite possibly can never be known.

I think Schumacher's message can best be summarised by saying that in life we each have to create our own philosophical map. We are not going to get given one. He very much inspired me to go out and create a map of my own. It is this adventure that I try to retrace in Earthdream. I guess I thought - and still do - that what I learnt along the way might be of help to others trying to create their own maps.