To think freely, we have to prepare everyone from childhood. It is very difficult to get off the “groove” as an adult. How do we prepare our children? A democratic free-thinking society, not afraid of letting people think is the first requisite. A full stomach and a roof over the head are needed. And then,
Parents have to teach the “roots’ to the children, and then let them to sprout “wings’ to fly
Parents have to practice their faith for children to see and learn from, but allow them freedom to explore
Schools and colleges should give not only accumulated knowledge to the learners,but also freedom to think and tools to think with.
If possible, it is good to live in another country for at least 6 months to 1 year. Live with and among the locals, not in clannish settlements. Eat their food. Listen to their music. Read their literature.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
More on Faith and Thinking on your own
The passage in the following paragraph is a reproduction of advice from Buddha, according to the translation of original Buddhist canons by Paul Carus published in 1894. I have not laid my eyes on the original. But I found this on a statement about this book with the title The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus, published by Samata Books of Chennai. This was on the cover of another book by Samata Books on Yoga vasishta.
“Do not believe in what you have heard.; do not believe in doctrines because they have been handed down to you through generations, do not believe in anything because it is followed blindly by many; do not believe because some old sage makes a statement; do not believe in truths to which you have become attached by habit; do not believe merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Have deliberation and analyze, and when the result agrees with reason and conduces to the good of one and all, accept it and live up to it”.
“Do not believe in what you have heard.; do not believe in doctrines because they have been handed down to you through generations, do not believe in anything because it is followed blindly by many; do not believe because some old sage makes a statement; do not believe in truths to which you have become attached by habit; do not believe merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Have deliberation and analyze, and when the result agrees with reason and conduces to the good of one and all, accept it and live up to it”.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Faith – Revisited
Dear Asha, Ajay, Ravi and Ariana,
I continue to read and think about Faith in our daily lives. In the process, I came across two books recently. They are: Meditations for the Humanist by A C Grayling and Think for yourself by Steve Hindes. Professor A C Grayling teaches Philosophy at the University of London and Dr.Hindes teaches medicine and public policy at the University of Denver.
In the chapter on Faith in his book, Dr.Grayling makes several points that I did not touch on in my “blog” on Faith (March 2009). One example is “….. all faith is based on dogma”. He points out how “…. Matters of faith are tenaciously regarded as inviolable, irrefutable and unrevisable”. In this essay, he is comparing faith (as in religion) with reason (as in science). Prof.Grayling is a humanist and he sees no need for religion to explain beauty, love, greed, cruelty and similar noble and cruel human qualities. To his way of thinking, all these “…belong to us, to human experience in the real world. They neither need nor benefit from, some alleged connection with supernatural agencies of one kind or another”.
He also points out how “faith is negation of reason” and “faith is belief even in the face of contrary evidence”. Knowledge is also a kind of faith, but this belief is a state of mind based on proper observation and interpretation of facts and therefore true and justified. “Belief differs from knowledge in that whereas the latter is controlled by the facts, and depends upon the right kind of relationship between mind and world, the former is ALL and only in the mind, and does not rely on anything in the world. One can, in short, believe in anything”.
Doctor Steve Hindes is a physician. I am impressed with the number of physicians who write about thinking, although it is no surprise. Physicians are always making decisions in the midst of incomplete data and uncertainties. Therefore, they do have to be aware of the “full” picture even when they know that future is not fully knowable.
Dr.Hindes reviews all the the traps in thinking whether in history, science, religion or rhetoric. . He notes how irrationality may be found in any system of thought and “If irrationality is found in religion, science, education, government, business or the family”, it should be scrutinized. He is equally forceful in pointing out the dangers of following faith in making decisions. However, he separates out religion and faith in his discussion and he is also more interested in avoiding pitfalls generated by faith.
He points out how we hold on to old ideas not because they are true or just, but because it is useful to us – or at least to “some of us” and quotes Thoreau: “…. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof”. In his definition, faith is a type of thinking “that tempts us to claim that we can understand objective reality or act without adequate objective evidence (and perhaps despite compelling objective evidence)”.
He classifies faith into two categories: conditional and unconditional. Obviously,
we need conditional faith for daily living and to keep sanity. He compares this to the initial trust we give someone unless and until there is reason to change our judgment.
The unconditional faith is the impediment to being reasonable and fair in our thinking, since no amount of evidence can dislodge it. He then goes on to quote two aphorisms from ancient texts. In these texts, the Divine Teacher gives His discourse and at the end says: “Think for yourself”. In the first passage from Bhagavat Gita (Chapter 18: sloka 63) Lord Krishna tells Arjuna “Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully; and then do what you wish to do”. The second passage is from the Bible ((Thessalonian 3:13): “Do not stifle the spirit. Test everything; retain what is good”.
These are interesting thoughts on faith and reason. My own interest is in being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of modes of perception of our minds and in developing our own methods of dealing with them. Obviously these thoughts lead me into the faith-reason, religion-science controversies. Immediately I sense resistance and arguments. More heat is generated and not light. Therefore, I wish not to dwell on these areas too much, although I have my own personal views. I am primarily for REASON. But there are areas we need to use Faith. Reason and Faith are like the left and right halves of our brains. They are like the close-up lens and telephoto lenses of the camera. We need both of them. The wisdom is in knowing which lens to use and when.
I continue to read and think about Faith in our daily lives. In the process, I came across two books recently. They are: Meditations for the Humanist by A C Grayling and Think for yourself by Steve Hindes. Professor A C Grayling teaches Philosophy at the University of London and Dr.Hindes teaches medicine and public policy at the University of Denver.
In the chapter on Faith in his book, Dr.Grayling makes several points that I did not touch on in my “blog” on Faith (March 2009). One example is “….. all faith is based on dogma”. He points out how “…. Matters of faith are tenaciously regarded as inviolable, irrefutable and unrevisable”. In this essay, he is comparing faith (as in religion) with reason (as in science). Prof.Grayling is a humanist and he sees no need for religion to explain beauty, love, greed, cruelty and similar noble and cruel human qualities. To his way of thinking, all these “…belong to us, to human experience in the real world. They neither need nor benefit from, some alleged connection with supernatural agencies of one kind or another”.
He also points out how “faith is negation of reason” and “faith is belief even in the face of contrary evidence”. Knowledge is also a kind of faith, but this belief is a state of mind based on proper observation and interpretation of facts and therefore true and justified. “Belief differs from knowledge in that whereas the latter is controlled by the facts, and depends upon the right kind of relationship between mind and world, the former is ALL and only in the mind, and does not rely on anything in the world. One can, in short, believe in anything”.
Doctor Steve Hindes is a physician. I am impressed with the number of physicians who write about thinking, although it is no surprise. Physicians are always making decisions in the midst of incomplete data and uncertainties. Therefore, they do have to be aware of the “full” picture even when they know that future is not fully knowable.
Dr.Hindes reviews all the the traps in thinking whether in history, science, religion or rhetoric. . He notes how irrationality may be found in any system of thought and “If irrationality is found in religion, science, education, government, business or the family”, it should be scrutinized. He is equally forceful in pointing out the dangers of following faith in making decisions. However, he separates out religion and faith in his discussion and he is also more interested in avoiding pitfalls generated by faith.
He points out how we hold on to old ideas not because they are true or just, but because it is useful to us – or at least to “some of us” and quotes Thoreau: “…. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof”. In his definition, faith is a type of thinking “that tempts us to claim that we can understand objective reality or act without adequate objective evidence (and perhaps despite compelling objective evidence)”.
He classifies faith into two categories: conditional and unconditional. Obviously,
we need conditional faith for daily living and to keep sanity. He compares this to the initial trust we give someone unless and until there is reason to change our judgment.
The unconditional faith is the impediment to being reasonable and fair in our thinking, since no amount of evidence can dislodge it. He then goes on to quote two aphorisms from ancient texts. In these texts, the Divine Teacher gives His discourse and at the end says: “Think for yourself”. In the first passage from Bhagavat Gita (Chapter 18: sloka 63) Lord Krishna tells Arjuna “Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully; and then do what you wish to do”. The second passage is from the Bible ((Thessalonian 3:13): “Do not stifle the spirit. Test everything; retain what is good”.
These are interesting thoughts on faith and reason. My own interest is in being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of modes of perception of our minds and in developing our own methods of dealing with them. Obviously these thoughts lead me into the faith-reason, religion-science controversies. Immediately I sense resistance and arguments. More heat is generated and not light. Therefore, I wish not to dwell on these areas too much, although I have my own personal views. I am primarily for REASON. But there are areas we need to use Faith. Reason and Faith are like the left and right halves of our brains. They are like the close-up lens and telephoto lenses of the camera. We need both of them. The wisdom is in knowing which lens to use and when.
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