Referencing and Identification

Why should I identify myself with somebody else? Why not to speak of my own, without becoming somebody else's adept? There are books, I have never read - and there are people who read these books, and studied the lives of their authors. How this would affect my thinking, if I am able to think myself? Also, I may have read many books of which some other people know nothing - should I despise them for that?

Well, browsing conceptual links may be an interesting occupation on itself, and the study of history may be most stimulating for one's own thought. However, it has nothing to do with thinking itself, and with communicating thoughts.

I might like mentioning some author from time to time - and my partner in the conversation might like checking the reference. But this is our private affairs, and nobody is obliged to react on the book titles and famous names.

The implicit ways of saying something may have their positive sides - but the direct discussion will always favor explicitness. Talking to a friend, I want to learn my friend's position, and not the position of Aristotle, Marx, or Mr. President.

See also: Styles of referencing.