Proof of Brain: Of Perspectives, Arguments, Closing Minds and Cognitive Biases

"Belief" is a funny thing.

Now, before anyone gets their shorts in an uproar, I'm not talking religion here, I'm talking about "belief" in the context of what we generally (individually, and collectively) hold to be true about the world around us, and existence in general.

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To preface: I get all manners of newsy email in my in-box every day. I say "all manners" because I have visited (and often signed up for updates/newsletters) a very wide spectrum of web sites and forums, as far as politics, finance and sociology goes.

I often get accused of "fence sitting" because I am seldom deeply entrenched in one perspective or another; I prefer to think of myself as an adherent to the philosophy of having perspectives rather than rattling sabers behind specific causes. If you don't truly and deeply understand who your "enemy" is and what they believe, how do you even KNOW that they actually are the enemy? Because someone else told you? Because it suits your reality?

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Anyway, to get back to the flood of emails and "beliefs" what I find particularly fascinating about the Human Condition is the way we tend to fixate — often without question or inquiry into the associated veracity — on those things that support our general beliefs about reality... while simultaneously remaining largely blind to those things that might poke holes in the foundations of those very beliefs.

At the most extreme end of the spectrum, we find those who take what is — ultimately — just a "perspective" and start labeling it as "the absolute facts."

One of my old friends down in Portland, OR has been a dedicated "Free Speech Activist" for over 30 years. He's outspoken and provocative, and has frequently been banned, both from virtual spaces, as well as from physical spaces. I wrote a piece about him, a few years back, if you care.

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Anyway, he's just one member of a growing trend of visitors to my email space who seems to have fallen prey to the cognitive blindness disease that seems to be "closing minds" all over the place. What I mean by that is the way we humans like to seek out and highlight information that supports our perspectives and point to it as "absolute fact" while ignoring and dismissing equally compelling information that questions our perspectives and point to that as "nonsense and hearsay."

Truth is, there's very little we truly know about the greater situation in the world, and who's actually pulling which strings and precisely what their underlying motivations are. We can suppose to know that things are being done for benevolent reasons, or nefarious reasons, or for the money, or for power, or for total world domination or God knows what else... but who actually has the bone dry FACTS?

Certainly not I...

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And even when we have those facts, how do we choose to interpret them? So often, you can have something be an absolutely documented fact and yet... according to one person's perspective that's "a terrible thing" and according to another person's perspective" that's "a WONDERFUL thing!"

And yet, a fact is just a fact. But the fact "74 degrees" might mean "it's WARM" to one person, and "iy's COLD" to another. Who's "right?" Nobody? Both?

A wise and insightful person once pointed out that we humans have TWO ears to listen with and ONE mouth to speak with... and yet most people spend far more time using their mouth than their ears.

Somehow, I can't stop thinking about an old saying, from local Texas politics: "Don't confuse me with the FACTS when my mind is already made up!"

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I'm not sure what the deeper "message" is, in all this, other than the general observation that we so often fall into the "trap" of making it more important to BE RIGHT than to HAVE UNDERSTANDING of the situations and events we face.

I tend to not "invest myself" in very many worldly arguments because so often most parties miserably FAIL what I call the "but how do you KNOW that?" test. Of course people have lots of ideas about how they "know" things... but they fall apart when I reiterate "yes, but how do YOU know that?"

Truly? I think we know very little. I know I know very little. So I guess I'll just leave it at that... and keep digging and learning.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

How about YOU? Do we ever REALLY know what the facts are? Or do we get "stuck" in our BELIEFS about situations and events? Do you find it hard or easy to "change direction" when new information is revealed? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20210904 17:22 PDT

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If the streets are full of zombies in muzzles, and people are getting injections and dying a few days later, and the economy is crashing...all verifiable facts that I have fully confirmed myself... then it's unlikely that this is a good thing!

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Part of the problem, isn't it? A lot of people don't want the facts to be facts so they choose to exist their existence. And that seems to happen everywhere, regardless of people's politics, religion, social background and so on. Sometimes, I feel like I should be flying a flag at half mast to mourn the death of critical thinking...

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Do wereally need a blazing opinion on everything? This is what brought me back to Japan, not having to argue every opinion. Even when people obviously disagree, they let up faster and with less arguing.

I am always happy to change my ideas when I encounter different information or experiences. I definitely have a few strong believes but I’ll try to listen to anything at least once. The only thing I'm not open minded to is that attitude of "everyone else is wrong" and bad and part of the problem

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I'm inclined to agree. Danish culture — to which I am native, although I no longer live there — is similar to Japanese, in many ways. I talk a lot with my relatives over there, and we have very different views, but a "discussion" doesn't mean there must be "winners" and "losers," it's merely a sharing of perspectives and information.

My cousin (Danish) is a sociologist who lived in the US for 12 years and now is back in Denmark. His observation was that US culture has an inherently antagonistic slant... almost all points of view are approached from an "us vs. them" perspective. He pointed to an interesting (and surprisingly simple) example: the way sports in the US (specifically football, basketball and baseball) generally require overtime or extra innings because there "must" be a winner... a draw is not an "acceptable" outcome. Not always, but mostly. A draw is a perfectly honorable outcome in most of the rest of the world.

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I totally agree with his assessment. This is exactly why I left…

I really think America and Japan can learn from each other. Two extremes. Danish culture sounds like a nice balance. Don’t you live in America? I knew you weren’t in your home country.

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Brings to mind some words of others that have stuck with me over the years. Unfortunately, I forget who said them...

I paraphrase:

"The most distorted view possible is the view that your own is not distorted"

"Why do you believe what you believe you believe?"

The former might have been Robert Anton Wilson and the latter, Alan Watts

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Yeah, I can totally see that first one coming from RAW. Along with "Only the madman is absolutely sure."

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That's a good one, hadn't heard it before. So very true. Goes all the way back to Socrates: 'I know that I know nothing'

I always found Wilson a truly great thinker and engaging writer. Entertaining and just really funny too. I need to read more of his work, it's been too long. Prometheus Rising was his latest read for me, plus a couple of essays and short-stories around the same time

That would of been... 13 years ago

Wow

Time

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Your world of encouragement is noted, some people's proof of brain is for religion but in addition to this article we are one community thanks and have a nice day.


Posted via proofofbrain.io

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