Hi Bruce,
I told Paul that it was a big ask to find someone, who can write, that he didn’t know! I kept putting it off for one reason or another: like what does it mean to be one who can write? Well, it’s taken me 3 years to come up with some kind of call on that question.
I have to start with an understanding of Paul’s understanding of what makes a person who can write. Then I have to be able to express my understanding of that understanding in the most favourable of terms. I think that’s what the principle of charity entails. In other words, I have to be able to express Paul’s position on writing in a way that expresses what he meant by his own words. Thanks to the wonders of the internet (which I know Paul would agree is a time machine), I can do exactly that with this:
http://gingatao.podbean.com/2009/06/20/the-puzzle-box-1/
Academically speaking, it is only upon then that I can claim to be in a position to offer a counterargument to Paul’s understanding.
Notably, however, I am not being asked by Paul to provide a counterargument. I am very clearly being asked to give away one of Paul’s creations on his behalf. That particular creation is a seal of Paul’s approval; a seal that I am unable to take lightly.
Having determined what it means to Paul to be someone who can write, I now need to determine what it might have meant to Paul to be someone who(m) Paul doesn’t know. I here refer back to Paul’s time machine for my information, since I believe strongly in the notion of consistency.
http://gingatao.com/2010/06/28/the-gentle-art-of-soft-landings/
It is upon thinking through a bunch of stuff (and choosing to make the above selections) that I feel justified by my decisions.
In conclusion though, I wish to note that not all of my decisions have been justified by me. There were even times when I was trying to make that much obvious; but I did have my reasons:
http://gingatao.podbean.com/2009/06/24/context/

June 8th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Brad, i can’t claim more than a brief acquaintance with Paul – just enough to know i’d have liked to explore it further. he obviously trusted your judgement.
we are seldom good judges of our own worth. your gravitas alone is enough to leave me feeling deeply honoured.
email me anytime – there’s a link on my blog.
June 9th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
curiously brilliant, bird