Mistaking fact with opinions

[Tonix777]

This is probably one of the most terrible mistakes people can make in their lives, and the mistake that is possibly hurting the most the modern Western Civilization.

Legions of persons, living in the protective umbrella of developed countries/cities/societies have totally lost the perspective about what it is really living in this World, what it takes to any individual of any living species to survive, flourish and ultimately to die

They have lost their reality checks and can go away with this because the "society" (the tribe) protects them from their own mistakes.

But reality, the final unappeasable, unappealable arbiter of everything usually comes sooner or later with the truth on one hand and a swath in the other and the candid smile of a child in the face to make accountable everyone for the mistakes made. Then "life is unfair" when it doesn't match my whims...

Examples:

-"This cougar is just a big cat, let's have one in our backyard"

or

-"Rich people are responsible for the existence of poor people in the World"

or

-"Doctor Smith must save me from this strange tumor, otherwise I will sue him"

Of course everyone needs opinions because they are essential to make the infinite choices that allow us to keep ourselves alive and move forward.

But of course the cougar killed one of their kids, poor people existed before rich people and doctor Smith is not God.

And it gets worse since erroneous opinions are like transmissible diseases: They travel fast from person to person, hosting specially in brains not used to check information against the only a final judge of everything: Reality.

Some people of this kind are fortunate and can live all their lives in this sort of "pink lie" supported by the effort and thinking of other people. Other less fortunate just die or live unhappy because of their mistakes, without finally knowing what happened

This essential mistake is in big part responsibility from the default and ultimate failure of the ones supposed to help to guide the course of humanity's mental evolution: Philosophers, who contribute everyday to this confusion of Metaphysics with Epistemology allowing the fundamental mistake of taking one opinion of the World as the World itself.

They are supposed to be the enlightened, the best thinkers, the beacon in the night but instead they resigned from reason and engaged in the same mainstream fallacies and faults than the "common citizen" who they were supposed to help. Mysticism, grayness, subjectivism, ignorance, magic-thinking, laziness, cowardice, to name a few are the vices supposed to be fought by philosophers but they mostly don't.

It is up to everyone of us to correct this, because the future of the World and our kids is in our hands...

[dream_weaver]

This is probably one of the most terrible mistakes people can make in their lives, and the mistake that is possibly hurting the most the modern Western Civilization.

Legions of persons, living in the protective umbrella of developed countries/cities/societies have totally lost the perspective about what it is really living in this World, what it takes to any individual of any living species to survive, flourish and ultimately to die

They have lost their reality checks and can go away with this because the "society" (the tribe) protects them from their own mistakes.

But reality, the final unappeasable, unappealable arbiter of everything usually comes sooner or later with the truth on one hand and a swath in the other and the candid smile of a child in the face to make accountable everyone for the mistakes made. Then "life is unfair" when it doesn't match my whims...

You do enjoy allegory.

Examples:

-"This cougar is just a big cat, let's have one in our backyard"

or

-"Rich people are responsible for the existence of poor people in the World"

or

-"Doctor Smith must save me from this strange tumor, otherwise I will sue him"

Of course everyone needs opinions because they are essential to make the infinite choices that allow us to keep ourselves alive and move forward.

While many have opinions, the root of the innumerable choices available to man is volition, or free will.

But of course the cougar killed one of their kids, poor people existed before rich people and doctor Smith is not God.

And it gets worse since erroneous opinions are like transmissible diseases: They travel fast from person to person, hosting specially in brains not used to check information against the only a final judge of everything: Reality.

Some more allegory.

Some people of this kind are fortunate and can live all their lives in this sort of "pink lie" supported by the effort and thinking of other people. Other less fortunate just die or live unhappy because of their mistakes, without finally knowing what happened

Still waiting for the most terrible mistake people can make . . .

This essential mistake is in big part responsibility from the default and ultimate failure of the ones supposed to help to guide the course of humanity's mental evolution: Philosophers, who contribute everyday to this confusion of Metaphysics with Epistemology allowing the fundamental mistake of taking one opinion of the World as the World itself.

They are supposed to be the enlightened, the best thinkers, the beacon in the night but instead they resigned from reason and engaged in the same mainstream fallacies and faults than the "common citizen" who they were supposed to help. Mysticism, grayness, subjectivism, ignorance, magic-thinking, laziness, cowardice, to name a few are the vices supposed to be fought by philosophers but they mostly don't.

Was it a mistake made by people in general, oh wait, the pseudo-intellectuals serving as the gate-keepers in the universities and owners directing the content within the various media organizations.

Supposed to help? A duty, imposed by whom on whom? Immanual Kant?

It is up to everyone of us to correct this, because the future of the World and our kids is in our hands...

Every individual must choose to focus and think for themselves - it cannot be done for others, by others even when exhorted, unless you believe you are able to demonstrate what you are opining here.

[JayR]

Harry Binswangers new lecture "The objective vs. the Intrinsic and the Subjective" deals with this type of thinking. He starts by posing the question "whats wrong with people?", meaning, whats wrong with the way people think, and then goes on to show (in well thought out concrete examples) how a bad epistemology can wreak havoc in every aspect of a mans life. Its a good lecture, I recommend it. He says the wrong/bad ideas most people hold stem from automatized knowledge of man made facts that are taken as self evident in the mind. After thinking long and hard on this he realized that Ayn Rand had stated it in a sentence in ITOE:

"The status of automatized knowledge, in his mind is experienced by man as if it had the direct, effortless, self-evident quality (and certainty) of perceptual awareness. But it is conceptual knowledge--and its validity depends on the precision of his concepts,.....

Talk about checking your premises...

j..

[JayR]

You do enjoy allegory.

[Tonix777]

You do enjoy allegory.

You are right: I do.

Still waiting for the most terrible mistake people can make.

The terrible mistake I say many people make is expressed in the title:

"Confusing facts with opinions"

Supposed to help? A duty, imposed by whom on whom? Immanual Kant?.

Well... Professional intellectuals are supposed to do that as their job: Thinking

Unfortunately most of them are too influenced by the mainstream, not being able to think out of the box

or too afraid to lose their "customers" who buy their books, ideas, college classes, etc.

I am living in USA since two years ago and I am amazed about the tiny number

of Objectivists that you can find anywhere

In fact I came to USA somehow following Ayn Rand's ideals but haven't yet met any Objectivist

in the flesh, not even a single person that have read more than one book or Ms Rand long time ago,

and most of them don't like her ideas...

Isn't it strange? Is there perhaps some secret meeting place I don't know about?

Edited May 7, 2010 by Tonix777

[John]

I like this post. Opinions are full of uncertainty and not knowing true facts can lead to terrible decisions.

[Tonix777]

I like this post. Opinions are full of uncertainty and not knowing true facts can lead to terrible decisions.

Well... It is a little more complicated than this in my opinion:

(talking about opinions...)

"72º" is a fact, "warm" or "cold" are opinions but unfortunately facts alone are not enough, the really important things in the end are opinions because they are our value-judgements in play.

Do you know what I sell to the company I work for? Facts? rarely, I mostly sell my opinions, that in turn drive my decision-making system into a good success/failure rate in some practical results or facts. Being "success" and "failure" also opinions!

(I also sell the opinion about myself that I am capable of generate in others when marketing my image and my work, but this is another different subject...)

Same in life: we are all the product of our opinions that influenced all the millions of big and small decisions that carried everyone of us to the exact place where we are now

Edited May 7, 2010 by Tonix777