Popper On Blogging

My thesis is that the step from my unspoken thought: “It will rain today” to the same spoken proposition “It will rain today” is a hugely important step, a step over an abyss, so to speak. [T]o formulate something in speech means that what used to be part of my personality, my expectations and perhaps fears, is now objectively to hand and therefore available for general critical discussion. The difference is also huge for me personally. The proposition – the prediction, for example – detaches itself from me when it is formulated in speech. It becomes independent of my moods, hopes and fears. It is objectified. It can be experimentally endorsed by others as well as by myself, but it can also be experimentally disputed. The pros and cons can be weighed and discussed. People can take sides for and against the prediction.

From Karl Popper’s essay “The Logic and Evolution of Scientific Theory,” published in the book All Life is Problem Solving.