An Interesting Notion About Uncertainty

Uncertainty is the condition of being in doubt, or being in possession of imperfect information. Which fork in the road leads to one's destination?

I'm speaking metaphorically because in the age of smart phones, one can generally easily determine the correct geographic route.

Many of us experience from time to time, if not perpetually, an uncertainty about life -- if not its fundamental meaning at least how we should go about living, or what exactly we should do to accomplish something.

This can be very frustrating for some, but perhaps actually rewarding for others.

"I think people give a lot of spiritual credence to uncertainty, to not knowing," contemporary author Maggie Nelson said in an interview with The Creative Independent. "That's exactly how it should be, but it doesn't mean that not knowing is easy," she went on  to say.

Identity Politics Viewed As A Threat To Fiction

During the recent presidential election, America arguably shifted significantly from policy-based political affiliations to affiliations based on cultural and racial identities.

Most notably working class whites living in the so-called Rust Belt states switched in significant numbers from the Democratic candidate for president to a man running as a Republican even though he had attacked the GOP establishment as aggressively as he was attacking the Democrats.

Why Writers Hesitate to Criticize Publishers

The publishing industry is obsessed with money and celebrity yet writers hesitate to criticize it because in the current environment, their prospects of earning a living are so poor.

That's the view of Jessa Crispin, who I also wrote about in my previous post.  Crispin has been in the news during the past year because she shut down her pioneering literary blog "Bookslut" after 14 years.

How Internet Advertizing Impacts What Gets Written About

In an interview last May, Jessa Crispin told "Vulture" why she was closing down her literary blog "Bookslut" after 14 years.

One of the reasons she cited has to do with the changing nature of on-line advertising.