This is the age of the slogan, the soundbite, the snappy phrase in place of considered argument. Thought is dying; reason’s gone critical. In bookshops and magazine racks we’re told only what we want to hear: we’re told it in neat, bullet-pointed affirmations of our own worth.

No more. This is the fightback. The resuscitation. This is the slogan as explainer of the world. One a day for a year. Three hundred and sixty five phrases, soundbites and bullet points with which to make sense of the way things are now and point to how things could be tomorrow. Read them and weep.


Friday

1. Everything you know is wrong

If humility is the first step to enlightenment, then knowing you know nothing is the first step to wisdom. But how can we know we know nothing? It’s a paradox – to even argue the point implies knowledge. Rather we should accept that we have a vast amount of knowledge – and that all of it is wrong. When golfers feel their game is dropping off they “take apart” their swing – they try to forget everything they’ve been told, everything they’ve learnt about striking the ball... and they start again. They learn again. If we can similarly take apart our preconceptions, our assumptions, our existing beliefs, if we can admit it’s all wrong, then our minds will be clear to start again, to learn again, to rebuild our swings.
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