Principles of Applied Epistemology (APPLIED EPISTEMOLOGY)

[Mick Harper]

I have absolutely no idea what you are going on about. You might start by saying what the significance of 1608 is.

[Mick Harper]

I am becoming more and fascinated, in an AE sort of way, by Loren Kantor on Medium (who I have written about briefly before). He is the only person I have come across on Medium, apart from myself, who can turn in brilliant pieces regularly and effortlessly. Unlike me he is narrowly focused--on where he lives, works and writes about, the Hollywood margins.

He quickly recognised a soulmate when I started responded to his stories, and responded in kind to them. He started reading my stories with the same back and forth result.

Although naturally unorthodox he has the same weakness many of you have, politics. He is dyed-in-the-wool soft-left. Hence when he perpetrated one too many lefty howlers, I took issue. And was cast into the outer darkness.

Though of a penumbral kind. He no longer read my stories, as far as I know, and no longer responded to my responses to his. Instead he gave them one solitary clap. It never varies. Always a single clap, always a nil response. This got my pip at the time but after not being able to UnFollow him in high dudgeon (for technical reasons I wrote about at the time) I decided to make a virtue of the situation and faithfully read his stories, faithfully made as interesting a comment as I could muster, and waited to see what broke.

Nothing broke. After maybe a hundred stories from him and a hundred brilliancies from me, he continues his wooden policy of careful ignoral. So what's fascinating? Well, look at things from his point of view. It is true his actions are practical insofar as I am a cash cow for him so he wants to encourage me to carry on reading, clapping and responding to his stories but it's a very small cash cow (a cent a day or whatever).

I am the only person that makes interesting comments--I know this by looking at the others, to which he responds, often fulsomely. But he must, every day, decide consciously to invoke his fixed policy towards me so presumably he is reminded every day of what might have been. What still might be. Of course we know here, a hundred times is not a hundred opportunities to change his behaviour but a hundred hammer blows on his confirmatory anvil, but even so I can't help asking

Does he know how trifling is the political gap that has altered his behaviour?
Does he know how yawning is the political gap that has altered his behaviour?
Does he realise he is not required to change his politics, only to tolerate mine?
Does he not know that tolerance is part of his political credo?
Does he ever feel the urge to comment on my comment?
Does he miss me?
Does he find it all irritating?
Does he even notice?
Does he blame me or does he reproach himself?
Is it me that needs his head examining?