WWB Trainer

WWB Key Ideas

Topic:

H2-Ancient History

Ancient History by Mike Prestwood.
Stories from 4004 BCE to 500 CE.
The age of reason.
New looks at a time before the rise of organized religion.

MODE:

~ 4 minutes of short abstracts.

Speed: 1.00

A Living Orientation to TouchstoneTruth.

What follows is not an introduction to a single essay or topic, but an orientation to the larger project it belongs to.

TouchstoneTruth treats writing as an ongoing practice rather than a sequence of finished products.

This project is built around the belief that ideas deserve time to be tested, refined, and revisited. Structured to preserve continuity, the ideas remain identifiable even as understanding evolves.

The Weekly Column

At the center of the project is the TST Weekly Column. Each week, one idea is explored as a complete edition.

This work values clarity over certainty and revision over finality. When an opinion changes, the original edition remains intact, while revisions are made transparently through updates rather than replacement.

These columns are meant to endure, to be returned to, and to change honestly.

The Research Layer

Beneath each column lives the WWB research layer made up of short, focused tidbits.

When a source is corrected or expanded, it can be updated once at the tidbit level and reflected everywhere it appears.

These tidbits do the quiet work of grounding ideas in evidence.

The WWB Trainer

Ideas are not only read here—they are revisited.

The WWB Trainer exists to help ideas surface gradually over time, reconnecting related material through repetition and variation.

The trainer allows ideas to be experienced in different contexts, helping patterns emerge naturally.

A Philosophy of Journalism

Guided by the philosophy of journalism, it values clarity, sourcing, and restraint over speed or certainty.

Good journalism respects the reader enough to show its work.

Claims are shown alongside their evidence. Corrections are treated as integrity rather than weakness.

The TST Framework

To support clearer reasoning, TouchstoneTruth draws on the TST Framework.

Critical thinking here is not skepticism for its own sake, but responsibility toward evidence.

The framework is composed of 5 thought tools, 4 mind traps, and 3 truth hammers.

The Idea of Ideas

At a deeper level, this work rests on an epistemology known as the Idea of Ideas.

Progress in understanding comes from refining ideas, not clinging to them.

All knowledge here is treated as representational rather than final.

The Material–Spiritual Framework

Closely related is the Material–Spiritual Framework, which helps prevent category errors when thinking about reality, meaning, and human experience.

Conflicts often emerge when symbolic or spiritual claims are mistaken for literal material descriptions.

It allows science to remain rigorous and meaning to remain real.

A Living Touchstone

Together, these elements form what I call a Living Touchstone.

A body of work designed to evolve without losing coherence—to preserve not just conclusions, but the reasoning that led to them.

The aim is not to persuade quickly, but to think responsibly over time.

One idea at a time.
Evidence where it belongs.
Revision without erasure.

Return when useful.
Revisit when needed.

WWB Trainer
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.