Iste Keesler: A Fabulous Man

Readers of Hansoniana,

You ought to know that Hansonian principles are being questioned by The Lyrical Gangster. We at the Hansonian Institute welcome dialogue. We view it as the opportunity to clarify the principles and extend their application.

First, The Lyrical Gangster laments that rather than being described as a friend The Lyrical Gangster is summarily dismissed as some guy who slept on the floor. It must be noted that the Lyrical Gangster's e-mail was posted on my site anonymously. We at the Institute respect the privacy of our readers and it is not our policy to attach names to unsolicited e-mails. The non-committal descriptive "gentleman who once visited" was meant to protect Mr T.L. Gangster's identity, not to devalue his much esteemed friendship.

Moreover, it is a firm Hansonian principle to avoid being limited by a simple either/or proposition. Mr. Keesler is both a personal friend and a guy who slept on my floor (not to mention who consumed some quantity of my beer). One would have thought that an equally well-educated man would have realized these things.

As to the main point of contention, though, Mr. Gangster writes:

While reading works of fiction clearly can benefit a person, they rarely offer the same bang for the time-investment buck when it comes to making a person smarter or more well rounded.

I offer this tentative analysis (one that invites Mr. Grangster's correction, to be sure): Mr. Gangster is assuming that someone who is "smart" is someone who knows "the facts," i.e. that which is (by definition) not "fiction." "Reading fiction makes you smarter," is thus a foregone conclusion based on those definitions.

I would suggest this: following the great Socrates, the well-rounded man or philosopher must respect and employ myth just as much as other forms of discourse (e.g. "non-fiction").