Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I stopped to Smell the Roses, But Blindly Drinking the Kool-Aid? I Don't Think So!

The information environment in the world today is choc-full of good and bad, true and untrue, humble and arrogant. Some of the would-be prophets in the Academy continue to speak in absolutist terms that really show that, no matter how smart or educated or well connected they are, they can't, or refuse to, speak words that do not put themselves ahead of all others. Even when they know they are only one drop of rain falling into an infinite sea.

The use of such rhetoric serves to alienate rather than foster. While it is true to say that some statements may make sense in one construct, it is dishonest to believe that there is only ONE way to view something (your way) and that it is fact rather than a matter of opinion. It is even more dishonest to state things as though they can be proven when, in fact, they can't. Facts not opinion are proof of something. And conclusions based on facts may still be wrong or incomplete. Only those that consider themselves omniscient and omnipotent make their opinions count as fact.

Saying that something does not evolve because it does not jive with a narrow, cherry picked, dismissive of all other permutations, meaning, is a crime against knowledge.

If one says the earth is not round and you can prove it, that statement is just wrong. To say the earth is not round because it has mountains, valleys, oceans, and flat lands, is an incredibly dishonest trick of logic.

So drink the Kool-Aid if you want to. As for me, I'll wait to see who dies before sipping. What grieves me most when people act like a god, is so many people say "I don't know if what they say is true but I will take it as fact because they are such a great speaker".

Drink up sheep!

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