airborne Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 "Evasion is the root of irrationality. It is the intentional blinding of yourself to knowledge. If irrationality is going against your reason, it's only possible by refusing to see what you already know. Imagine you feel like skipping work, even though you know you could lose your job. The "solution" is to evade the knowledge that you could lose the job. Don't think about it. Don't think about the consequences of your actions. If you start to drift in that direction, refocus on something else. Think about the benefits you'll receive. That is the process of evasion." http://objectivism101.com/Lectures/Lecture25.shtml Right. Makes sense. However, what if I acknowledge that I can loose my job and then think about the benefits? Is this still evasion? Or would it make more sense if said in the following way: I acknowledge that I can loose my job but believe the benefits outweigh the risk. Risk to be caught is minimal and reward will probably be worth it. How does one know one is not engaging in evasion then? Reason I'm asking all this is because I've got a decision coming up regarding army, and I really have to decide whether I really want a 3-4year commitment or I'm just evading something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KendallJ Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 Airborne, as stated, one can't tell. Are you skipping out to play hookie, or to take your wife to the hospital? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborne Posted October 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 Airborne, as stated, one can't tell. Are you skipping out to play hookie, or to take your wife to the hospital? Completely true. I just needed to think about it more... If I evade the consequences and then drift to benefits it must be evasion. but If I acknowledge the risks but believe the benefits will be worth it it would not be evasion. E.g. I go to a job interview at a firm I've always wanted to work for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 However, what if I acknowledge that I can loose my job and then think about the benefits? Is this still evasion?If you acknowledge that you can lose your job, that's recognition, not evasion. If you think about the positive results of not holding that job, that's thinking, not evasion. But if you discover that your job sucks and wander on in that job for another 6 months all the while with the job destroying your psyche, and don't quit the job, that's probably evasion. Also, if you focus on the upside of unemployment (free time) and ignore the downside (no visible means of survival), that's evasion. If there's a better job, quit the present job and take the better job. If not, assuming you're not rich enough to not need to work for a living, it would be evasion to allow the supposed benefits of getting fired to distract you from the task of staying employed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc K. Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Yes. And to expand slightly there is what I would consider evasion of responsibility which may or may not be covered by the intellectual evasion commented on already. Once you took the job voluntarily, you agreed to a contract with the employer and accepted certain responsibilities that you must morally live up to. Which is not to say that taking a "mental health" day as a sick day would be immoral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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