Getting Smarter With Age

If a man is not a liberal when he is twenty, he has no heart.
If he is still a liberal when he is 40, he has no brain.
– Variously Ascribed

All of us (at least all of us who read blogs like this one) continually seek to better our understanding of humanity. Anthropologists and psychologists and scientists and philosophers observe and write and test, then explain and interpret their findings. While they make valuable contributions to the field, the best place to really come to an understanding of human nature or humanity as a whole is the arts, especially the performing arts. The science has its place in providing important pieces of the puzzle, but they leave us with an incomplete picture. The true nature of what we are can best be experienced in great music, novels, movies and plays.

One of America’s best playwrights, David Mamet, as written a moving and thoughtful article about his move away from the left. I won’t quote from it here – you should just read the whole thing. Then browse through the comments for perfect examples of what he was talking about.

And when you’re finished, check out this article, originally printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, by a once lefty writer who had a similar epiphany.

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