two different kinds of truth: truths that are merely of a speculative nature, truths that are allied with practice and moral feeling.

润物细无声

 

If a writer be conscious that to gain a reception for his favourite doctrine he must combat with certain elements of opposition, in the taste, or the pride, or the indolence of those whom he is addressing, this will only serve to make him the more importunate. There is a difference between such truths as are merely of a speculative nature and such as are allied with practice and moral feeling. With the former all repetition may be often superfluous; with the latter it may just be by earnest repetition that their influence comes to be thoroughly established over the mind of an inquirer.

-- Thomas Chalmers

quoted in the first issue of The Economist

来源：https://archive.ph/86hu2

https://www.economist.com/news/1843/09/02/our-first-issue

 

 

This quote from Thomas Chalmers is a masterclass in the psychology of persuasion. He’s essentially arguing that while logic only needs to be stated once, conviction requires a drumbeat.

Chalmers suggests that a writer’s job isn't just to inform, but to overcome the natural "friction" of the human ego.

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Breaking Down the Concepts

Chalmers categorizes truth into two distinct buckets:

Category	Nature of Truth	The Role of Repetition
Speculative Truth	Abstract, mathematical, or purely factual.	Superfluous. Once you understand $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$, hearing it ten more times doesn't make it "truer."
Practical/Moral Truth	Related to behavior, character, and ethics.	Essential. These truths face resistance from pride or laziness; repetition is the "hammer" that seats the nail.

The Three Enemies of New Ideas

Chalmers identifies three specific "elements of opposition" that a writer must fight through:

1. Taste: The reader’s aesthetic or personal preferences. (e.g., "I don't like how this truth sounds.")

2. Pride: The reader’s ego. (e.g., "I don't want to admit I was wrong.")

3. Indolence: Good old-fashioned laziness. (e.g., "Changing my life based on this truth is too much work.")

Why "Importunate" Matters

He uses the word importunate, which means being persistent to the point of annoyance. Chalmers is giving writers permission to be "pests" for the sake of a good cause. He believes that because our moral nature is stubborn, a writer must be even more stubborn to make an impact.

The Takeaway: If you’re trying to teach someone a skill or change their mind on a moral issue, don't be afraid of repeating yourself. You aren't just fighting ignorance; you're fighting human nature.

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Would you like me to help you apply this philosophy to a specific piece of writing or a persuasive argument you're currently developing?

来自：Gemini

 

 

 

 

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not, indeed, immediately, but after a certain interval; for in the field of economic and political philosophy there are not many who are influenced by new theories after they are twenty-five or thirty years of age, so that the ideas which civil servants and politicians and even agitators apply to current events are not likely to be the newest. But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.
-- John Maynard Keynes' The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money 

quoted by Paul A. Samuelson in his classic Economics textbooks

 

I don't care who writes a nation's laws, or crafts its advanced treaties, if I can write its economics textbooks.
-- Paul A. Samuelson

https://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/