Kakki wrote, about Reagan and religion:
>I'm still not convinced.
In some ways I think that is the problem - not with Kakki per se (this is
no attack on you, Kakki!) - most of the articulate and vocal people
(whether civil or downright rude) about politics and social issues on this
list - and I include myself in this philosophical wondering - seem like we
are not open or willing to accept information that makes us reconsider our
positions.
I am taking a stats class right now (I am a doctoral student) and the first
day the professor expounded at length on the importance of a theory being
falsifiable. If a theory is not falsifiable, then it is not really worth
taking the effort to consider, since nothing can ever come of it.
If people are not ever willing to consider any information or evidence
valid if it contradicts their beliefs/opinions, there really isn't any
point having a conversation, is there? To throw out anything that comes
from a conservative mouthpiece, without even considering it as a
possibility. To scorn anything that comes from a liberal listmember or a
left-leaning newspaper. Both of these behaviors are rather ridiculous, if
you really get down to it, and I have engaged in that type of behavior
myself... and I have seen it on this list *constantly*, more than anywhere
else I have ever been (in life or on the 'net). Skepticism is a healthy
response - and I'm not sure how to bridge the chasm between skepticism and
flexible thinking, but somehow I feel like some of the back and forth... I
don't know.
I'm going to try to keep my mind more open to the possibilities, I think.
-Yael
