Heresy and Skepticism
Mar 08 '07
The Bottom Line All about the syndrome called "NOPE"---Non-Overlapping Perspectives on Everything!
This commentary is a fictional account of the thoughts of my imaginary friend, Dr. Tong N. Chique. Tong received his PhD from the College of Alta Rigo after completing his dissertation on Epistemology: How Do You Know? This is a synopsis and paraphrase of the chapters of his dissertation: HOW do you know? How do YOU know? and How do you KNOW?
HOW do you know?
There are two alternate ways of Knowing each having their proponents, while others rely on various combinations of these basic two ways of Knowing. For convenience I have arbitrarily labeled those who favor the first way as the "Right", and those who favor the alternate way as the "Left." The ideas that come into existence by these two different methods are known as "Truth"---or "Knowledge".
The Right way of knowing is by "Divine Revelation." The Right believes that Truth is revealed by the Divine to selected individuals who typically share that Revealed Truth to others through written or spoken Word. It is not uncommon for Revealed Truth to contain contradictions or violations of "Common Sense", but that doesn't bother its adherents, who are skilled at methods of "Rationalizing" such contradictions to make them seem to be consistent with Common Sense. The Right uses the word "Heretic" to describe those who do not accept and believe Revealed Truth, and they believe that Heretics are "Evil",
The Left way of knowing is by "Observation, Data Collection, and Deduction", in a process that is commonly called "Science", and is carried out under rules that are called "Logic." Events are Observed, either in nature or in Controlled Experiments; Measurements are made and Data Collected; the Data is organized and analyzed, and an attempt is made to Deduce the relationships among the data. A successful analysis may lead to a discovery of a causal relationship between different elements of the data, and may lead to the formulation of a "Hypothesis." The Hypothesis will then be "Tested" by performing an Experiment and/or Observing natural events to gather additional data to evaluate whether the data continues to be consistent with the Hypothesis.
If the Hypothesis is repeatedly and consistently confirmed, the Hypothesis may be formulated into a "Theory," which defines a generalized explanation of the relationships between actions or reactions, events or phenomena, especially when there is a "Cause and Effect" relationship, i.e., when one event or trend is thought to be the Cause of another event or trend. Such well-established and universally accepted relationships are sometimes defined as "Laws."
The Truths revealed by Science are constantly changing and evolving as New Data are gathered and analyzed, sometimes invalidating a Theory or replacing it with another. Contradictions also arise in Science, but are generally not Rationalized; rather they are typically dismissed with a philosophical wave of the hand such as "A foolish concern for consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds"--- or "I'm not a member of any organized group---I'm a Democrat."
The Left uses words like "Skeptic" or "Denier" to describe those who do not accept or believe in the Truth of Science, and regards Skeptics as "Misguided," "Stupid" and/or "Uninformed".
How do YOU know?
That question is, of course, the ultimate challenge of a member of the Left when challenging the Knowledge or Truth of a member of the Right---or vice versa. Each regards the means of Knowing of the other to be utterly and completely invalid and not worthy of serious consideration.
Many of us are not wholly committed to either the Left or the Right way of Knowing, but derive our Knowledge or Truth from one or the other according to which more conveniently suits a given subject matter. The capability used to differentiate which approach is applicable is called "Intuition." Both Left and Right know that certain things are "Intuitively Obvious," and not subject to question or demands for "Evidence" or "Proof." Unfortunately hardly anyone can agree about what, specifically, are the Truths that are Intuitively Obvious.
On some occasions, and on some subjects, one side or the other has enlisted the aid of "Government" to use the threat, or the actuality, of physical violence to convince those who disagree to "Recant;" i.e., to renounce their Skepticism or Heresy, and accept the Truth of the prevailing view of those in power. The Force used in this way has ranged from torture on the "Rack," "Burning at the Stake," "confinement in the "Stocks," to being ostracized and treated for Mental Illness. In recent, Civilized times more humane techniques have also become common, such as "Ridicule" and "Satire."
How do you KNOW?
The Right disseminates it's Knowledge and Truth through a process called "Evangelism," a process that relies heavily on our sense of guilt for our shortcomings, and on our hope that we will be forgiven for those shortcomings and not be denied the company of the Divine upon our demise. Acceptance of the Truth and Knowledge of the Right is necessary and sufficient to assure forgiveness and secure our place in the eternal presence of the Divine. Such acceptance is seen as the virtue called "Faith," a virtue even when such belief defies our human intellect, and is inconsistent with Common Sense!
The Left disseminates its Knowledge and Truth through a process called "Education," a process that ostensibly relies only on Intellect and Logic, NOT on such vaporous things as Guilt, Hope or Emotion. The Left has demonstrated through Logic and Science that human beings are just another of the living things, plants and animals, that live on the Earth; that we are made of the same basic material; and that there is no reason to believe that there is anything special about being Human, as opposed to being, say, an Earthworm, a Pea Plant, or an Amoeba, for example. The standard and widely accepted Theory behind all this requires ignoring a large part of the factual evidence, and such evidence as exists leaves enormous gaps---but Science Is Still Working On It!
Both sides are now predicting the End of the World, and both declare that the End Is Near because of the Sinful Behavior of Humankind. But of course the Left and the Right have totally different ideas about what constitutes Sinful Behavior.
The Left and Right (as arbitrarily defined here) have always been in conflict, sometimes with great violence. The time may be approaching when Heretics of the Left and Skeptics of the Right may again be Pilloried, Burned at the Stake, or Tortured on the Rack until they Recant. The only question is---which side will be turning the crank and lighting the torches, the Left or the Right?
Can't we just get along?
(I have employed here a Favorite Fetish of Dr. Chique (pronounced Cheeq) of liberally using capitals for many words, making them appear to be Proper Nouns, and therefore making them seem More Important!)
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