Ok. For Raymond Boudon, individuals are rational, in the sense that they act according to, in their eyes, good reasons (which can be utilitarian, or theological, etc.).
In any way, the goal is to enhance rationality (more logic, more objective observation, more knowledge) in individuals.
That philosophers were a little more realistic.
When all you have to do is generate ideas, thereās a pull toward the wavy gravy.
Admitting as much, might be a good start.
Yes, in high school I learned about carburetors by taking them apart.
I learned a lot. Putting the pieces back together that was a challenge, and I learned even more. I did dang good putting those carburetors back together, outta a Ā±hundred pieces, I could get it down to only having a few little pieces left on the bench. No problem since those carburetors were never going to put into another car. Do you catch my drift?
How about being a little straightforward.
Every serious person recognizes that āhumans actions in this world we live in are done with forethought and consideration.ā
There is good and bad philosophy.
Didnāt you say āYou make it sound like humans actions in this world we live in are done with forethought and consideration?ā?
It starts with recognizing the
Physical Reality ~ Human Mind divide
Absorbing the reality of your body being an evolved biological thinking machine, produced by Earthās Evolutionary processes.
That leads to an appreciation that our biological body is the direct cumulative product of millions even billions of years of evolution unfolding upon this planet.
Meaning thereās an awful lot of awareness going on below our conscious awareness, that we are blind to.
That leads to a realization that your mind, that is, all your thoughts and feelings, are the cumulative product of all the days and experiences of your particular life.
Iāve never seen it. Heck mysticism tries to deny the body altogether. Why? I imagine because religions confine themselves to our Mindscape (the totality of human introspective conscious awareness, the thoughts and emotions we possess, and the battles we choose.)
Confronting Science Contrarians: What is āEarth Centrismā?
ā¦ Science and religion are subgroups of Human Mindscape, whereas Physical Reality simply IS, regardless of human anything.
Science seeks to objectively learn about this physical world that we find ourselves embedded within, but we should still recognize all our understanding is embedded within and constrained by our brainās Mindscape.
Religion and Philosophy are all about the human Mindscape itself, with its wonderful struggles, fears, spiritual undercurrents, needs and stories we create to give our liveās meaning and make it worth living, or at least bearable.
Whatās the point? Itās about better appreciating our āframe of referenceā. Our dreams and desires arenāt the center of Creation. Earth is. Our gods are reflections of our own egos and Earth is the stage that created all of its characters. ā¦
Yes. Itās the goal. Saying itās the goal implies we are not at the goal. If you start with an assumption that all people act with forethought, you are starting in a place I donāt recognize.
People are given bad information. They are abused. They are deliberately deceived. They have learning disabilities. They believe advertisers and private school teachers. Thet arenāt given emotional support. They have to choose between subsistence living and not living. The list goes on.
People are generally more emotional than thoughtful.
I sound like a broken record, but this is a good example of the lack of universal values as the definition of bad people varies from society to society.
Great point.
Whatās that old saying? Reason is the slave to desire or something along those lines.
I think deception and entitlement are universally considered as defining bad people.
But I agree with that.
People are capable of rationality though.
I think those issues are treated in Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters (Pinker, 2021).
Wanted to add something I realized today.
I define humanism as happiness and individualism.
As of today, the United States is the country where happiness and individualism are conjointly the most cherished and developed.
So the United States is, to me, the land of humanism.
Okay, just donāt take a walk in one of our inner city streets.
Then again maybe you should, I mean get out of the pages and get a taste of the reality of the mean streets American has created.
Iām sorry, not trying to be rude, but you embrace the romantic, but donāt look to the other side. But then thatās one our greatest qualities, progress is fantastic, but youād better not discuss the ugly āexternalitiesā that every miracle advance has produced in its wake.
So we wind up in this lala mental world where nothing means anything , because a guy will always come along to dispute and dismiss anything they find unpleasant - or just do it for the fun of being contrarian.
Iām listening to a little about Michel Onfrayā - Iāve yet to hear anything about Earthās Evolution, nor have I heard anything about our human biology or about recognizing physical reality as opposed the dreams in our head, or about our close kinship to other creatures. But, Iāll save that for the appropriate thread after a little more trawling re M.Oā¦
Heard a good interview on BBC radio of a guy discussing just that. Tech was touted as something that could help so many, but we didnāt implement that way.
Deception and entitlement towards family is considered bad everywhere in the world, but only in Western Culture is it considered bad to behave that way towards strangers.
Literally says not to do that in the Old and New Testaments, in Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius.
Hard to believe, but people often donāt follow religious texts to the letter.
Agree. Cultures are not just made of canonical religious texts, or of this cultureās āclassicsā (the most famous texts, be their literary, epic, etc.).