Verbatim quote · from the corpus

“What, then, is the horizon of any act of deferral? What is its “reach”? Once we’ve deferred something, for how long have we deferred it? It seems plausible to suggest that it impossible to “invest” in any act of deferral while dwelling on, or perhaps even entertaining the possibility of, its fallibility–in other words, I have to completely believe my act of deferral will succeed, at least for that period in which I am enacting it; which would further imply that I must exclude from consideration all the indications which suggest that it might not, in fact succeed. I can and must recognize and assimilate those indications, but only in the form of those unavoidable immediate modifications in my act of deferral as I articulate it—I can’t imagine them as fully imagined forces which might render the act of deferral useless. The fact that I can look back afterward and note how risky the whole business in fact was can’t, then, provide any knowledge that would be useful in the midst of the next act of deferral except insofar as the very act of looking back, itself, guided by an interest in preserving the sign, sharpens my sensitivity to the immediate appearance of counter-indications. (But it might just as easily dull my sensitivities to unprecedented indications.) Our horizons, though, can be progressively extended insofar as any act of deferral leaves behind it a sign, which can be repeated by someone other than myself, and provides a starting point for the next act of deferral: to defend that sign.”

— Adam Katz, Lecture 3: Deferral of Violence · Essays & Articles