Hello Case,
> [Kevin]
> Yes. And he's asking us which person do we intend to be.
>
> [Case]
> I think he is asking a more difficult question about who we are.
Yes. Both. We affect and are affected by others and by our environment.
> [Kevin]
> And I would respectfully disagree. Rationality is good. But when elevated
> above other sources of truth it will become a source of evil. Ask Scrooge.
>
> [Case]
> Rationality resides in the newest portions of the human brain. You can see a
> rough evolutionary outline of its development in modern primates. We do not
> know what function it served in proto humans but it is the expansion and
> expression of this function that has driven human advancement to this day.
>
> We have expanded the reach of human rationality into the heavens, with
> rockets and satellites. We have coded human consciousness into
> electromagnetic radiation and hurled it into the cosmos. We speak to each
> other with Star Trek communicators.
>
> If we turn this higher consciousness to petty or hurtful use, it is hard to
> see how rationality is at fault.
I'm saying rationality can be a source of good or evil. The particular outcome
depends on how its used. Nuclear energy has huge benefits. But nuclear
waste is a deadly problem. And the development of the internal combustion
engine a hundred years ago was an enormous boon to industrial economies.
And so now we face the dangers of global warming because of our irresponsible
burning of fossil fuels.
But the greatest tragedy by far is the effect unbridled rationality has on human
relationships and interpersonal communication. I'm reminded of Pirsig's answer
to the question, "if you can't define it what makes you think it exists?"
"A thing exists," he said, "if a world without it can't function normally.
If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then
we have shown that Quality exists, whether it's defined or not." He
thereupon proceeded to subtract Quality from a description of the world
as we know it.
He goes on.
The purely intellectual pursuits were the least affected by the subtraction
of Quality. If Quality were dropped, only rationality would remain
unchanged.
That was odd. Why would that be?
Human relationships and interpersonal communication based solely on rationality
aren't just dead they're...well, evil. Take Quality out of relationships and
you loose
love, happiness, compassion, trust, forgiveness, joy and sorrow.
Kevin
---------------------------------
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