ann@dcc1.UUCP (Ann Heyman) (03/01/88)
I copied this unattributed quote a couple of years ago from the net and although it purports to be about the political process, I have found it applies quite well to life in general. As to its suitability for this newsgroup, now that I am a mid-life psych major in college, I find it reflected in more and more of my psych classes: Some important facts: 1) If you influence people's beliefs, you influence their actions. 2) Sometimes the truth doesn't have the desired effect. 3) Most people can be convinced of beliefs by invalid arguments, or valid arguments based on doubtful evidence. 4) Almost everything we think we know about world events has been told to us by other people. Given (1), it's only natural that people spend a great deal of time in political arguments. Given (2), many people will find the truth doesn't help out their political purpose. Some will realize that conventionally defined truth is no help to them, and get around the problem by redefining truth as "what it is useful to get other people to believe". Hence the title, "Strategic Epistemology". From (3), it follows that it is fairly easy to spread the new truth. From (4), and the above considerations, it doesn't quite follow that everything you know is wrong, but let's just say that a lot of it is doubtful. -- /*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/ Ann Heyman / DeKalb College / Another great mind - gatech!dcc1@ann / Ruined by higher education
rissa@chinet.UUCP (Patricia O Tuama) (03/05/88)
In article <294@dcc1.UUCP> ann@dcc1.UUCP writes:
.>Some important facts:
.>1) If you influence people's beliefs, you influence their actions.
.>2) Sometimes the truth doesn't have the desired effect.
.>3) Most people can be convinced of beliefs by invalid arguments,
.> or valid arguments based on doubtful evidence.
.>4) Almost everything we think we know about world events has been
.> told to us by other people.
.>
.>Given (1), it's only natural that people spend a great deal of time
.>in political arguments. Given (2), many people will find the truth
.>doesn't help out their political purpose. Some will realize that
.>conventionally defined truth is no help to them, and get around the
.>problem by redefining truth as "what it is useful to get other people
.>to believe". Hence the title, "Strategic Epistemology". From (3),
.>it follows that it is fairly easy to spread the new truth. From (4),
.>and the above considerations, it doesn't quite follow that everything
.>you know is wrong, but let's just say that a lot of it is doubtful.
I don't see how you can take any of these "facts" as "given"
with the possible exception of #4. If nothing else, your
coursework in psychology should be teaching you to approach
all such "truisms" with scepticism. Universal facts are very
seldom either factual or universal.
.
t r i s h a o t u a m a