13) The more discomfort we feel at having our ignorance exposed the more it hinders our capacity to learn.
14) The teacher who humiliates a child in front of his peers, because of the child's difficulty in understanding rather than because of the child's misbehaviour, has done very significant damage to that child's education.
15) A course of action has, objectively, 50 factors in its favour and 400 factors against it. A first man cites the 50 factors while arguing articulately, persuasively and forcefully in favour of the course of action. The second man is aware of the 400 factors against the course of action but lacks the first man's oratory skills, cannot articulate himself well and feels uncomfortable in situations where he has to debate such issues. We will always be persuaded by what the first man has to say.
16) To claim to be the voice of Reason, and to condemn those who disagree with us as opponents or enemies of Reason, is as illusory as claiming to be on the side of God and claiming that those who disagree with us are enemies of God. To know Reason, in its pure sense, we need to go beyond conventional scientific or religious thinking.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Philosophical Musings 9-12
9) Consciousness cannot be raised by biology. Consciousness can only be raised by a Conscience that is True because it is Impartial.
10) To talk of brain simulation software is a lazy, adolescent and dismissive way of using language in order to try to explain away those things which do not fit comfortably into certain subjective views of life and the world.
11) The world's most brilliant intellectual can be completely insensitive to the feelings of those with whom he keeps regular company, not through indifference or cruelty but because he has never developed emotional understanding.
12) An Oxbridge professor of philosophy can be a complete dunce when it comes to the practical thinking required for loading a furniture van.
10) To talk of brain simulation software is a lazy, adolescent and dismissive way of using language in order to try to explain away those things which do not fit comfortably into certain subjective views of life and the world.
11) The world's most brilliant intellectual can be completely insensitive to the feelings of those with whom he keeps regular company, not through indifference or cruelty but because he has never developed emotional understanding.
12) An Oxbridge professor of philosophy can be a complete dunce when it comes to the practical thinking required for loading a furniture van.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Philosophical Musings 5-8
5) If what we feel is free of reaction, and what we sense is free from the interference of other parts of the psyche, then what we feel and what we sense has more life than our "thinking" has.
6) Many attitudes towards religion, whether they be from atheists or theists, are false. And the more fiercely hostile we are in defending or attacking such attitudes the further away we are likely to be from the Truth.
7) God does not exist where there is much heated debate about His existence or non-existence but only where the question has no relevance.
8) The more convinced we are that we are right about something intangible the more likely we are to be wrong.
6) Many attitudes towards religion, whether they be from atheists or theists, are false. And the more fiercely hostile we are in defending or attacking such attitudes the further away we are likely to be from the Truth.
7) God does not exist where there is much heated debate about His existence or non-existence but only where the question has no relevance.
8) The more convinced we are that we are right about something intangible the more likely we are to be wrong.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Philosophical Musings 1-4
1) Truth is neither the rational explanation of things according to turgid intellectual thought nor is it a rigid system of subjective morality imposed on us by institutional religion. Truth is something we can only approach when we are sensitive to the quality of the energies that are inside us and of those energies that enter us from outside.
2 ) We are only capable of pure or objective reason when the intellect, feelings and intelligence of the body are in perfect balance and working harmoniosly together. How far away we are from such a state! Ordinarily we see reason as just one leg of a three-legged stool and ignore the fact that the stool couldn't function as a stool without the other two legs.
3) We are too easily impressed by the winning of an argument. If we have more intellectual muscle, and are able to be more articulate and persuasively convincing in our line of argument, it does not mean to say that we are right. It simply means that we have more tools at our disposal with which to build a more impressive facade.
4) Many of our psychological problems are caused by ignorance of our physical constitution and how best to feed the intelligence of the body with what it needs in terms of the right balance of food, drink, exercise and practical or physical work. And this is variable in each and every one of us.
2 ) We are only capable of pure or objective reason when the intellect, feelings and intelligence of the body are in perfect balance and working harmoniosly together. How far away we are from such a state! Ordinarily we see reason as just one leg of a three-legged stool and ignore the fact that the stool couldn't function as a stool without the other two legs.
3) We are too easily impressed by the winning of an argument. If we have more intellectual muscle, and are able to be more articulate and persuasively convincing in our line of argument, it does not mean to say that we are right. It simply means that we have more tools at our disposal with which to build a more impressive facade.
4) Many of our psychological problems are caused by ignorance of our physical constitution and how best to feed the intelligence of the body with what it needs in terms of the right balance of food, drink, exercise and practical or physical work. And this is variable in each and every one of us.
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