The beginning of a prolonged diatribe on order & chaos

To speak generally, this class has evoked many responses from its participants. Some have been eager to challenge their inclination towards structure--the most basic aspect of their worldview--while others have been a bit hesitant. I'm not here to say that either choice (or any perspective on the continuum in between) is correct or incorrect--that's not my job. I am here, however, to reflect a little on my own progress throughout this course. 

I've changed, to say the least, and this is my attempt to begin to capture some of that change. I intend to do this over several consecutive posts (which I will generate in a so-far uncharacteristic regularity), but before I do so, allow me to briefly explain what could be considered my only real frustration with this course. 

I'm a fairly easy-going person, in general. When it comes to anything academic, however, I'd prefer to have a grasp of the material before making my opinions public. I suppose it's an intense need for some sort of conceptual grasp, backed by extensive textual evidence, to support my position. 

You may be saying: "Wait, Kevin, stop one second. This course wasn't designed to memorize material. It was meant to unravel a thought train, to illustrate an inherently biased perspective " Yes, I understand, and that is the primary impetus for my blogging delay. 

I entered this class knowing that I would change. I expected the way that I process sensory information to change. I expected the way I perceive events to change. I expected the way I understand my surroundings to change. That it did, that it did.

So what is the grand purpose of this short narrative? Basically, I intend to say as follows: I didn't want to blog, I didn't want to espouse my views, until I felt that I had experienced enough of a perspective change to voice them. I wanted to say something truly of substance, something that I knew would be a worthy contribution. Personally, this is the research-based style that I prefer to operate in. It works for me. Sometimes I wish it weren't that way, but it is, and I have to embrace it. And now that I have this newfound perspective, I feel that I am capable of speaking and of being heard. 

I didn't want to talk into the wind, I wanted to talk with it. This is my attempt to do so.