by Terry 54 Replies latest jw friends
Can you state simply right now what the difference is between gullible and faithful?
I'll try this. both relate to trust and believe. You are gullible if you trust and believe in a lie. You are faithful if you trust and believe in the truth.
So, I was a faithful witness until I determined it was a lie. From that point on I keep saying "how could I be so gullible!?"
Good thread- eclispe avatar is very distracting though
The wise man knows only that he knows nothing.
I know that I know that this wise guy know-nothing knows something.
Hi Terry,
What I was trying to say is basically 'knowing nothing' as the initial state of the mind, before assumptions. Certainly one can first come to see that the acquired beliefs is incorrect and in effect amounts to nothing - but it is only a matter of clearing up the confusion.
I'd like to take/make the comment of Socrates being modest as an example. If taken literally, this would assume he was concerned about his self worth. I don't know much about Socrates, but if his sole concern was knowledge and understanding then that is neither here nor there - and based on that I'd imagine that kind of psychological tail chasing never occurred to him in the first place. We could consider him as a modest person, but that would be our thought, not his. Without that, of course, would make it a simple statement of fact.
And of course this is the exact problem with not wanting to be wrong, isn't it? It is as if the ego hears the word and avoids it and anything associated with it irrationally, regardless of what is actually the case. It is just as polarized as the concept of good and evil. So on a practical level, in light of this common view that it is bad to "be" wrong (corresponding to your self worth) and good to "be" right, this language in itself may put people on the defensive - whereas if you frame it in terms of correct and incorrect, or simply "do you really know this is true" or not, the thoughts you hold may not be true - that is not as threatening. I would just try to appeal to curiosity, the desire to (really) know. I think it is best to minimize any potential trigger for defense in the first place, because that self conscious thinking obscures
So I just think it is as much a psychological issue as it is an intellectual one, and essentially the contrast here would be between that initial state as self, rather than the complex of acquired beliefs that actually distorts the perception of reality.
Geez that was long - well basically I'm just trying to approach the same thing from the other end, seems to be simpler and easier.
Excellent food for thought.
I didn't know being wrong could be so liberating. I'll have to try it sometime.
Terry,
I swear that when you are dead, giant Sunflowers will spring from your tomb and spit at the sun. ;)
HS
Terry,
I swear that when you are dead, giant Sunflowers will spring from your tomb and spit at the sun. ;)
HS
An island there was that rose from the deep
Its mountains were high, its gorges were steep.
It was infested with life, that beautiful isle,
But it never was marked by a human smile.
The flowers did bloom with nobody there.
They spent their perfume on the tropical air.
And no one did see what beauty can be.
That island is gone; it returned to the sea.
(Can you identify the author?) Hint: not known for poetry!
Can you state simply right now what the difference is between gullible and faithful?I'll try this. both relate to trust and believe. You are gullible if you trust and believe in a lie. You are faithful if you trust and believe in the truth.
So, I was a faithful witness until I determined it was a lie. From that point on I keep saying "how could I be so gullible!?"
Ohhhh, that's uh nice!
So I just think it is as much a psychological issue as it is an intellectual one, and essentially the contrast here would be between that initial state as self, rather than the complex of acquired beliefs that actually distorts the perception of reality.
Is there an easy way to separate intellect from the psychology of the person?
Is one inclusive/exclusive of the other?
Are we pre-wired for our own temperament?
Do our nature and intellect have to match?
