9.10.09

A musing or two....

I have recently been thinking a lot about reason....I understand that reason has a great history behind it, and I know that there are many schools of reason, but I'm starting to fully grasp the true nature of a lot of problems.

Reason is utterly subjective.

It's almost ridiculous. I would think that reason would be somewhat of a given...almost a moral code. I guess there is another conclusion one could come to with these thoughts....

I'm getting ahead of myself.

From the beginning....I could assume that there are some things we can all agree on with a shared degree of reason: One should not kill another. Gravity does exist as a force on the Earth. What we perceive and have named "red" is red.

Seems pretty easy, right?

Well, that's fine and good, but there come these topics that seem to follow reason, but people have these odd little quirks with...what are they called...opinions?

For example, it seems as if reason would tell us that all of our citizens have a right to three things: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Okay, that was agreed upon in this country's conception. Life is one of those, correct? Therefore, health is one of those? Am I being reasonable still? These things should not be infringed upon by any system of government, system of belief, or any system whatsoever (a monetary system, perhaps?).

I guess I'm not correct at all. I could start back from the beginning...one should not kill another. Some people are perfectly fine with killing others, as long as their ideals and systems of government are different from our own..

Or religion, for example...I don't find salvation, resurrection, or ultimatums that reasonable, yet some people will stake their lives on it. It's not anything wrong with them. It's merely their reason not lining up with mine. We could go on and on like this.

It's very odd. Back to the killing idea again...when someone is perfectly fine with killing another person, oftentimes that is considered an imbalance in perception....a slight lunacy, if you will.

So perhaps there is a true logic after all...and we are all on varying scales of lunacy.

I like that idea. Sometimes you are completely illogical and crazy, and other times I am. That's all there is to it. Just because you and I see differently doesn't mean we have to disagree. We just have to realize our imbalances and go about our way, trying to find the TRUTH.

How does one go about finding the truth for themselves?

Oh, I don't know...a contemplative practice, perhaps?

I'm simply fascinated by this concept! What I find completely reasonable, others find offensive and life-threatening.

Odd.

By the way, I would like to throw out a congrats to our president for his recent award. I think it is good to place encouragement where it is needed, regardless of the "reason" of others. Just think: if everyone would have only bad things to say about a president of this fine country, then....
Oh, wait. That has been true for eight years!

5 comments:

  1. Most beautifully put, my friend. This is what I love about human beings; that we can be so passionate about our beliefs that an opinion can become a personal issue. If I was to say that your dog, whom you love, is ugly, you might be offended in the same way as if I said that your political ideals were ugly too, as though you loved them just as much as your dog. I know it sounds silly but when you complete this sentence: "I am....." It often involves a belief, a description of who you are. I am Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist, Wiccan, vegetarian, Democrat, pro-life, a polygamist, whatever. You get the idea. I enjoy the fact that we all disagree, but I enjoy, even more, the idea that we can agree to disagree.

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  2. I don't know what you're trying to say, but my dog is in no way ugly.

    Just kidding...it's an odd phenomenon, and I can't get my mind off of it right now...

    It's funny when you mention the "I am" scenario...any time you involve the self, you welcome in your own delusions. It's breathtakingly obvious, but we never take notice when we need to. Amazing!

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  3. somethings never change.

    "Just because you and I see differently doesn't mean we have to disagree. We just have to realize our imbalances and go about our way, trying to find the TRUTH." nicely phrased.

    oh, nice colors by the way.

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  4. Some things always change, as well. That's an interesting topic, too...I'll have to think on that one. :)

    Don't get me wrong in my colour use; "colours are even more to me than just what you see with your eyes".

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  5. oh, I know. we've talked about colors, you and I.

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