So this is a blog. Huh.

It seems a few people have been interested in my little Alaskan Writing Adventure, so rather than send email updates I decided to create a blog. I suspect I'll mostly be talking about my travels and writing, but along the way I may have a few other musings to throw in.

The title "Humble Inquirer" reflects one of the themes I think is important, namely, that we should be curious about the world, but at the same time recognize that every time we learn something new, even more new questions arise. We're making progress, but that just allows us to stand on higher ground, where we can see more clearly how much we don't know.  Sometimes people, (often really smart, knowledgeable people) forget this.

Imagine two people from a primitive tribe watching a river flow into the sea. One turns to the other and says "Notice that water only ever goes into the sea. It's only a matter of time until we all drown." I've forgotten where I first read this analogy, but it's very apt. Without the whole picture it's easy to arrive at a very plausible — but very wrong — conclusion. We know we don't have the whole picture; not even close. The good news, of course, is that the curious among us are not likely to get bored any time soon. Learning always results in an ever expanding horizon of ignorance. That's a good thing.