Where is that sense of proportion, that much needed and severely lacking quality in people? That sense which provides depth and perspective to problems, threats and knowledge? When missing in people it causes them to see mountains where there are molehills, and seek to cross molehills when they are in reality mountains. The political and ideological discourse of today seems to be absent of this sense. Where one might only deviate slightly from the others ideology, they are seen as the antithesis of that ideology. Where there might exist only a small annoyance and a minor obligation, it is taken to be as if it were slavery, coercion and oppression. Defintions become dogmatic and cover all that which may fall under equally. Any system which might possibly be called Socialist become identical to any other form. Any form of Capitalism which may exist, which may tenuously be called Capitalism, is claimed under that label as an equal to any other form. The desire to see the full taxonomic range under a philosophical or idelogical genus isn’t there, and is replaced by a desire to easily and effortlessly put opinion and ideas into the broadest taxonomic category, and dismiss them just as readily. It is this that leads to fanaticism, dogmatism, fundamentalism, and ultimately extreme acts, acts which are grossly disproportionate to what the situation rationally demands.

The hallmark of an erudite thinker is the ability to examine an idea for what it is, understand its size, texture, shape and depth and see how its form relates to its function. To see ideas with a higher resolution through the minds eyes, as opposed to those whos minds eye requires prescription glasses and they can only see vague shapes and shadows.

You will therefore know whether you are dealing with one who thinks or not based on the range of ideas and intellectual forms they can observe and describe.

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