Here's my unreferenced, unresearched, un-Googled take 😉
When I add this article to your dismissal of the "culture of others" idea, I see you rejecting the idea of a person as a social being. We must signal things to others. We do this with dress, with accent affectation, the words we choose, the art we like, and even the books we keep on the shelf, or lack thereof.
Here's an observation: having no bookshelf at all for a grown adult man in the Western world is as much a statement, a signal, as not having one at all. A different statement, but one none the less. You cannot escape the fact that you signal.
Authenticity is what is being questioned here. You suggest that if one has not read the books, or applied the knowledge of the books which are read, or internalize the knowledge of the read books too uncritically, this is not an authentic representation of the person.
I also wonder why you dismiss information which one has not "practically applied"?
Here's where I would search for an article with a search term like "bookshelf important for home unread", hoping to find something which would support something I feel to be true, that bookshelves are not only to show of books one has read, not only to store ones yet to read, that it has some importance in the home. I remember as a child pulling books from bookshelves and reading with great interest about my family's interests.
I may arrive find it from a source I think is reputable. I may find a counter argument and actually change my mind, prompting me to think, what within me led me to think that to be true?
One thing I think is probably in line with your view - that you can find anything online to support your argument, or even just make you feel like what you believe is true. Quoting a contemporary article, a classic book or even a famous thinker is not a substitute for thinking, or critically it is does not mean it's true.
But I think it would be foolish to rely completely on one's own intellect and way of describing things. A reference to a source can be a good way to summarize ones position, or give more food for thought to a discussion. I defend its usage.
Last point
I have a family member who gives me advice on diet and exercise. He is well read. He reads many headlines but doesn't seem to have found the article or book on how to lose weight himself. Perhaps if he reads just one more clever author on the matter he will have all the knowledge he needs to actually act.
This person may have read a lot but that does not make them well read. Read well also means reading well I should think, and without being able to check if there's a consensus on this online (no searching for this comment...) I'll go out on a limb and say it is. Reading headlines? Come on. Diet books? Diet books are not likely to be information of high nutritional content, to mix metaphors.
I am glad you quoted that last bit and picked up on it. I know this well and as you said, reading well is important, not well read. You get a point. It is something he has not learned and his sources of information are questionable at best.
The no bookshelf is less a statement and more about affordability at the time. It actually worried my future wife quite a lot that I didn't own books. (I actually did, they were in a drawer next to my bed but like I said, the library came into play). I just knew exactly what she was looking for as it is a common indicator here.
And I didn't say I don't read, I do when I have the time which is rarely. Most of the time though, I listen to podcasts and conversations across a massive variety of sources.
This post is more about the quoting from the books, not the reading of them. Like I said in the post, books are there too inspire thought, not replace it. There is a reliance on the information consumed rather than a catalyst for personal growth.
And of course I signal, it is the only way to communicate. The problem is perhaps when people are signalling the ideas of others hoping they can inherit their intelligence. Knowing is not doing.
Much of what I say is probably wrong, nonsense and should not be taking as gospel (not that anyone would). Much might require some thought to find the value too. You yourself are here spending some time thinking about how you see what I have said. You have explored your views, bolstered your position or perhaps thought some through differently. You haven't agreed or disagreed blindly. Reading-well, not well-read.
This is my nonsense from my experiences (including what I have read) and I have little fear for my thoughts being wrong as they so often are. Many fear being wrong so rather than rely on and develop their own thoughts, they outsource their thinking to those they deem smarter. Perhaps they are right much more often than me but, given a fast moving situation that requires action, I tend to back myself more often than not.
You are one of the people here that takes the time to read and consider what you read but that might make you biased. You may work under the assumption that your common sense is more common than it is, I work under the assumption it is not common at all. I cannot know my audience at that level.
Someone like you can read my work and discount it as trash (but probably still get some thought value), someone else can read it and start the first steps towards developing their critical thinking or daily actions.
Thanks as always for taking the time. This is a rushed response as I have to have a shower before my daughter wakes from her nap :)
I would not call what you write nonsense or trash, far from it. My challenge is meant in good faith, as a test to the ideas, as well as my own. I think it's the best way to see if they stand up.
I like this and I think it's the point I might have overlooked in my first response. On this specific thing, I agree, and it's a trap any of us can fall into when quoting.
I certainly am biased, I'm grinding a certain axe here, I have my take on things. I'm not sure if it is actually common sense, more my own sense of things. There are some ideas which I think are very strong and I thrash them out making sure that they are indeed strong. One of them is my understanding of culture and how it underpins a lot of things, sometimes in hard to see ways.
Thanks also for taking the time to read and consider my response. At the end of the day that's half of it, agree or disagree.
No, I know you didn't call it trash, the point is, it doesn't really matter if you did. I don't take offence to the criticism but remember they are just words too. This is part of my point also, the books, scripture or whatever people quote seem, they seem to believe that those who penned it, lived it. Do as I say, not as I do may play a large role in those selling their ideas.
My move away from culture in some of my writing is because there is a move into blind culture where people are becoming so attached to some parts of it that it is weakening other parts. This conflict within themselves will end up causing much larger problems for them and externally.
I write across quite a range of topics and have 'expertise' in a only a small fraction. The problem with the experts often is that they approach it as experts.
About 10 years ago I spent a week in Tokyo with a girlfriend. After the first day she asked 'why do the Japanese understand you and not me, Is my English not good enough?' She is Finnish.
The problem was that her English was too good. That good that she hadn't noticed that when I was speaking I was adjusting my language down heavily. She was hearing what I said and filling in the gaps herself. But not actually listening to what I said, or how I said it.
It was a big challenge for her to reduce her skill downwards, after all, she had put so much effort and investment into gaining it.
This is a communication problem many have and can be a cultural issue also. What is common for one can be very unfamiliar for another and approaching the topic under the assumption that all of the background information is present, falls into poor communication skill. For many though, to see this, they have to step away from themselves far enough to witness it happen.
I sometimes deal in extremes of view but I do not necessarily live there myself and the way I write is in the hope that there is some information for everyone if they care to look. It is not to target everyone, it is to target individuals.
Keep commenting as you are as it helps me greatly :)