"My point was that beliefs are the sort of ideas you're talking about, that can be more or less informed, and the belief I'm talking about is in the importance of Enlightenment itself."

Yeah, I know. I know they're not the same. I guess I think they're more similar than you do? I don't know what my dad thought about Enlightenment.

It's not like I'm not interested in Enlightenment, or whatever you want to call it. Or Big Ideas. But for me it's a more personal matter. I am highly interested in seeking my own personal Enlightenment, and I believe I will be able to do that through living life. I don't think it's something I'll find through discussion; but I think we have very different ideas on what Enlightenment is, that's part of the problem.

I don't think that the Foreign Service necessitates I give up thinking about big ideas, in any case.