Personal Thoughts II - Education and Perception of Reality

I can not think of a better illustration of how our knowledge affects the way we perceive reality than the Allegory of the Cave , in where some prisoners who have lived all their lives in a cave facing a wall, can see the shadows of men passing by behind them, some talking, while others silent; logically, if the prisoners are not able to turn their necks around, there is no reason to believe that they would not consider that the figures in the wall are the ones talking; and if one of those prisoners is ever released and sent to the outside, he would first experience irritation and pain due to the fact that he had never been exposed to the sunlight before; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; he then would realize that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision. And if this person is ever dragged into the cave again, then he will frequently be misunderstood by those ordinary prisoners back in the cave who hadn't shared in the intellectual insight. In this allegory, the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and the journey upwards would be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world [1].

Our ignorance is the cave that constrains us, frustrating and misleading our understanding of reality and the world in which we are submerged. This journey out of the cave will probably be difficult, perhaps even painful, as sometimes is the understanding of new knowledge, of a different system of thought, or the inevitable resistance to adaptation and acceptance of a new paradigm that goes against our established knowledge in some certain field. As the famous naturalist Charles Darwin once wrote, “Although I am fully convinced of the truth of the views given in this volume… I by no means expect to convince experienced naturalists whose minds are stocked with a multitude of facts all viewed, during along course of years, from a point of view directly opposite to mine… but I look with confidence to the future, to young and rising naturalists, who will be able to view both sides of the question with impartiality.”[2] Max Planck in his autobiography made a similar point, “a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”[3] Through the course of our lives new ideas will emerge, and even the most radical and extremist ones should be considered in order to maintain a balance in our perception of the world. A well rounded education and always having an open mind and a good predisposition to learning will prepare us not to prejudge new ideas, and not to be brainwashed by, especially (though indirectly), multinational corporations, as we are inevitably subjected to their game and interests. Even governments, formed by those who represent us, and the media which is supposedly objective and independent, are subjected to their influence, and most of the times will be influenced, bought, and/or conditioned. It would be a real accomplishment if we could achieve the necessary independence of thought so as to not have the attitude that normal science sometimes has, which according to Thomas Khun “…often suppresses fundamental novelties because they are necessarily subversive of its basic commitments.”[4]

I do not want to be read as a naïve and idealistic young man; even though I do have ideals, rational and down-to-earth goals, perhaps being some highly ambitious such as someday in the future creating my own company specialized in the production energy using alternative means, it is by instructing ourselves that we will be able to not let others influence our reasoning nor interfere on our goals, have our own formed opinions, and by being aware of the different breakthroughs and technological advances we will be able to look at the future and make informed and educated predictions/decisions.

It is our acquired education that will determine the capacity of abstraction and objectivity in perceiving the most precise approximation to reality, and this education will be reflected in the quality of our opinions.

Illustration from Great Dialogues of Plato: Complete texts of The Republic, Apology, Crito Phaido, Ion, and Meno. Vol. 1 (Warmington and Rouse, eds.) New York, Signet Classics 1999 p. 316

[1] Plato - The Republic
[2] Darwin - On the Origin of Species
[3] Max Planck – Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers
[4] Thomas Kuhn - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions p. 5

Personal Thoughts I - Education and Perception of Reality

Sound is not reality in itself, but what we perceive of it.

There is no higher and noblest ideal for a human being than to rebel oneself against mediocrity and strive for knowledge, enlightening the intellect. It is true that not every person has the possibility to study, and due to the harsh reality we live in, unfortunate events can happen that force a person to abandon his formal education and start working for his never ending struggle of survival; lower classes have different priorities and worries, different goals for life, and could well not think education would provide them with a rapid solution to their problems. In fact, most of those belonging to the lower social strata do not have hours and hours of time to read and educate themselves as they need to work in low-skilled jobs to take care of their immediate and basic needs. On the other side, there are also many young men who could pursue a formal education, but prefer 'enjoying life', which by the way the enjoying concept is completely relative, and thus wasting the opportunity their parents could provide them. Of course, some might already have a good position in a company before even going to college, but this is not the majority’s case, and they will just irresponsibly and perhaps unconsciously opt for having those ‘fun years’ and sacrifice their resulting mediocre life.

Adversity shapes a person in a way in which a comfortable and easy life does not, and even when in an unfavorable social position, I am convinced effort and personal abnegation is crucial for the strengthening of someone's character, and it is much more admiring and meritable someone who has struggled and was able to overcome many obstacles, finally succeeding in accomplishing his goal.

Several times I have heard people saying: "If I were younger now, I would probably do things differently; I wish I would have studied more…" Hearing that, and looking at their situation, how could one make the same mistakes they made in their youth? I always remember the following phrase which is one of my favorites and has been a model to myself:

“The intelligent person learns from his own experience
The wise learns from that of the others
The fool never learns.”

When circumstances allow us to, there is no greater good than to reach for the books, and if possible, choose the environment and external factors, the social context, with which we will interact and to which we will be unavoidably subjected, that will influence our thinking and perception of reality.

A good education enables a person to stand out of the crowd, to differ from ordinary people; it makes the person think in a way most people do not. For instance, education and knowledge enables a person to think and reason beyond the usual boundaries the common person is used to think, by inertia, because society (publicity, biased news and information, the media, etc.) leads people without self-criteria and common sense to think in a distorted and tendentious certain way of interpreting reality.

By education I do not mean an academic degree, but in the broad sense of the word, I mean every factor that shaped the character and personality of the person, every piece of information, countless subtle interactions a person has had since his birth, and that through a gradual process of unification and integration, he started developing common sense, logic, independence of thought, mental acuity, and which combined with formal diligent study, he acquired the ability to associate all the incoming information, to analyze it, to judge it, and act accordingly.

Note: In these words there are some fragments of a letter I once wrote to a person I truly appreciate, that without knowing me much decided to help me lending me the necessary amount of money to continue my formal education; if this lady ever reads this blog, much thought was dedicated to that letter, though this is my general understanding and opinion on this issue, and it should not be confined to that letter.

Introduction

My name is Eric Schamber, I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina, though I am currently living and studying in the USA.

I really don't know how much time I will dedicate to this post, but I will definitely write once in a while to talk about personal interests, express my concerns, the way I see the world, and my interpretation of reality.

I would like to formally introduce this blog to the 'blogger community' with the following phrase:

"If you sincerely desire a truly well-rounded education, you must study the extremists, the obscure and "nutty". You need the balance! Your poor brain is already being impregnated with middle-of-the-road crap, twenty-four hours a day, no matter what. Network TV, newspapers, radio, magazines at the supermarket... even if you never watch, read, listen, or leave you house, even if you are deaf and blind, the telepathic pressure alone of the uncountable normals surrounding you will insure that you are automatically well-grounded in consensus reality."

I do not know who wrote it, but I totally agree with it.