The Last Blog

This has been a blog fundamentally about pragmatism.  From politics to the environment, from the Middle East to the Internet, from faith to friendship, controversial and significant issues of today have been explored from the lens of "compromise".  Starting from the famed Zeno's paradox where movement is impossible, this blog sought to debunk that paradox -- and also the supposed benefits of absolutism.  Indeed, every post has been grounded on the notion that movement -- physical, political, etc. -- is possible, but only if compromise is the vehicle.

Interestingly, writing regularly on Zeno's Fallacy forced me to see issues from different perspectives, required as I was to describe a compromise position.  I wrote often about issues where I either had an uncompromising position or did not know much at all.  In both cases, reading and researching for the blog helped me understand the issues at hand far better.

More than a mere understanding of facts, however, subsequently writing a post about the merits of compromise narrowed my research to those writing about middle-ground solutions.  Such a filter helped me cut through the cacophony and soundbites that surround debate over many of these issues.  It focused my thinking and enabled me to articulate both (or all) of the positions on the issue effectively.

Regardless of whether in blog format or not, my future ability to effectively engage in discussions of real world issues has been greatly aided by this opportunity to "race to the middle".  I know that in the future I will try even harder to see a greater ideological spectrum before coming to conclusions that (I hope) will be pragmatic and not absolutist.  Of course, it is important to be careful to not be overly compromising whilst compromising -- that is, not to give away too much while giving away just enough.  Between Chamberlain and Kant, however, there is quite a bit of ground, and that's the sweet spot lies for me.