Is it at all possible to unthink a thought once it has been thought?
Isn't the unthinking of a well-thought thought unthinkable?
Who is to judge whether a thought has been well thought, if not the thoughtful?
In these democratic times, however, it seems that 'people' are the adjudicators of well-thought thoughts.
For 'people' an ill-thought thought is one inaccessible to average understanding, whereas 'people' insist on easy, barrier-free accessibility for average understanding. The modern media are there to enforce and fulfil this 'democratic' demand of 'people', to render thoughts palatable.
Where does this leave the radically thought, unheard-of thought of a thinker?
It leaves it there in the openness of historical time for, once thought, it can no longer be unthought.
Further reading: Challenges for Today’s Thinking.
i hope it is not inappropriate to suggest a lovely song: "the song stays sung"...
ReplyDeletethe vibrations of a song are launched and reverberate willy-nilly. isn't it the same with thoughts? one can suppress repeat performances of a song; one can stop access to a thought through censorship... but a thought cannot be unthought, even if it was not well-thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7p_z40Zii4