to know is to listen
3.1.07
If God is what we do not know then prayer is curiosity, love is faith and sin is acting as if we know what God is.
14.12.06
Analysis deals with a set of knowns and ignores everything outside of the set. But when we consider context first, including what we do not know about the situation, we are confronted with the unspoken assumptions that we use to deal with the unknown; religion, superstition, folklore, conventional wisdom and the prevailing cultural norms. When we consider context before analysis it becomes clear that the underlying currency of our cultural transactions is certainty based on either evidence or belief.
Those are two interconnected sets of certainties, our physical limitations within our environment and a cultural set of shared symbols and values. Our language and shared beliefs help us mediate the uncertainties of our physical existence. Those beliefs are embedded in a personal narrative.
Consider 9-11.
If you were to have closely observed someone throughout that day you would find that they acted in ways that reflected a broad range of beliefs. Survival requires adaptability, sometimes we need to be absolutists (to fight back when we have been attacked) and sometimes we need to be relativists (to find out why they attacked so we can prevent future attacks). However if you asked that person to explain their actions throughout the day you would probably find that they defined their behavior in a narrow singular sense. We like to have a narrative that we can wrap all of the uncertainties of the world—and perhaps more importantly, the uncertainties of ourselves—into a compelling story.
The emotional context of our experience may determine the narrative of how we mediate the unknown. If we feel our past was chaotic then we seek absolute explanations of problems and solutions. If we feel our past was dull or restricted we resist singular deterministic explanations.
We all use absolute and relative judgements but explain those judgements in partisan terms to maintain our foolish consistency. While we all know that we have to pursue both military and diplomatic solutions we find ourselves segregating into pro and anti-war camps.
Our narratives do determine many of our decisions but they do not limit our choices. The danger lies when our narrative overrules our intuition, when absolutists impose their judgements upon everyone else and relativists refuse to judge themselves.
Those are two interconnected sets of certainties, our physical limitations within our environment and a cultural set of shared symbols and values. Our language and shared beliefs help us mediate the uncertainties of our physical existence. Those beliefs are embedded in a personal narrative.
Consider 9-11.
If you were to have closely observed someone throughout that day you would find that they acted in ways that reflected a broad range of beliefs. Survival requires adaptability, sometimes we need to be absolutists (to fight back when we have been attacked) and sometimes we need to be relativists (to find out why they attacked so we can prevent future attacks). However if you asked that person to explain their actions throughout the day you would probably find that they defined their behavior in a narrow singular sense. We like to have a narrative that we can wrap all of the uncertainties of the world—and perhaps more importantly, the uncertainties of ourselves—into a compelling story.
The emotional context of our experience may determine the narrative of how we mediate the unknown. If we feel our past was chaotic then we seek absolute explanations of problems and solutions. If we feel our past was dull or restricted we resist singular deterministic explanations.
We all use absolute and relative judgements but explain those judgements in partisan terms to maintain our foolish consistency. While we all know that we have to pursue both military and diplomatic solutions we find ourselves segregating into pro and anti-war camps.
Our narratives do determine many of our decisions but they do not limit our choices. The danger lies when our narrative overrules our intuition, when absolutists impose their judgements upon everyone else and relativists refuse to judge themselves.
5.12.06
2.12.06
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Blog Archive
