Tidbits:
Stories, Quotes, and FAQs.
The wisdom builder tidbits that feed the columns, articles, and trainer.
Philosophy of Journalism
Featured Story
New This Week
Philosophy
Story
1946
Book: The Idea of History
Published posthumously.
Philosophy of History
Collingwood supports the TST idea that history is rational reconstruction. The past happened in the material world, but historical understanding requires interpretation. Evidence anchors the story, reason organizes it, and confidence rises or falls depending on how well the reconstruction answers to reality.
Featured QUOTE
New This Week
Philosophy
Quote
“The historian without his facts is rootless…the facts without their historian are…meaningless.”
- E. H. Carr
- 1961
Philosophy of History
Carr supports the heart of Empirical Narrative Realism: evidence anchors history, but reason shapes the retelling. The facts keep the historian grounded in reality; the historian gives those facts sequence, context, and meaning. TST extends this by asking how much confidence each reconstruction deserves.
Featured FAQ
New This Week
Philosophy
FAQ
Is fiction part of journalism?
Philosophy of Fiction
Journalism is about public truth. Fiction is invented. But Philosophy of Fiction helps clarify the boundary between fact, imagination, myth, satire, propaganda, mistake, and lie. To understand truth, we must also understand non-truth. That makes Philosophy of Fiction a useful neighbor under Philosophy of Journalism.
Updated Tidbits
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 days ago)
Critical Thinking
Story
The Idea of Ideas
Idea of Ideas
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 days ago)
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 days ago)
Philosophy of Journalism
Test public events!
Journalism tests public events.
Journalism is the hammer for current affairs and public accountability. It asks: What is happening, who says so, and how do we know? Reporting, sourcing, verification, context, and correction help society track reality in real time.
Deep-Dive Articles
Irrational Ideas: The Subtypes
When you encounter an irrational idea, first ask whether it is speculative or disproven.
TST Philosophy of History: Empirical Narrative Realism
Historical tales are empirical ideas. We believe these evidence-based reconstructions of real past events with varying degrees of confidence. We can prove or disprove their related empirical implications.
TST Philosophy of History: Empirical Narrative Realism
Historical tales are empirical ideas. We believe these evidence-based reconstructions of real past events with varying degrees of confidence. We can prove or disprove their ...
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically ...
Speculative Ideas in Science: Rip-Bang, Bigfoot, and Beyond
Speculation has a real place in science, but speculative ideas are not established truths. They are starting points, possibilities, or failed guesses that must eventually ...
New Ideas
Ancient Humans
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically ...
Philosophy of Journalism
The Living Touchstone
As part of critical thinking, the philosophy of journalism can help us enter the age of AI, where truth and untruth live on equal plain. ...
Updated Articles
Speculative Ideas in Science: Rip-Bang, Bigfoot, and Beyond
Idea Theory Framework
Wed 5 Jun 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 2 days ago.
Irrational Ideas: The Subtypes
Idea of Ideas
Mon 6 Apr 2026
(1 month ago)
Updated 2 days ago.
TST Philosophy of History: Empirical Narrative Realism
Idea of Ideas
Tue 3 Mar 2026
(2 months ago)
Updated 2 days ago.