Udo, your comments on the following?
Like mindedness is not a good thing. Likeminded people lack debate and stifle. Discussions and opposing views stimulate growth and plant fresh thinking in furtive minds. Case in point: the British could be anywhere in the world and they will insist on fish and chips, a draft and British pubs where they could meet , you guessed it, likeminded British people. They will demand in English instead of politely requesting. How narrow-minded not to experience local cuisine, flavours, dialects, lifestyles and habitats! Sameness is stagnating experimentation and progress is haltered by indifference and homogeneous living. Think here of the Manson clan, the KKK, certain churches and societies.”
Questioning controversial ideas should be promoted and celebrated, not scorned. Like-mindedness fed the Klan, the Catholics, the Fundamentals, the AWB, the ANC, the EFF and many other fanatics for centuries. As a matter of fact, fanaticism is one aspect of narrow like-mindedness. Open dialogue must enjoy priority over agenda driven interaction. Many people frown when you question God, Alien life, predestination, Darwinism, Agnostic thinking, racism, belief systems, homosexuality, good and evil, the afterlife, the Big Bang, Evolution, pre-marital sex, abortion, interracial relationships and many other taboos and elephants in the room. Political correct engagement is one ill emanating from like-mindedness.”
So, when listening to music, expose yourself to Rap, Hip Hop, langarm, Folk, Blues, Classical, Celtic, Boeremuzick, Russian traditional, tribal, Irish, Ballads and Heavy Metal. Take from the experience what you want and grow. As far as religions go visit the Sister churches, the Charismatics, attend Jewish worship, the APK, the Quakers, Evangelists, Prosperity teaching and if possible, devil worship. Do not only visit Malls, fancy Restaurants and travel on well-kept tarmac. No, also visit townships along dusty gravel roads. Only those with inquisitive minds will show an interest in community and get involved in soup kitchens, the down and out but also the money moguls and affluent. Join as many clubs and societies as you can afford and initiate dialogue. Think here of Mensa, Toastmasters, Philosophy 101 and perhaps Psychology 101, Green Peace and Debating Societies. Start a political blog or search the web. Do not visit undesirable sites which cannot grow you. Contribute. Partake.”
In my quest to understand religion (God, worship, origins, angels, creation, Nephilim and Cherubs, miracles, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, Heaven and Hell, Satan and demons, the search for gold, the wrath of God, the Genesis story, the Pentateuch and Synoptics, Revelation and many other aspects), I concluded, given the pyramids and other structures worldwide, that aliens may be involved in ways we dare not even mention to the uninformed. Shoot me down? Not before you have done your homework, reading, studying and suspend your like-mindedness to prepare your mind and thinking to openness and to accept the inevitable even in the face of controversy.”
So, search everything and hold on to the good. Now we look through an opaque glass but one day all will be revealed. Your brain can do much and yet most of us use less than 10% of what it is capable of. Why do you think you only have around 70 years carrying around an all-powerful brain totally under used?
No need to be a Musk, Einstein, Newton, Euler or Gates, Plank, Boyle or Mendel, Guise or Pythagoras. Just allow yourself to be what you can be.”
Smithy
Hello Smithy
I can wholeheartedly agree with you that we as human beings with limited knowledge should always be inquisitive and open to learn wherever we can. So yes, we should always be willing to consider opposing or differing points of view. But let’s consider some of the detail of what you say.
You write:
“Like mindedness is not a good thing. Likeminded people lack debate and stifle. Discussions and opposing views stimulate growth and plant fresh thinking in furtive minds. Case in point: the British could be anywhere in the world and they will insist on fish and chips, a draft and British pubs where they could meet , you guessed it, likeminded British people. They will demand in English instead of politely requesting. How narrow-minded not to experience local cuisine, flavours, dialects, lifestyles and habitats! Sameness is stagnating experimentation and progress is haltered by indifference and homogeneous living. Think here of the Manson clan, the KKK, certain churches and societies.”
I think you are confusing like-mindedness for close-mindedness. The problem is not that some people are like-minded, but that they are close-minded (or narrow-minded). A group of people who are like-minded is simply a sociological fact and not a negative assessment. Being close-minded, on the other hand, bespeaks an attitude of being closed to considering differing ideas and this can indeed be assessed in terms of consequences.
Also, your example of not being open to certain experiences, is not an example of narrow-mindedness, but simply a matter of preference. There clearly is nothing wrong in not wanting to eat the local dish which you think wouldn’t agree with your tastes (i.e. you have certain likes and dislikes). But insisting that only your tastes are ever acceptable, would indeed be arrogant. The former is an example of preference, the latter of close-mindedness. [By the way, have you ever tasted the ‘horns’ that you’ll be getting if you ask, “Dos cerbezas, por favor” ;)]
So, no, sameness and preference by itself does not imply indifference, nor does it halter progress. For that you need certain attitudes like bigotry and self-righteousness.
You write:
“Questioning controversial ideas should be promoted and celebrated, not scorned. Like-mindedness fed the Klan, the Catholics, the Fundamentals, the AWB, the ANC, the EFF and many other fanatics for centuries. As a matter of fact, fanaticism is one aspect of narrow like mindedness. Open dialogue must enjoy priority over agenda driven interaction. Many people frown when you question God, Alien life, predestination, Darwinism, Agnostic thinking, racism, belief systems, homosexuality, good and evil, the afterlife, the Big Bang, Evolution, pre-marital sex, abortion, interracial relationships and many other taboos and elephants in the room. Political correct engagement is one ill emanating from like-mindedness.”
No idea is above being questioned and doing so shouldn’t be scorned, otherwise we can indeed end up in fanaticism. Questioning is a way of encouraging precise thinking and open dialogue has the potential of making us aware of our biases and limited perspectives. On all this we can agree.
But what is the purpose of questioning and dialoguing? Isn’t it part of the process of discovering what is true? Questioning merely for the sake of challenging the status quo, is mere scepticism about anything and everything – it does not bring us nearer to what might be true. So yes, we should ask questions, but if we don’t expect to find any answers, then our questioning is meaningless.
You write:
“So, when listening to music, expose yourself to Rap, Hip Hop, langarm, Folk, Blues, Classical, Celtic, Boeremuzick, Russian traditional, tribal, Irish, Ballads and Heavy Metal. Take from the experience what you want and grow. As far as religions go visit the Sister churches, the Charismatics, attend Jewish worship, the APK, the Quakers, Evangelists, Prosperity teaching and if possible, devil worship. Do not only visit Malls, fancy Restaurants and travel on well-kept tarmac. No, also visit townships along dusty gravel roads. Only those with inquisitive minds will show an interest in community and get involved in soup kitchens, the down and out but also the money moguls and affluent. Join as many clubs and societies as you can afford and initiate dialogue. Think here of Mensa, Toastmasters, Philosophy 101 and perhaps Psychology 101, Green Peace and Debating Societies. Start a political blog or search the web. Do not visit undesirable sites which cannot grow you. Contribute. Partake.”
Life is to be experienced and there are many opportunities to learn many things, yes. But just to be clear, we do not need to experience everything in order to reach reliable conclusions and informed opinions on many matters (such as, ‘not all experiences are beneficial’), and again, neither is preference equal to prejudice.
You write:
“In my quest to understand religion (God, worship, origins, angels, creation, Nephilim and Cherubs, miracles, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, Heaven and Hell, Satan and demons, the search for gold, the wrath of God, the Genesis story, the Pentateuch and Synoptics, Revelation and many other aspects), I concluded, given the pyramids and other structures worldwide, that aliens may be involved in ways we dare not even mention to the uninformed. Shoot me down? Not before you have done your homework, reading, studying and suspend your like-mindedness to prepare your mind and thinking to openness and to accept the inevitable even in the face of controversy.”
If you have come to certain conclusions about the likelihood of aliens being involved on earth, then don’t feel shot down when others who have also done their homework, reading and studying, without being close-minded, conclude that there isn’t really a controversy – just being mistaken:
- www.sitchiniswrong.com (see specifically http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/letter/letter.htm
- http://ancientaliensdebunked.com/mike-heiser (see video Ancient Aliens Debunked
You write:
“So, search everything and hold on to the good. Now we look through an opaque glass but one day all will be revealed. Your brain can do much and yet most of us use less than 10% of what it is capable of. Why do you think you only have around 70 years carrying around an all-powerful brain totally under used?
No need to be a Musk, Einstein, Newton, Euler or Gates, Plank, Boyle or Mendel, Guise or Pythagoras. Just allow yourself to be what you can be.”
Yes, investigate everything (not the same as experiencing everything) and hold on to what is good. And yes, we should be aware of our potential biases and consider them carefully when we’re about to draw our conclusions after any investigation. And, yes, no special intelligence is required when searching for what is true. Simply begin by following your natural inquisitiveness and sense for discovery. But you’ll soon realise that not all ideas are created equal.
PS: Unfortunately, the we-use-less-than-10%-of-our-brain is a myth. Are the neuroscientists’ conclusions on this an example of like-minded close-mindedness? Investigate for yourself:
- Do we really use only 10 percent of our brains? (Scientific American)
- Do We Use Only 10% of Our Brains? (University of Washington, “Neuroscience for kids”)
- Do We Only Use 10% of Our Brains? (BBC)
- Fact or fiction: We only use 10 per cent of our brain (ABC, Australia)
- Ten percent of the brain myth (Wikipedia)
Kind regards,
Udo
Udo, dankie.
Soos altyd ‘n welbedagte respons, goed gefundeerd.
Like-mindedness was deurgaans bedoel en nie close-mindedness nie. Laasgenoemde se teenpool is open-mindedness. Beide aspekte verveel my en ag ek nie prikkelend genoeg om onder die loep te neem nie. Ek het deurgaans die kopknikkers (dikwels die sonder opinies) onder die wysvinger gehad. In my visier.
Dankie verder vir die “links” maar soos jy kan raai, het ek almal al telkemale bekyk, ingeslote elke beskikbare boek oor die onderwerp. So het ek o.a. Sitchen opgeweeg teen die Bybelse Nephilum, die Cherubs en ander engele van die Bybel, veral Genesis. Sosiologies en Filosofies gesproke is dit duidelik bevraagtekenbaar of ‘n persoon enige onderwerp nie-krities, oop-ontvanklik, nie-derogatief, skansloos en sonder voorafopgestelde en selfs ingeprente tradisionele “tenets”sal bekyk vanaf verskillende platvorms. Min van ons wil ons geloofsbasisse aan die verkrummel sien of die pilare van ons huidige “known universe’ sien kraak. Kom ons nie maar almal na ‘n gesprek met voorafopgestelde idees wat ons inherent verdedig sodat ons verder en voorts kan voortleef in ons kokon-habitat sonder versteuring wat die ewewig en sekere paradigmas sal verskuif? Op ‘n kognitiewe vlak will die logika die botoon vier oor regterbrein emosies. Byvoorbeeld: Die massas wil glo dat ‘n drie-eenheid bestaan in Gees en alomwetend, almagtig en alomteenwoordig is naamlik Jesus, God en die Heilige Gees. Niemand (of baie min) wil hoor dat God, Jesus , engele ensomeer interstellige ruimtewesens is wat warm kry en wie se voeteval gehoor kan word, wat kan praat, pyn ervaar en foute maak, wat jammer kan wees en die dood van baie kan gebied, uit wolke praat en opvaar in wolke na planete soos die Hemel waar Jesus tans baie wonings voorberei. Spielberg se ET en ander films, Joods gedrewe het hulle eie agenda.
Baie dankie vir jou tyd en energie
Smithy
Hallo Smithy
Twee vinnige opmerkings. Om te sê dat jy deurgaans die kopknippers in gedagte gehad het, regverdig natuurlik ook nie die gebruik van die term “like-minded” nie. Hoe impliseer “like-minded” dat die mense wat dieselfde dink oor iets daarom ook breindood, kopknikkende papegaaie is? Mense wat dieselfde dink oor sake, mag dalk almal verkeerd wees, maar om hulle “like-minded” te noem, beteken nie enige van hulle daarom bloot kopknikkend is nie.
Ek het natuurlik ook ʼn groot probleem met jou aanspraak dat “niemand (of baie min) wil hoor dat God, Jesus, engele ensomeer interstellige ruimtewesens is”. Natuurlik hoor ons dit, maar is dit waar? Dis dan juis n.a.v. historiese en filosofiese beredenering en argumentering dat dit verwerp word omdat dit nie is waarop die getuienis dui nie!
Groete
Udo
Leave a Reply