Why some beliefs need not be examined

I mentioned in my initial post that all beliefs do not need to be subjected to intense reasoned analysis. This is for several reasons. First, to do so would be tedious and not particularily worthwhile. Bertrand Russell’s famous attempt to prove everything resulted in some 300-odd pages – and he only got as far as 1+1=2. 1+1=2 is a perfect example of something I consider self-evident. It’s clean, obvious and prompts no debate or skepticism. Others include, “the sky is blue,” “I am human,” “I exist,” etc. The most severe skeptics will question even these. Perhaps I don’t exist, but rather, my existence is merely an illusion or dream if you like fed to my brain by a machine. In this scenario, I am not actually typing this sentence, I am merely a brain floating in a tank. While this thinking produces many other fascinating philisophical exercises/movie plots, it limits the extent to which we can examine more “real-world” issues. If every debate over the gas tax holiday must be preceded by debates over whether gasoline as a substance exists at all, not a lot of progress will be made. So, for my purposes, anything that is so obviously self-evident that debating it would be tedious will be assumed to be true.

Though these initial posts may seem dry, I will eventually move to more interesting topics. Trust me.

Thanks for reading.

Not all those who wander are lost: A mission

A good many people are convinced that they’re right. “John McCain has the wrong ideas for America;” “Blue goes with the sofa better than brown;” “Thou shalt have no other God but me.” I find it troublesome, however, that these assertions tend to evade careful evaluation. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” As such, I intend to subject a variety of such claims to a reasoned an analysis as possible. Does John McCain have the wrong ideas for America? Why does blue go best with the sofa? Should we have no other god but God?

But first, and perhaps more important, is the question, “Why bother?”

Per my central premise, examination itself must be examined. The reason is clear. If the examination of ideas is shown to lack merit, both you, the reader, and I, the writer, can abandon this endeavor in favor of more worthwhile pursuits. I find this not to be the case. Examination of ideas, claims, etc. aids us in sorting out what we believe. What we believe in turn plays a rold in how we live our lives. Sam Harris, in The End of Faith, explains:

“A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything else in a person’s life. Are you a scientist? A liberal? A racist? These are merely species of belief in action. Your beliefs define your vision of the world; they dictate your behavior; they determine your emotional responses to other human beings. If you doubt this, consider how your experience would suddenly change if you came to believe one of the following prepositions:

1. You have only two weeks to live.
2. You’ve just won a lottery prize of one hundred million dollars.
3. Aliens have implanted a receiver in your skull and are manipulating your
   thoughts.

These are mere words–until you believe them. Once believed, they become part
of the very apparatus of your mind, determining your desires, fears,
expectations, and subsequent behavior” (12).

Examining our beliefs carefully is valuable, then, because our beliefs affect our lives. If we want our lives to be at least primarily founded in rationality, we should be sure that our beliefs are also, in general, rational. (Complete analysis of every belief is unnecessary; I will address this later.)

A few items worth mentioning:

• Beyond the Flock is so named because many of the conclusions I will draw run contrary to what many people believe. Thus, the need to examine each conclusion carefully.
• “I shall not go out of my way to offend, but nor shall I don kid gloves to handle religion any more gently than I would handle anything else,” says Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion. I share Dawkins’ view on handling not just religion, but all other subjects I will address as well.
• Dissent is encouraged. Please voice your own opinion.
• If you like what I’m doing here, tell people. If you hate what I’m doing here, tell me why.
• Topic suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for reading. To be continued…