Disinterest

@debrakcarey (19887)
United States
June 5, 2012 11:30am CST
http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/features/passion-and-the-pursuit-of-truth After reading this I thought; could this be what is missing in our society? Could it be that we do not practice 'disinterest'. Have we become to sure of what we 'know' and in being so sure of our knowledge our supposed wisdom, we consider no other possibility? Are we a society of agendas? To judge without prejudice. to observe without inclination, to weigh the facts without placing a thumb on the scales. To be 'intellectual' is to have no bias, observe and to think. To have no agenda. But our classrooms and institutions are full of those who lay claim to being intellectuals but do not think for themselves.
1 person likes this
3 responses
peavey
@peavey (16936)
• United States
6 Jun 12
I think what you're looking for is objectivity and that's a rare condition of the human mind. Someone who can be totally - or even partly - objective can truly see both sides of any issue and make decisions knowing full well that there are other ways of looking at things. I see this problem clearly in politics and religion, the two most volatile topics ever. I don't know if a person can develop that in himself, if one can be taught it or if one is born with it, but most people do not have it, at least in any obvious way. A truly wise man once told two women who were squabbling over which one birthed a certain baby that they should cut the child in two and divide it between them. (The true mother, of course, was willing to give the child to the other, rather than see it killed this way.) This wise man, however couldn't see his own follies. He could be objective in one way and quite subjective in another. This is the human condition, I believe.
peavey
@peavey (16936)
• United States
6 Jun 12
You're probably right in that it can be taught to a certain extent. Considering the objectivity of your father, though, it might have been inherited! Either way, it's not a common thing. For me... I can be objective when I want to. People have strong views and feelings when it comes to either politics or religion and that makes being objective difficult. I started a discussion on a video that I thought was funny (and I still think it is), but many responses only took into account the text above the video, along with their preconceived ideas or viewpoints on the subject matter and missed the humor altogether. Maybe a case in point.
debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
6 Jun 12
oooh. what was the discussion, got a link! Now you grabbed MY attention.
debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
6 Jun 12
I think objectivity is both learned and inborn. It can be squashed by our upbringing and life experiences. It can be nurtured as well. I was fortunate, my family was a family of thinkers and talkers. I was encouraged to think, and to see all sides. It grieves me that so many are content to just take someones word for something and go along with the crowd. My dad used to 'play the devil's advocate' with me. I'd ask a question, express a view and he'd begin by coming at it from the totally opposite view. I'd get mad, and start getting emotional, and he'd say to me, how is it you believe this, but cannot show me why? I'd have to go off and think.....and come back with the more rational reasons for my thoughts. I still get emotional, (mom's side of the family, lol) but now I am better at seeing the other view too. Religion: man's reaching for truth, seeking God or answers to those big questions. Politics: man's trying to reach his fellow man in hopefully cooperation. both are ways we rule ourselves and are therefore, very important to understand. that's my opinion anyway.
its-logos-plus-logic
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
5 Jun 12
I think in this day and age, many folks believe the questions to life and origins of life, thus the meaning of life or lack thereof, have been proven. This, actually is far from the truth and I for one wish people knew so, and would be educate4d so!! I think it is due to agenda within our educational system, even the primary anymore. No branch or party of government should hold sway over the education of a nation, but I am quite sure this is the very case in our modern world, thus things not true, but simply at best, speculation, are taught as fact, proven and concrete. How sad. No wonder young adults often seem to be very angry, they are taught and led to believe there is no purpose to life.. and no hope of finding the true answers for life, having been taught for years the answers have been answered and proven, when indeed pretty much the opposite is true (science actually disproves man's modern theory of life, and it's offshoot of modern 'ethics' as somewhat of a scary supposition the way it is sometimes thought of and discussed in our nation's ivory towers - shocking some of the things they are discussing, with echoes of 'survival of the fittest' in all its inhumanity).
debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
5 Jun 12
Survival of the fittest has indeed snuck into our medical sciences, our politics, our courts, our thinking on so many different subjects. How different might life be if we still believed that man's purpose was NOT just to survive, but to seek the truth, honor our Creator, live selflessly for the common good, in short...all the 'ethical' and 'wise' teachings of most of the world's religious doctrines. Could it be that in learning 'fact' we have missed wisdom?
adee28
@adee28 (32)
• Philippines
6 Jun 12
I think that scientific efforts that lead to discoveries about ourselves and the universe are ways of seeking the truth. Sometimes really if one is a passionate seeker he/she hardly base his system of ethics or moral principles on what is taught directly from other. He must find it for himself. Some develop their moral principles out of nothing, like for example, being good in spite of the nonexistence of God or any beliefs that warrant in order for a person to be wise or ethical.
debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
6 Jun 12
I am a believer, but I count amongst my friends those who do not believe. I have found that it is not a requirement to believe in a God to be moral. I guess, truth seeking is my passion. It helps to have an anchor, an absolute while sailing around the sea of ideas looking for the truth. I do agree, a person must find for themselves, but I also see so many who limit themselves to a narrow perspective, and I don't mean because of religion, science can do the same. Cause us to narrow our possibilities. I've always felt there was so much more to the universe than what can be measured.
Secret
@IntrovertShy (2780)
• Marikina, Philippines
10 Jun 12
That is so difficult. The reality is people have this different knowledge and we are born to know the truth, and we have also different intellectual that we can share to the whole world. The world is not perfect and it is already stated in the bible that we are going to open our eyes and knows what is right and wrong by a symbolical satan in the tree of knowledge
debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
11 Jun 12
I think the tree of knowledge of good and evil is symbolic of our conscience. We ponder this, the animals do not. They operate on instinct, we develope law codes, we feel shame, we regret, we feel guilt and we hide the things we feel we do are wrong. Wisdom, now that is a different story. Wisdom is of God. It is submitting to the truth even if it does not fit our perception of things.