“To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the need for thought.”
– Henri Poincare (1854 – 1912)
This site is dedicated to those who think independently.
“To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the need for thought.”
– Henri Poincare (1854 – 1912)
This site is dedicated to those who think independently.
Dedication
I was going to only ask “how so?” but maybe “Independent of what?” would be a better question.
The ancient wisdom of “knowing thyself” is a pity description of a more complex process. We are pre-wired to think and act in certain ways, then we are conditioned by environmental forces (parents, peers, authority figures, circumstances, society writ large, etc.) to think with a set of generally agreed upon mental models. This is not inherently good or bad, it’s just the way of things.
That said, when you are developed enough to realize that your ethical knowledge is innate and ethical understanding can be self derived, then the process of “knowing thyself” requires introspection and an ability to question your world view. Questioning your world view requires unlearning some bad memes. Ethical enlightenment starts with deconstruction of your world view down to the foundation, and then building a better foundation rooted in ethical understanding that better mental models can be built on.
The fact that we are not blank slates does not mean we can’t modify the software running in our brains. Luckily, we are self programming organic computers that can modify our own code; it just takes a bit of effort.
Ethical wisdom requires independent thought. Independent thought is the ability to use introspection along with good questions like, “How would I like it if someone did that to me?” and good framing (ask questions in terms of harm/care and fairness/reciprocity). Do this, and ethical wisdom is not far off.