Evoke

Here is a style of rhetoric I’ve been thinking about. No convincing, no agenda, no audience in mind. State the premises, sketch out the interconnections, don’t draw out the conclusions. Such a style feels aphoristic, vague and pretentious even. That’s a bit sad, I wish it didn’t come off that way.

Art doesn’t limit imagination, but sometimes warrants too much from it. Words provide better precision, but sometimes limit the imagination too much. Examples, analogies and conclusions make it harder for the reader to see further than (at best) the author's mind. The aim is not to convey meaning (whatever that means). The aim is to trigger analogous processes in the reader’s mind.