“The mythology may change back into a state of flux, the river-bed of thoughts may shift. But I distinguish between movement of the waters on the river-bed and the shift of the bed itself; though there is not a sharp division of the one from the other… And the bank of that river consists partly of hard rock, subject to no alteration or only to an imperceptible one, partly of sand, which now in one place now in another gets washed away, or deposited.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (On Certainty, 97, 99)
This excerpt, of those I have read, best illustrates my affinity with Wittgenstein’s thinking which is likely just as profound as it seems scattered. The analogy of movement of water, the soil underneath, and lack of that on the bank, to the process and changeability of one’s thinking — so clear that I feel no need to explain it much further.
However, I will note that each person might identify with a different part of the river in how they think. Some are as fluid and malleable as the water itself, having virtually no thoughts of their own. Others may, like the river-bed, have much surface malleability and fundamental flux only over medium-term spans of time, but to inevitably give into influence from the turbulent, surface currents — i.e. they are not swayed by superficial fashion but are still strongly influenced by others.
And the fewest, I would suspect, have a standpoint analogous to the bank. These are more secure in their thinking and more objective in their perspective. With nothing more than the occasional crumble of dirt or rock breaking off into the river — pieces that perhaps they could do without — they can securely observe the flow of the river and willfully choose if and when to let those pieces get carried away as not to compromise their foundation.
As per Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote, the river is he who speaks of people, the river-bed is he who speaks of events, and the bank is he who speaks of ideas… because only he can.
Overthought Consulting 