Of all the thousands of words generated this week by the debate over independence for Scotland the most important were not the phrasing of the SNP's preferred referendum question, vital as that is for the choice facing the country.

The most important were those used by Alex Salmond in his Hugo Young lecture: ''Scotland can be a beacon for progressive opinion south of the Border''.

Important because they look beyond the necessary but chewy wrangling over the details of the referendum to what kind of country Scotland wants to be in the future. For the really vital question is not simply should Scotland be independent, but why we would want to be. It is this question that has caught imaginations beyond the political community and ignited arguments and discussion in homes, offices and bars throughout the country.

If the independence debate has done nothing else it has encouraged us to look at the country we are and the country we might become. Whether by design or by accident the SNP's march towards the referendum has chimed with the mood of a country feeling at once more confident about its abilities and more alienated from the dominant culture in Britain.

When we look at Scotland today we see too much talent leaving, too many problems with health and poverty – which persist despite decades of governance by politicians who claim to have our best interests at heart – too deep an attraction to alcohol and drugs damaging too many people. And yet we also see much to be proud of and a growing awareness that the solution to our problems should lie in our own hands. And if we do not yet see Salmond's ''beacon of progressive opinion'' we at least see evidence that initiatives close to our hearts – long-term care for the elderly, no tuition fees, no prescription charges – are being protected.

When we look at Britain we see instead a Coalition Government unable or unwilling to tackle corporate greed, seemingly determined to make the most vulnerable pay for the sins of the richest, and still sabre-rattling over the Middle East while ignoring the dreadful lessons of "our" intervention in Iraq.

We are used, at such times, to turning to ideology to define ourselves but today we look to the political establishments which for many years served us well, and find them lost and confused. And so we look at the land in which we live, and wonder: couldn't we make this a land we're proud of? Couldn't this reflect the values we wish to shape our lives?

And yes, nationalism has been problematic. A distraction at times, from real ideological battles which once defined our lives. A retreat into past glories, past battles, a useless wallowing in "Wha's Like Us?" sentimentality as if an accident of birth somehow elevated us above our neighbours. And yet today it's possible to believe nationalism can mean something else entirely. It can ignore the false doctrine of "national characteristics" and focus instead on a shared culture; it can turn away from parochialism and forge international links with countries who share our values; it can give up once and for all the host of petty grievances we have held for too long against England and encourage us to take responsibility for our own lives.

So when Salmond says ''Scotland can be a beacon for progressive opinion'' we think it over, and decide that yes, we can.

Of course, Scotland may yet decide against independence. There are two years of debate, and dealing ahead. Circumstances change. There are important and difficult questions to be resolved before we get to the big question in hand. The economy, the currency, who can vote, what alternatives are on offer ... in fact, two years seems almost too short a time to thrash out the detail.

These are vitally important questions. But what is perhaps even more important is that the debate has started. And so when the harsh accusation – ''you're a relic'' – is thrown at LibDem peer Jim Wallace during the BBC independence debate and he stares with something approaching incomprehension at a generation suddenly turning on to politics you know, without doubt, Scotland has changed.

Changed in ways we're still struggling to understand but changed irrevocably. The old arguments, the old negativity, are irrelevant. We may not yet know where we're going. We may not yet know what awaits us when we arrive. But Scotland has moved on.