Kiriakakis is a comic artist whose web comics explore ideas, including the piece 'A Day at the Park'.
Commenters repeatedly link 'A Day at the Park' as a lucid illustration of questions versus answers and holding strong opinions weakly.
*excellent question. This is something i am always searching out, as i used to be ardently opposed to the US's meddlesome behavior. One thing i have found, with near ubiquity in refugee and ex-patriot communities, is the US gives a physical, intellectual, and emotional space to the beleaguered and suppressed. Another contribution is our over-active dissent factor; many Americans disagree with America, and for the most part this is not only accepted, it is respected. These are somewhat ethereal, though.
The US Navy is a power unlike any the world has ever seen. The capability to move gross tonnage as well as incredible skill into disaster zones is unparalleled. It is completely a product of the very fear mongering the author of the article speaks of.
The space program is a titan, historically. It may be the US's single largest contribution to history. It is the wellspring of all of the greatest innovations of the late 20th century.
Europe's universal health care is completely contigent upon not having to field the requisite military for a nation/region of its size and prosperity. The US military maintaining a stable and strong presence in mainland Europe gave governments and citizens the space, physically and intellectually, to evolve their positions on human rights, healthcare,citizenship, and education.
Please understand, in no way do i feel the US is soley responsible for these things. Indeed, anything of value is by definition collaborative.
Also understand, the US…
I think an approach of collecting questions rather than answers works well. If you're really interested in a question then you should try to answer it, but be wary of accepting the first answer you see or think of.
I have questions that I've thought about for years, and some tentative hypotheses to go with them.
Inspired by:
http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-parkhttp://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park
Reading this reminds me a lot of a web comic about holding onto and treasuring questions instead of answers [0]. This seems a little more specific to software though. I do enjoy the brevity of it!
[0]: http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park
This brings to mind a fantastically lucid comic about the utility of questions vs answers:
http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park
After all, the an opinion is just an answer to the question, "What do I think of this?"
I think a journey (as in Joseph Campbell) is engagement that penetrates to deeper layers in the neural net, to change their weights.
Also, on questions vs answers: http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park
In context, allow me to share this gem of a comic: http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park
I won't say anything about it, because I don't want to spoil it for you.