Saturday, March 30, 2019

the right answer

 I am often told, in my many discussions, that everything isn't black and white. I understand that completely, there are many factors to consider when making a choice. My point is, and always will be, in the end you have to make a choice. In the end, everything is binary. There is light and dark, right and wrong. And on a side note there are only two sexes, that's binary as well. Consider this. Man has developed amazing machines able to calculate figures at tremendous speeds and retrieve information with the click of a few key strokes, we can even just ask. These machines operate how? On a binary system is the answer, right and wrong.
 It is easy enough to get lost in the data. We can talk about things forever. We can allow each new bit of information to change our mind, cause us concern and consternation. Still, in the end we are left with two choices. It's one way or the other. I firmly believe that is why the world was created in a binary fashion. In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Two places, two choices. He also made it light and dark. You either win or lose. Binary, all is binary. It is only man that attempts to change that rule.
 So when I hear, everything isn't black and white, what I hear you saying is, you haven't decided. You are still filtering the data, picking " one "  or " two " not having reached a conclusion. Or, at the very least a conclusion you are confident in. I can understand that, there are many things I haven't fully decided upon, but I have made a choice. That is the reason I have so many opinions. Some think that is annoying or whatever, but it is my feeling opinions are for sharing. No sense keeping them to myself, I always agree with them. That's no fun, no stimulation in that.
 Can wrong be right and right be wrong? Are there ever any circumstances that would result in that conclusion? No, the only way we arrive at that is through the use of what is called a logical fallacy. And man is great at creating those. The field of philosophy deals with that extensively. There are deductive and inductive fallacies. I have never studied philosophy. I have read bits and pieces of what known philosophers have said or written. I don't always agree with their conclusions. You really can pick and choose between any number of philosophers to obtain a desired answer, confirmation of your thought so to speak. I think, like Physiatrists, it depends upon which school of thought you attended. We have all heard of Freud. He is famous for saying man is solely motivated by pleasure. There are those before him and after, that feel differently about that. Gestalt and Wundt are two names. I admit to not knowing much about either of them. My point being simply this. All are schools of thought, which is right and which is wrong? Depends upon who you ask doesn't it? The ones giving you an answer have decided, they have chosen.
 I wandered off a bit there, forgive me. I was trying to explain a bit about thinking and thoughts. There really is no right or wrong way to think. I believe, however, that there is right and wrong. I believe what is right, is always right and what is wrong, is always wrong. I can , by using logical fallacies, perhaps convince you otherwise. I believe I am seeing this happen more and more everyday.
 There are classes being taught in an area called  " critical thinking. " Critical thinking in my world is the same thing as common sense. It is thinking devoid of emotion. Critical thinking is teaching someone how to do what? Think for themselves is the short answer. It does say something about our educational system when we have graduate of universities that require classes in critical thinking! That stems from our schools becoming more if an indoctrination than education. We are " teaching " the right answers. Yes on one level we call it teaching to the test and it is tied to funding. But I'm not thinking about that at the moment. What answers are we teaching? That there are no right and wrong answers, only correct responses. One could label it morality and ethics. Those subjects are not being taught. Only the correct responses. Consider gender dysphoria. What is the correct answer? It's fine, it's not a mental disorder. That wasn't the answer in years back. Interestingly however is this statement. " Gender dysphoria in adults and children is considered a disorder if the person also experiences significant distress or impairment in major areas of life as a result of the congruence. " That statement appeared in Phycology today magazine. So what are they saying here? Let's apply logic. Gender Dysphoria is a disorder if it bothers you. Okay, so what is it? A disorder or not? You can't have it both ways. Now considering the best statistics we have indicate about .6%, that right point six per cent. of the population experience gender dysphoria I fail to see, logically, how it is not a disorder. That thought has nothing to do with my feelings about those people, has nothing to do with anything other than a statistical fact. For me, .6% is a disorder, an aberration, a deviation from the norm. Should it be treated? Only if it bothers you is the current answer. Is gender dysphoria right? Is it wrong? It's wrong if we go by the stats. But I'm not supposed to say that am I. No, because it isn't the correct response. The correct response is, it's fine if you say it is fine. In that way I can be noncommittal and therefore unaccountable. And that is a logical fallacy! We are just as accountable for the actions we don't take, as the ones we do. And that is what judgement entails. When judgement comes you are either guilty or innocent! There is no intermediate area in judgement. Well unless you subscribe to the Catholic faith, then you can be in limbo. Maybe that is when God is still thinking about your fate, I don't know.
 Well once again I have rambled on about a topic and don't feel like I have reached a definitive conclusion. I was just thinking about right and wrong. I do believe things in the end are binary in nature. I believe they have to be that way. Any other way just creates chaos. People become confused with two many choices. You have to decide. I think perhaps true peace comes to those that decide. Is that the peace of God? It certainly can be. The only real question remaining is, can we be sure? Only if we decide for ourselves is my thought. I can be told the correct response, but that isn't always the right answer.    

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