Fringe to Frontier - FL#14
The Space for Free Thought In The Realm of Genius and Madness
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The ability to think, speak, and write freely is a fundamental necessity to the flourishing of humankind.
I believe this to be true and will always err on the side of radical openness and honesty. People will culturally and socially determine if something is harmful or inappropriate in a given circumstance, but being able to freely and openly explore your thoughts is the foundation of a thriving society.
Free speech and thought are mostly untouched in the Western world. However, I worry that labels discredit and delegitimize the free exploration of thoughts, effectively throwing them into the societal idea landfill.
If an idea breaches someone's consciousness or following a path of knowledge brings them upon these shunned ideas, most people will choose to stop, fearing that they may lose their job, be discredited, socially shamed, and other things that make their lives significantly harder.
The Effect of Labels
Labels such as conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, and fake news cause people to be struck with these two thought contagions; they either think, "Yes, that idea is definitely wrong; those conspiracy theorists are crazy," or "I think that may be true, but what would my employer say if I brought that up? Would it affect the raise I need?"
This is a real problem - it affects public discourse in a way that pushes ideas that may be true and important to the landfill. Before the era of podcasting, this was an even larger problem. At least now, you have podcasts such as the Joe Rogan Experience, where guests are free to bring up these "conspiracy theories," which may, in fact, be true.
The one that has captured my thoughts recently, which I will likely be writing about soon, is the idea that there may have been a more advanced civilization before written history that was wiped out by the Younger Dryas impact. It doesn’t take long on the Wikipedia page to get to the phrases “pseudoscience, pseudoarchaeology, and pseudohistory,” for which these variations recur 9 times on that page.
Like many domains, the ones the Younger Drays encroaches upon seem to view anything other than conventional wisdom as a 'conspiracy theory.' The conventional wisdom goes something like this: "We are the most intelligent versions of us; We lived in egalitarian hunter-gather tribes for 180,000 years and were an archaic people; 70,000 years ago, something happened where homo sapiens developed more advanced and sophisticated brain states that allowed us to march toward our rule over the earth; the agricultural revolution happened about 10,000 years ago since we have become and are the smartest versions of ourselves."
There are so many unanswered questions, though, and speculation is not welcome if it violates conventional thought. That’s not to say that the Younger Dryas impact is correct; I’m no archeologist, but it is to say maybe there is a version of the past that’s far different than what we think we know, and we should be open to it if there is some evidence that can compel the argument into truth.
We need to change our perspective on these labels.
It’s fundamental to new discovery and understanding, but there is a difficult question to tackle here: When and how should we determine whether an idea is so crazy that it should be discarded?
A Space for Crazy?
Sometimes, the crazy ideas people have are, well, true.
Sometimes, the crazy ideas people have are, well, crazy.
The problem with this is: how do we distinguish between what should go into the landfill and what should stick around for discussion, thought, and pursuit?
To my original point, I think we need to err on the side of more freedom of ideas. The labels do serve an important purpose because sometimes bad ideas can take the face of compassion, manipulating those who listen to them, such as the label "Nazi." A real Nazi will have ideas that are morally reprehensible and extraordinarily harmful.
But nowadays, we drastically overuse these discrediting labels so that we don't have to listen to someone communicating a given idea. Do you ever find yourself choosing to look away when you hear someone is a "pseudo-scientist," a "proponent of the far-right," or a "conspiracy theorist?"
These terms once meant someone who sat on the fringes of society, propagating ill-intended ideas.
Today, these terms are often used to describe people with ideas that scare people in power or those with an incentive to maintain the status quo.
Remember when UFOs were that of fringe conspiracy theorists, but now the government is revealing that there are, indeed, UFOs that have been identified (1, 2, 3)? The Pentagon has even launched a 'one-stop shop' for declassified info about UFOs (website here)! Imagine all those people perceived as insane because they believed in the things they saw, but others thought they belonged in a looney bin; it must have been hard for them.
What if there was a space for these ideas? Could we have a greater understanding today than we do because the public discourse could have pushed it that way? What about all those folks who were outcasted because they believed what they saw and didn’t back down? Instead, they were gaslit by the public, essentially - well detailed in Netflix’s 2023 mini-series, Encounters.
It begs the question, why do some ideas get these labels?
Home of the Genius and the Insane
I heard this joke that the only difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth is 6 months.
The reason it's comical is because there's some truth to it nowadays.
I don't have the answer, and there isn't a clear line on which should get the label, nor is there a clear difference between crazy and truth in regard to truly revolutionary discoveries.
I came across two brilliant quotes that I think hit the nail on the head:
"The difference between insanity and genius is measured only by success and failure."
~ Masashi Kishimoto
This tells us a fundamental truth—an “out there” idea usually starts as insanity. Once it demonstrates some essence of success, it is now genius, no longer crazy.
And
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."
~ Aristotle
What's the reason for this? Well, let's think about it imagistically.
The inner circle is what we refer to as "culture," which is the known world. Things we are accustomed to that have integrated into our society and function with utility live here.
Outside of this, we have the frontier of what's known - this is the known unknown. Here is where the writers, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and creative types love to live. Here are the ideas right outside our understanding, the things we know we don't know about that we're trying to understand. We are constantly foraging for information to be brought into the known world, the innermost circle.
Now, notice the space outside the unknown. These are unknown unknowns. This is where the geniuses operate; however, it's so far outside the frontier of our understanding that most people have trouble grasping what those people are talking about or discussing. The greatest artists operate in this space, too; it's where the best painters, drawers, and sculptures live. It’s why people like Friedrich Nietzsche put out pieces of work so brilliant that the people at the time had trouble understanding, but today, about 140 years later, he’s a world-renowned philosopher who’s discussed in public often. In his time, his works were not well known.
The two frontiers outside the known are essential—they're truly the only way to learn new things and advance society; however, being out in the unknown puts you at risk for failure.
While labels do get applied to the ideas that live in the unknown, it’s important that we maintain an open mind to those ideas.
At the same time, I understand that we do need to have a place to throw those ideas away because some of them can cause true evil and harm if not dealt with. My stance is the following:
Bad ideas die in the face of discussion, not in the darkness of suppression.
It’s why I believe in the power of conversation and public discourse.
If you're in an unfamiliar space of ideas, you will likely be wrong at some point; seldom are geniuses credited with their stupidity.
The Approach to These Ideas and How We Handle Them
This has been something on my mind because this newsletter aims to explore the areas outside the middle circle at all costs. Foraging the frontier of ideas and technology and discerning between truth and falsehood is important. Once we uncover the ideas, we can find ways to implement them for humanity and provide utility to make life better than it previously was. The ‘Why’ of the Frontier Letter is to make people more hopeful about the future and reduce the threat of the future. We must look the unknown in the face to achieve our goal.
To explore, forage, and communicate the unknown is to also risk looking like a fool or being incorrect. True, I follow a methodology and try to clearly lay out arguments and demonstrate evidence. However, sometimes, I will explore areas and ideas that might make you think, "Sounds conspiratorial, insane, and baseless."
It's worth questioning; sometimes, I may need people to push back. However, the unknown will never be discovered if we can't attempt to speculate or ideate about what is true and useful for us. Those labels may draw our attention away from accurate representations of reality.
While any subject riddled with those labels requires careful research and presentation, it is best to approach these things with humility and the idea that all there is to know about the topic is not yet understood.
Maybe there is significantly more to discover than we think.
I will always, with integrity intact, forage the frontier and attempt to report back as accurately as possible while making each Frontier Letter a piece of art. Label it as you will, but I think that it's good practice to start to open our minds to the possibility of what awaits in the realm of the unknown.
In my research and writing, you will find that I try to approach my work with sincere humility. This is necessary to discover truth, and I'm excited to continue exploring together.
Thank you everyone
P.S. I started watching The Sopranos with my Fiancee. This is the 4th or 5th time I'm watching it, and her first time. Watching a show with someone for their first time is always exciting! What the Sopranos did for TV was quite taboo for its time, but it revolutionized TV. Remember that having an open mind and space for something never done or considered before is important.
What a fantastic show… thought I'd share 🙂
Have a wonderful week!
Dom