The responsibility for how I know what I know is mine. My life is about perception, reason, and the accumulation of knowledge. I enjoy most situations, examining and debating both sides of any question - sometimes at great length. I push boundries and experiment with unconventional ideas. And affirm the sufficiency of human experience, welcoming all new information.
I want to be a good person, to live a satisfying life, and avoid as much pain as possible. What I do not have is a consensus about how to get those things. How am I to be a good person? What is the way to live a satisfying life? How can I best avoid pain? There are many proposed answers, but how do I choose from them? How do I know? How do I know that compassion and honesty are qualities a good person shows? How do I know that reason, creativity, effort, and generosity are the keys to a satisfying life? How do I know that some combination of science, dignity, and eventual acceptance is the most effective response to pain? I know these answers from my observations and other experiences. I am also aware that it is possible my answers are wrong.
I believe all questions of human living should be answered on the basis of human knowledge, human reason, and human experience. I could never ignore my responsibility for finding answers that make sense to me. If my life is not satisfying, I will not complain to some figure head whose rules I have followed with the expectation of being rewarded; rather, I will discover a path to fulfillment by my own process of exploration, by the evidence of my own observations.
I am not suggesting that I function as an isolated individual, making all the same mistakes as others and reinventing the same wheels over and over, life is too short. The largest part of what I understand about achieving peace and satisfaction in life, I have learned from people I have never met: People who are dead, or who will never know of their influence upon me. I didn't have to find out for myself that it is wrong to hurt others, or to abuse drugs. I learned by listening to and observing other peoples experiences. I do not know everything I need or wish to know, but continue to gain more understanding with every year that passes.
There are several types of evidence that I accept as criteria for knowing something, for recognizing something as wisdom. It is my responsibility to recognize and distinguish among them. There are my personal experiences, but if those were all I trusted, the whole resource of others wisdom would be lost to me. There is a lot that I am content to believe because it is in accordance with reason. I have never died, but I accept the logic that says I will. I accept many accounts of the experiences of others - That giving birth is both painful and rewarding. That war is devastating. And even though these experiences are not my own, I say that I know these things. I have never measured the length of a mile, but I accept the authority of those who have, who tell me that it is 5,280 feet, and I say I know this. More interestingly, I say that divorce is painful. That parenthood is both rewarding and frustrating. That my children love me. But what evidence can I offer to attempt to prove any of these propositions?
I have emotional, moral, aesthetic and spiritual convictions that are not arguable in the formal sense. I acknowledge that my beliefs are the products of perception and experience, and that I am responsible for them. I cannot just believe what ever I want. Rather, I have embraced the discipline of believing what the evidence indicates is true.
The beliefs that grow from human experience should never become dogmatic. It is always possible that I, you, or we together are wrong, even in our most treasured assurances. I believe that it is wrong to steal, and to be cruel, and I know it is good to be gentle, cheerful, and generous. I am not talking about the cumulative human experience from which I draw wisdom, but about the sort of world that I'd like to live in, and the kind of person I want to be in the future.
When I say that it is better to be concerned for others than to be indifferent, and someone asks "How do you know?" My legitimate reply is, "Because that is the kind of world I want to live in, and the kind of person I hope to be." By the same token, I must also accept the disciplines of my own aspirations. If the world I want to live in is peaceful, I cannot go around causing hate and discontent. If the kind of person I want to be is courageous, then I must not shy away from necessary risks and the exercise of fortitude. Not because some revelation has instructed me, but because these are the implications of my hopes for the future.
Still, I could always be wrong. My aspirations are the products of experience, of perception and reason, and they evolve with time, and the accumulation of wisdom. They are never infallible. Someday my children will look at everything I didn't know and sigh because of my narrow mindedness, and take on the task of building a world that I cannot now imagine - but that too is part of my vision and my hope.
I want to be a good person, to live a satisfying life, and avoid as much pain as possible. What I do not have is a consensus about how to get those things. How am I to be a good person? What is the way to live a satisfying life? How can I best avoid pain? There are many proposed answers, but how do I choose from them? How do I know? How do I know that compassion and honesty are qualities a good person shows? How do I know that reason, creativity, effort, and generosity are the keys to a satisfying life? How do I know that some combination of science, dignity, and eventual acceptance is the most effective response to pain? I know these answers from my observations and other experiences. I am also aware that it is possible my answers are wrong.
I believe all questions of human living should be answered on the basis of human knowledge, human reason, and human experience. I could never ignore my responsibility for finding answers that make sense to me. If my life is not satisfying, I will not complain to some figure head whose rules I have followed with the expectation of being rewarded; rather, I will discover a path to fulfillment by my own process of exploration, by the evidence of my own observations.
I am not suggesting that I function as an isolated individual, making all the same mistakes as others and reinventing the same wheels over and over, life is too short. The largest part of what I understand about achieving peace and satisfaction in life, I have learned from people I have never met: People who are dead, or who will never know of their influence upon me. I didn't have to find out for myself that it is wrong to hurt others, or to abuse drugs. I learned by listening to and observing other peoples experiences. I do not know everything I need or wish to know, but continue to gain more understanding with every year that passes.
There are several types of evidence that I accept as criteria for knowing something, for recognizing something as wisdom. It is my responsibility to recognize and distinguish among them. There are my personal experiences, but if those were all I trusted, the whole resource of others wisdom would be lost to me. There is a lot that I am content to believe because it is in accordance with reason. I have never died, but I accept the logic that says I will. I accept many accounts of the experiences of others - That giving birth is both painful and rewarding. That war is devastating. And even though these experiences are not my own, I say that I know these things. I have never measured the length of a mile, but I accept the authority of those who have, who tell me that it is 5,280 feet, and I say I know this. More interestingly, I say that divorce is painful. That parenthood is both rewarding and frustrating. That my children love me. But what evidence can I offer to attempt to prove any of these propositions?
I have emotional, moral, aesthetic and spiritual convictions that are not arguable in the formal sense. I acknowledge that my beliefs are the products of perception and experience, and that I am responsible for them. I cannot just believe what ever I want. Rather, I have embraced the discipline of believing what the evidence indicates is true.
The beliefs that grow from human experience should never become dogmatic. It is always possible that I, you, or we together are wrong, even in our most treasured assurances. I believe that it is wrong to steal, and to be cruel, and I know it is good to be gentle, cheerful, and generous. I am not talking about the cumulative human experience from which I draw wisdom, but about the sort of world that I'd like to live in, and the kind of person I want to be in the future.
When I say that it is better to be concerned for others than to be indifferent, and someone asks "How do you know?" My legitimate reply is, "Because that is the kind of world I want to live in, and the kind of person I hope to be." By the same token, I must also accept the disciplines of my own aspirations. If the world I want to live in is peaceful, I cannot go around causing hate and discontent. If the kind of person I want to be is courageous, then I must not shy away from necessary risks and the exercise of fortitude. Not because some revelation has instructed me, but because these are the implications of my hopes for the future.
Still, I could always be wrong. My aspirations are the products of experience, of perception and reason, and they evolve with time, and the accumulation of wisdom. They are never infallible. Someday my children will look at everything I didn't know and sigh because of my narrow mindedness, and take on the task of building a world that I cannot now imagine - but that too is part of my vision and my hope.
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