“In the blind spot” refers first to the observation: “Thinking is an act of subjectivity, and subjectivity is the blind spot of science.”. Science is not going to help us much with the personal use of thinking. Science also tries to stay clear of politics and the personal use of thinking is definitely political. However, even though thinking is an act of subjectivity, it is not performed in isolation from nature, culture, or history. In fact the meaning of “in the blind spot” could be extended to focus on history. History is a blind spot in all of us, because we just weren’t there and we need so much of our energy and attention to survive the present. Learning something helpful about history is a painstaking process and there is too much to permit a really thorough thinking through it. Unfortunately, ignorance of history does not free us from the influence of the past. It is worth making some effort to reduce the ignorance and to build a better sense of what looms over us in that blind spot.

Copyright © 2011 Sandy MacDonald. The moral right of the author is asserted.