Selective Ignorance

'Do you ever avoid reading a book because you don't want it to pollute your thinking? Have a new idea and don't want to read the "best in the industry" perspective, but want to read the basics to nurture your own seedling of an opinion without it getting obscured by better polished and refined thinkers?

I've been learning about climate change for the past year. There are already so many "big" opinions and "big" writers on climate change. Everyone "knows" what climate change is, how could I possibly have something different to say? There are times when I wonder if reading everything that's out there is really the best path. My brain is soft and I risk parroting others ideas and squelching my own voice. So I try to stick to the basics. My friend Dan Walsh suggests reading more tangential books. For example, if you're interested in carbon markets, read a book about hedge funds and Wall Street, but NOT the book by an expert in carbon markets or the book with "Carbon Markets" in the title.'