
History as it was?
The past may be a foreign country – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to speak its language.
Peter Gilderdale's Flirting With Wisdom series reflects on the interplay between curiosity and conviction, blending personal stories, history, cultural critique, and philosophical musings. Each vignette invites readers to embrace the beauty of unfinished thinking and the art of holding life’s ongoing questions.
The past may be a foreign country – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to speak its language.
From village megaphones to market ideologies, tracing the shifting meanings of liberalism—and why freedom without ethics falls short.
Some questions are too big to answer all at once — especially when you’re still becoming who you are.
Cultural difference reveals our blind spots — and loosening our grip on what we think we know is part of the learning.
When does a promise expire? And who decides what still counts, years after the moment has passed?
What I saw in Egypt taught me that happiness isn’t about comfort — it’s about connection.
Graciousness is a small gesture — but it holds the power to honour someone else’s joy.
Getting it wrong — and faking it — turned out to be useful. It taught me what real understanding takes, and how hard it is to ask for.
Sometimes the most powerful music is the kind that proves you wrong.