ABSTRACT
To speculate is to take a risk: it is to indulge in conjecture without full knowledge of all the facts. We are not entirely sure of our ground, but still feel a need to address the issues. The problem is that we are not really sure that we can answer the questions that are posed. Instead we can only frame the questions as acutely as possible, and hope that, as part of the process, answers of some sort will emerge. Yet, at the same time, we are not really sure that there is an answer out there at all. All we can do is speculate, and, in doing so, hope to accumulate. For this is the whole point of speculation: we have to take a risk if we are to achieve anything. This, however, presumes that we know what we are seeking to achieve, of where we want or expect to go. Yet those who speculate are not always so aware of their circumstances or the possible consequences of heading off in any particular direction. They are half-blind to any outcome, unknowing of what they may meet upon their journey.
