Circulating references

I note that my last blog was on April 15th so I could be accused of not circulating at all in the last few weeks! I now wish to "circulate" the idea that circulation itself is at the heart of much that we do and of many of our current problems. For instance, lack of circulation of credit appears to be one of the major blocks in the global financial system. There are many who advise slowing the circulation down and/or controlling it in the ways that used to happen in order to prevent economies overheating or levels of debt getting out of control. Is it possible then to predict what levels of circulation are required for a vibrant but not overheated economy? Will a more restricted circulation lead to an even deeper depression or a stagnant, deflationary economy? Can the "experts" answer those question for us mere mortals? Then I am interested in how ideas circulate in such a way that people learn and develop, or else cross over thresholds into new ways of thinking or believing. What is required for genuine learning? Is it that we encounter new ideas and new people or experiences through a process of circulation, or do we have to be capable of responding to these through the circulation of our own emotions or curiosity? We talk about the "hardening of the arteries" and use this analogy to describe the intransigence often encountered in a faith context. Are people of faith capable of "learning" at all, and under what conditions? One of my favourite philosophers (Habermas) talks about the need for those of faith to learn through the encounter with those in the secular world but questions whether they can do this as rapidly or readily as their non-religious counterparts. Is there something then about religion that restricts circulation and "hardens the arteries"? Are other sets of beliefs and their institutions equally susceptible to the ossification and inertia that besets churches and congregations? So the trick is to keep the ideas circulating - or as my cricketing friend would say "keep those arms swinging"! Truth as "circulating reference" as Bruno Latour says - and there is another strange idea to feed into the conversation. When the music stops playing and we freeze on the dance floor - that is the time to quit and start all over again!