In “The Age of Wonder”, Richard Holmes writes that “the idea of the exploratory voyage, often lonely and perilous, is in one form or another a central and defining metaphor of Romantic science.”
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Explorations Outside
The technocrat is often perceived as uninspired, narrow-minded, overly focused on details, a competent underling. The opposing construct is that of the visionary: charismatic, impassioned, focused on the Big Picture, confident of his vision, a leader.
“To do this may be to be a mere technocrat, rather than a complete human being concerned with the moral implications of what I say and the greatest good of society…” (Solomon M. Fulero and Lawrence S. Wrightsman-2008: Forensic Psychology)
For the sake of argument, I'm reducing the value of social status to its effect on widening the "field of eligibles" - that is, increasing the quality and quantity of potential mates. When in mate-seeking mode, we look around to see who’s available and who we think we can attract. Social comparison is the game. Inequality of mating opportunities is built into this game.
Should every generation be “better off” than the previous generation? What does “better off” mean? Looking only at the middle class and above, I’m assuming recent generations have been able to meet their core needs (sufficient housing, nutrition, healthcare, and education), so what should the current middle class be getting to reflect that they’re doing better than their parents?
Anthropologists scramble to show that the Other’s beliefs aren’t irrational – they make sense and do good explanatory work ... in context. Therapists labor to point out the irrationality of beliefs – that they do not obey strict rules of logic or evidence.
Explicit beliefs are mostly attempts to justify or explain an intuition. Intuitions are the result of implicit processes in our mental basement. Explicit beliefs are interpretations of intuitions – for the benefit of an audience (anthropologist, psychologist, self).
If a proposition taps into our neurocognitive proclivities, it’s likely to be vivid, intuitive, plausible, and relatively easy to remember. The idea that there are weird but still person-like supernatural agents, who care about what we do, is one such proposition.
I once belonged to a cult where awareness, non-attachment and being present were highly valued and practiced. Being aware didn't protect against craziness, though: cult members observed the panorama as it unfolded in the moment and yet remained deluded fools...
If one acquires insight and loses attachment in conjunction with years of meditative practice, how much credit goes to the awareness and how much to the teachings that promote a specific worldview?
Implicit beliefs are assumptions. To assume is not the same thing as believing something is the case. To assume is to take for granted. When I walk, I assume my feet will encounter resistance.
Beliefs are confident opinions about something. To feel confident about a belief requires that one entertain the belief. To entertain a belief is to entertain the possibility of it being untrue.
Here I am thinking about the type of beliefs much discussed in clinical psychology, such as the following “irrational” beliefs identified by Albert Ellis: It is a dire necessity for adult humans to be loved or approved by virtually every significant other person in their community. One absolutely must be competent, adequate and achieving in all important respects or else one is an inadequate, worthless person....
... anxiety and fear are more responses to the absence of comforting beliefs than the presence of uncomfortable beliefs.
What lets fear in is the uncertainty, not the belief. Uncertainty without the compensation of belief - that ultimately it will work out, that there is a secure harbor, despite the present confusion – creates a vacuum that is filled by alarm.
There is a time to give into temptations and a time to resist them. Whenever there’s a tug-of-war among competing goals, and you have to override one behavior or goal in favor of another, self-regulation is involved. Enjoying what the moment has to offer is a worthy goal. When to honor that goal is the question.
We want witnesses to our witnessing. Most of the time, eyes glaze over. You had to be there. Except for the blessed: those who are good story tellers. They gather witnesses. And so their worlds live on a little longer.
Linguistic conventions keep tripping me up when I write about thoughts and thinking. It sounds like there is a little homunculus in the head listening to thoughts, encouraging them to proceed, or directing them to more worthwhile topics.
Some thoughts and thought-streams lead to slightly lower mood – so what? A slightly lower mood isn’t the end of the world. If a line of thought leads to identification of problems, unresolved issues or as yet unrealized goals, fine.
What exactly is a ‘belief’? The dictionary says, to believe is to have confidence or faith in the truth of something. People may ‘hold’ beliefs or ‘entertain’ them. To hold is to adhere or remain steadfast. To hold is to continue in the relationship – to be committed. To entertain is to be in an uncommitted relationship.