For me Tom, the problem is that it is really hard for people to pay attention if the media doe not cover the issues, and do not cover discussion rather than certainties. In that kind of environment politicians have to go for the quick emotional jab; they cannot discuss, they cannot even admit error when they find they are wrong. This effect is magnified as politicians rely on the corporate sector for money, and for backing speech, and so they have to say what attracts corporate money and keeps short term profits up.
In this kind of atmosphere, critical thinking, simply means finding anything that does not meet with our own preconceptions to be wrong. So most more or less mindless thought appears, to its thinkers, to be critical. To really be critical, we have to be prepared to ask where our info comes from, whether our axioms are accurate and whether we might be wrong ourselves. However, being wrong often risks being 'expelled' from, or marginalised in, our group or the group we identify with. So being critical, in practice, generally appears to mean going along with our 'herd' while convincing ourselves we are being radical and unconventional.
As the future is always an uncertainty and an imagining, people tend to go along with their biases and hopes, and whatever keeps them in their group, rather than with our realities. The more uncertain the future, the more likely we are to embrace certainty.
There are large numbers of studies around which seem to indicate that:
1) if we believe some things strongly then we will automatically discount other possibilities, even if (or perhaps especially if) they are better documented than our own beliefs and even if they don't necessarily contradict those beliefs.
2) If we don't like the apparent solutions then we won't admit the problem.
3) If we think the information comes from people who we are told are our enemies, then we will not believe the information.
4) We will think with information that is easily available or repeated with certainty (the old Goebels principle).
5) We seek information that confirms our biases and hopes.
6) To hide from the fact that our own deeply held beliefs are probably wrong - espcially when it turns out that our trusted sources have been lying to us - we will be prepared to believe that all information is potentially false, but that the other side is even worse, thus saving ourselves from changing our position or trully distrusting what our group believes in.
Consequently the more uniform the social thought, the more uniform *and unreal* it becomes, and the more strongly we apply 'solutions' that are failing.
The certainties of belonging and attack replace thought.
Hence the appeal of the apocalypse, in which God solves all the problems, and all that is required is that we kill those who are evil and mark ourselves as belonging on the side of God.... This is simply an exageration of what we do every day.
jon
________________________________________
From: Philosophy and Psychology of Cyberspace [***@listserv.wvu.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Ellis [***@VERIZON.NET]
Sent: Thursday, 5 March 2015 11:48 PM
To: ***@listserv.wvu.edu
Subject: Re: America's Support for Israel finally explained
We wouldn't not be 'done' if more than a tenth of the electorate a) actually
paid attention, b) had any critical thinking skills at all, and c) were
actually interested in our futures rather than the latest episode of 'The
Bachelor'.
Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Philosophy and Psychology of Cyberspace
[mailto:***@listserv.wvu.edu] On Behalf Of Beth Garrison
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2015 12:15 AM
To: ***@listserv.wvu.edu
Subject: Re: America's Support for Israel finally explained
So what you're saying here is that its a prophecy that's self fulfilling.
Ok. i can get that. Because its crazy as hell here. Congress is busy making
money, and obstructing anything of real value.
A friend described it best when she said "the rest are living a life without
mercy"
Soooo..We're done. Have been for awhile. We need to leave, that's evident.
or at least get our son out. Any ideas?
Beth
On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 6:03 PM, Jonathan Marshall <
Post by Jonathan MarshallThe Great thing about the Evangelic support of Israel because Israel's
existence means Armageddon is nigh, is that it fits in really nicely
with the Islamic State Theology which expects its war in the middle
east to lead to the Muslim version of Armageddon, in which Jesus
descends to slaughter all non-mulsims and infidels.
See in particular section III of
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-w
ants/384980/
jon
________________________________________
From: Philosophy and Psychology of Cyberspace
Sent: Wednesday, 4 March 2015 7:45 PM
Subject: America's Support for Israel finally explained
What many do not realize is that the America's support for Israel is
Faith-based. Without an Israel, there can be no Rapture and without
Rapture, there can be no reward in Heaven.
Here are just two quotes of over thousands of such quotes one can find
"But the least understood, and probably most important, reason has
been missed by most secular analysts. Evangelicals support Israel
because of biblical prophecy, including passages that tie the survival
of Israel to the Second Coming of Jesus."
<http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2002/06/The-Rapture-Fact
o
r. aspx>
"Sixty five years ago today, Israel became a nation again. Prophetic
writers saw this event as the end-time sign that something called the
"rapture" could not be far off. Within 40 years of that May 14, 1948
date, prophecy writers were telling us, Jesus would return and take
His Church to heaven to be followed by a seven-year period where the
temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt, animal sacrifices would be
restored, the antichrist would arise, and all hell would break loose."
<http://italian.about.com/od/italianculture/a/aa050207a.htm>
Also, theologically-speaking, can there be Armageddon without Israel?
In other words, if the plains of Megiddo, where the final
confrontation takes place, are in Arab land, would it be the same? I
mean, would the Palestinians allow the confrontation to take place?
Mau :-)
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