There is substance, or essence, and then there are the ideas that animate it.
I read a profound and disturbing book recently, Educated. It puts in sharp relief the vagaries of the tendencies of the human spirit to maintain a strange brew of independence, family, religion, faith, power, suspicion, and control. I can hardly recommend reading it, but you should.
It feels important to know and be able to recognize these tendencies, not just in others, but in ourselves.
And, we need to understand how ideas animate the essence of things—physical and spiritual. Why you believe what you do, is a pretty important thing to know.
