Thought Projects: An Investigation Into My Own Philosophy

A Though Project

By Eric McQuiston

Every so often, I find myself circling an idea — not to solve it, but to understand what it’s made of. These explorations, which I’ve come to call Thought Projects, aren’t essays in the usual sense. They’re not meant to persuade or perform. They’re investigations — quiet dig sites where I turn over the stones of my own thinking to see what lies beneath.

A Thought Project begins with a question: Why do I believe this? What if I’m wrong? What if the opposite were true? It’s less about arriving at an answer than learning to listen to my own reasoning. In that way, each project becomes a kind of map — not of certainty, but of awareness.

For me, this process is deeply personal. I’ve spent much of my life designing physical spaces — landscapes, places where people move, rest, and belong. But Thought Projects are internal landscapes. They help me shape the mental terrain where ideas, memories, and experiences coexist. They are sketches of the unseen — the structure of belief, the grading of values, the light and shadow of perspective.

Some of these projects may sound philosophical, others practical or even whimsical. But they all share the same root: an honest attempt to understand how I see the world and how that vision shapes what I create. They are, in essence, the architecture of my personal philosophy — built not from doctrine, but from curiosity, humility, and the willingness to question myself.

I don’t claim to have answers. In truth, I’m more interested in the questions — in how thinking itself can be an act of creation. Each Thought Project is a snapshot of that ongoing process: the search for clarity, meaning, and a kind of peace that comes from knowing one’s own foundations.

So when you read them, think of them not as lectures, but as open doors. Step in, wander around, and maybe start a few thought projects of your own.

~ Eric