Effective Writers – Thomas Sowell

There is something to be said about good writing – it engages us effortlessly and comes with deep meaning. Sometimes, that meaning is in the emotions, other times, it is in messages. I have read a number of books, a lot more in the last two years than I had imagined I could, and have come across many Fiction writers who weave breathtaking worlds and heartbreaking stories. Writing non-fiction though is a whole other skill and through this series, I want to highlight my favorite non-fiction effective writers. Let’s start with Thomas Sowell.

Effective Writer: Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, born in 1930. He writes on economics, history, social policy, ethnicity, and the history of ideas, and is the author of over a dozen non-fiction books. He is a Senior Fellow at Hoover Institute, Stanford University and you can read his full bio here.

How I heard about Sowell

Clinton has been interested in psychology, economics and politics, with US politics being a major interest in the last couple months. It was YouTube that suggested him one of Sowell’s videos and that’s how we learned about Sowell. His most renowned book is Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (now in its fifth edition). It is the latest addition to our library, along with another of Sowell’s work, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. 

Effective Writing: A Conflict of Visions

First published in 1987, A Conflict of Visions is an even more relevant book today. It analyzes the two points of views (visions), their base assumptions and how they shape ones’ world view. Why are there conservatives and liberals? What do each of these ideologies and ways of thinking offer? Where do they differ? In the first half of the book, Sowell analyzes visions, what they are, the types, their dynamics and influences. In the second half of the book, the reader learns about the applications of visions and how the definition and interpretation of equality, power and justice change with ideology.

I did not plan on reading this book, but as Clinton was talking about starting it, I ended up reading the preface to him and enjoyed how Sowell conveyed the idea. Now, I am only a chapter in but am finding such concise and effective writing that I have to share it with you. Below are three snippets from the book and my thoughts on each. Following that, you will find the synopsis of the book and a link to Goodreads, in case you are interested in adding it to your shelf.

What is a Vision?

“Visions are like maps that guide us through a tangle of bewildering complexities. Like maps, visions have to leave out many concrete features in order to enable us to focus on a few key paths to our goals. Visions are indispensable – but dangerous, precisely to the extent that we confuse them with reality itself. What has been deliberately neglected may not in fact turn out to be negligible in its effect on the results.”

A Conflict of Visions, Chapter 1

Analogies are a great tool to understand complex ideas, by seeing them through a familiar lens. In this case, Sowell uses maps and the lack of details that a map shows to help the reader understand what a vision is. One could have a vision of a utopian society, yet having the vision does not mean that everything that has to be done to accomplish and make it true is obvious. A map may be detailed enough to show the terrain of the land and maybe the waterfalls and the flora and fauna in the area, but it will never have enough information to tell us how to navigate it. It won’t tell us the characters of the animals in the area and if and how to avoid them. Those are all contextual details that have to be filled in. Going in blindly, assuming that the map represents reality is a mistake.

Facts and Visions

“Facts do not “speak for themselves”. They speak for or against competing theories.”

A Conflict of Visions, Chapter 1

As a Data Analyst, I have presented data to many people in my organization. Data shows facts. What we capture in our systems is the truth of the work, even if it isn’t stored in the most structured manner. When looking at data, people often have an idea about what they want to see. If the data does not agree with that intuition, it is natural to doubt it. I had not connected this practice to theory before. How data and facts are challenging a theory that a person has, and more often than not, rather than evaluating our theories, we assess the facts and ignore them.

What do Visions do?

“Visions set the agenda for both thought and action. Visions fill in the necessary large gaps in individual knowledge. Thus, for example, an individual may act in one way in some area in which he has great knowledge, but in just the opposite way elsewhere, where he is relying on a vision he has never tested empirically.“

A Conflict of Visions, Chapter 1

Our lived experiences are the best teachers. The emotions, obstacles, hardships and situations that we have personally been through solidify our belief systems. My thoughts about the movement of pushing more women in computing science and other STEM areas in the West are derived from my experience as a woman in science. For someone who has not had the same experiences, it might be sufficient to support why more women should be in sciences, and not understand what they truly mean and how they conflict with gender equality. If you are interested to read more about gender equality and its effect on the number of women in STEM, take a look here.

Synopsis

Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes this pattern. He describes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power: the “constrained” vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the “unconstrained” vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectible. A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

Goodreads

Companion Books that go into the ideologies in detail: The Vision of the Anointed and The Quest for Cosmic Justice.

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The lines above say so much and all I want to do is keep writing, dig deeper into the ideas and the images that they conjure. What did they make you think of?

I am a student of writing (one of my earlier articles on writing) and I would not have found some great authors and writers without dabbling in deeper topics. I look forward to bringing you others. Like A Conflict of Visions for me, read them for the writing and the ideas they convey. You don’t have to be convinced by them or embrace their theories. Just read and absorb how they present their ideas. Isn’t that how we become better writers?

Are there any non-fiction authors that you love reading and would consider effective writers? Tell me in the comments! I will check them out and feature their works in the future. 🙂