Welcome to 'The Space of Reason'

Here's to a new adventure into the depths of thoughtful reflection...

The idea of “deep space” is one that’s always gripped me. Starting when I was a kid, whenever I’ve found myself in a swimming pool I do this thing where I close my eyes as tight as I can and then slowly let air out of my lungs until I’m suspended between the pool’s floor and its surface. I’ll float like this for a bit, like an astronaut on a spacewalk, enjoying the silence and the nothingness.

Suppose you were such an astronaut. And suppose you found yourself so far out you couldn’t easily pick out earth from among the other various interstellar objects. You turn away from even your spacecraft and take your hand off your tether. I suppose the feeling you’d get would approach nonexistence. Except for your thoughts.

Joe Kittinger skydiving from space (source).

This is what I found so enjoyable about the underwater exercise. What I still find enjoyable about it. That with the buzzing humdrum of everyday life muted, and with even the perceptual phenomena we barely notice removed — the cool breeze on our skin, the pressure of our body’s weight borne by the soles of our feet, the smell of grass or dirt or whatever is near at hand — I’m closer than ever to my thoughts, to the content of my own mind.

Don’t worry. This isn’t that kind of newsletter. This is about as poetical as it gets, and I’m even now about to stop with the self-indulgent prose. But I wanted to give you enough background to see why I choose what I did for its name.

In philosophy — which is both a historical and intellectual tradition I’m proud to be affiliated, and a discipline with which I maintain a love / hate relationship — “the space of reason” is a metaphor. Here, though, it signifies what we might call “inner space,” rather than outer space. It’s the shared intellectual realm we enter (with our mind, soul, rationality, whatever) when we engage in reflection or argumentation about the world.

Sometimes a philosopher will try to “map out” the space of reason. “Are we free or fully determined in our actions? Well, there are five possibilities…” My interest, though, is in meeting you there. In creating a space where we can exchange ideas and arguments and reflections on the questions we care most deeply about. If we were sitting across from each other at a small table having coffee, I’d picture this as the area where our thought bubbles converged. (Indeed, sometimes when I’m conversing with someone like this, I’ll look up into that space, as if trying to see the structure of the argument my interlocutor is conjuring.)

In future iterations, I’ll be less wordy (I promise), and I’ll provide a bit more variety. There’ll be more sections (like the few I’m previewing below) where I’ll offer recommendations about books, films, YouTube videos, and everything else, and where I’ll be soliciting such recommendations from you. My hope is that, together, we can create a shared space of reason, one that’ll help each of us (all of us) see reality a bit more clearly, and navigate our lives a bit more thoughtfully, even (and especially) when we disagree.

So buckle your seatbelts. Or strap on your space helmets. Or use the bathroom quickly before this rocket leaves the dock. Because we’re going straight into the depths of philosophical reflection. And I can’t wait to see things look like from that distant vantage point…

-pb

Deep(ish) Thoughts

I’ve been obsessed with survivor for a few months now (I think I’ve blasted through about 20 seasons since January!) — and I finally had a chance to explain myself now that grades are almost in.

Can’t you just tell that I’m explaining myself in this thumbnail?

(If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe to my channel here.)

Parting Recs

I’m obsessed with #bookstacks (just ask my wife, Shayla, they’re taking over every surface of our house!) — here’s one I assembled for a quick getaway about a month ago, and that I’m slowly working my way through.

Each is amazing for its own reason, and since I’m only partway through each of them I can only offer the following, partial recommendations:

• Bruner’s book is helping me (finally) “theorize” the process of education; very academic (perhaps too academic), but an illuminating take on pedagogy and practice that I like dipping into every so often.

• Uncanny Valley is a must read. I’m obsessed with it because I’m obsessed with “work” right now (broadly construed), but it’s a funny inside-outsider’s take on the culture and (dare I say moral environment) of Silicon Valley.

• Mary Oliver owns 8% of my heart. I’m daily brought to tears by what she has to tell us.

• Moral Mazes will get it’s own write-up in future days. It’s a — get this — anthropological study of the ethics (and misbehavior) of corporate culture at the managerial level and above (!)

• Arendt is such a striking and original thinker. Though she always circles back to Aristotle, which is why I trust her so deeply.

• Parker Palmer recently changed my life; more on that sometime, too.

• George Saunders, George Saunders, George Saunders. To get a sense of what it’s like to read this book, just watch this incredible video featuring him talking about the craft of writing.

If you #bookstagram, send me your own stack or recs. I’m @plblaschko and I like and following everything.