Steven Johnson says Joseph Priestly was so successful both as a scientist and as a theologian not only because he shared his ideas freely with others, including Ben Franklin when he was in England, where both were members of a coffee house discussion group called The Club of Honest Whigs, and thus got feedback from others that allowed him to advance his ideas, but that he "had a knack for 'socializing' with his own ideas." [The Invention of Air, page 74.]
Brain scientists tell us that our brains actually change physically to conform to our thinking patterns, which is how that socializing with one's own ideas takes place. The more Priestly thought about air and its properties, the more his own thought sparked new ideas.
Or as that old brain scientist, Paul of Tarsus put it: ...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. [Philippians 4:8.]
Lovely, lovely, lovely, my dear friend.
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