tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8034333.post7726538239929438508..comments2023-10-25T00:39:09.456-07:00Comments on Last Word Blog: Purveyors of Useless and Forbidden KnowledgeLast Word Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17001761689718762968noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8034333.post-14828265742200620512010-10-21T09:16:33.593-07:002010-10-21T09:16:33.593-07:00Man is doomed to be free and I thank you for stand...Man is doomed to be free and I thank you for standing up for our doomed freedoms.Supermarkiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15180201945460804013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8034333.post-28851364612365849742010-10-11T12:30:30.477-07:002010-10-11T12:30:30.477-07:00There is another aspect to all of this. None of us...There is another aspect to all of this. None of us ever really definitively know all of the ways a text can be used. For all we know, somebody may buy this book because they suspect that somebody else is cooking meth and want to have some way to judge the credibility of their claims.<br /><br />Or perhaps somebody will care about this someday as they analyze why certain substances become scare or valuable or common. I watched quite a few people get into making their own biodiesel and end up with pounds and pounds of glycerine to get rid of. If I care nothing about biodiesel but *do* care about the availability of glycerine, then I might want to know the dynamics of biodiesel manufacture near me.<br /><br />The same goes about judging the flammability concerns for somebody who, as I was, living near what they suspect is a meth lab.<br /><br />A responsible life is largely about analysis, about judgement, about understanding the dynamics that affect one's surroundings and doing a considered job of acting in a way that takes those dynamics into account.<br /><br />Meth is a part of our world. Sadly, here in the Pacific northwest it is a big part. That being the case, there will be those who have socially positive reasons to want to understand where it comes from and how.<br /><br />As the essay points out, all knowledge is potentially dangerous. And all is potentially useful. People in general and booksellers in particular, should be very careful indeed before they decide to declare some kind of knowledge off-limits.Rustin H. Wrighthttp://www.streetcarpress.comnoreply@blogger.com